[SEC: Women] No. 12 Florida and No. 23 Texas A&M shared the SEC regular-season when they both won on Thursday. SavannahJordan continued to make a case for Freshman of the Year, scoring two goals in the half to give her 20 goals — one more than Abby Wambach in herfreshman season with the Gators in 1998 — in Florida’s 5-1 win over Georgia in front of a crowd of 1,137 in Athens. The Aggies delivered with a 3-2 victory at LSU to earn a share of their first SECregular-season title.
Florida and Texas A&M finished with 9-2-0 records in conference play. In August, the SEC decided to abandon the divisional format previously used inregular-season play.
Both Florida and Texas A&M won with dominating first halves.
Sophomore Christen Westphal also scoredfor Florida on a 40-yard free kick and junior Havana Solaun scored in addition to setting up both Jordan goals.
The Aggies dominated the flow of play in the first half with a 14-0advantage in shots and took the lead on Shea Groom‘s 12th goal of the season. Allie Bailey and Annie Kunz added goals after the break in Baton Rouge.
The Gators and Aggies move on to the SEC Women’s Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala.
Florida coach Becky Burleigh:
“It never gets old. It was an exciting finish.Thirteen is my lucky number and it is 2013 and this is our 13th title so I’m all down with that.”
Texas A&M coach G Guerrieri:
“It’s a special feeling to be a champion in this conference. It doesn’t matter what the sport or gender is, the SEC is filled with great teams and great coaches and are wellsupported by their fans. I told the players, this is very special and they should enjoy it for the next couple of days. We are going to give them a couple of days to recover and then we will start tolook at who we are going to play in Orange Beach for the SEC tournament.”
SEC Tournament
First Round
Nov.4
LSU vs. Auburn
Arkansas vs. Missouri
Quarterfinals
Nov. 6
Texas A&M vs. TBA
South Carolina vs. Georgia
Florida vs.TBA
Ole Miss vs. Kentucky