The Florida Gators football team is on its way to Georgia State to face the Panthers in Atlanta on Thursday at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).
The Gators (1-0-2) opened the season with a home win over Western Carolina before earning ties with North Florida and UCF.
Mediocre start
The Gators opened the 2024 season with home court advantage against 2023 Southern Conference champion Western Carolina. Florida picked up a 2-0 win over the Catamounts. With five minutes left in the first period, senior Madison Young scored the first goal for the Gators on an assist from Delaney Tauzel. This was Young’s fourth collegiate goal and her first since the 2022 season. Delaney Tellex scored the second goal of the game on assists from Njeri Butts and Lauren McCloskey.
8⃣ seconds after the start of the game, 𝗡𝗷𝗲𝗿𝗶 𝗕𝘂𝘁𝘁𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘅 found her first 🐊 goal!#Alligators Season opened with 2-0 victory!#GoGators | 🐊⚽️ pic.twitter.com/RNTwKrlOMS
— Gators Soccer (@GatorsSoccer) 17 August 2024
Alligators in Jacksonville
Florida traveled to Jacksonville last Thursday to face the Ospreys in a tough game that ended in a scoreless tie. The Gators had some strong shots on goal but couldn’t put the ball in the net. Delaney Tellex and Madison Jones both tried to score 21 minutes into the first half but were unsuccessful. In the final four minutes of the game, Josie Curtis collided with the goalkeeper and moments later, Lena Bailey appeared to score after a long kick from Gators goalkeeper Jayden Emmanuel into the Ospreys’ box, but an offside call nullified the goal. This isn’t the first time the Gators have drawn 0-0 with the Ospreys. In 2021, Florida also played 0-0 at home against North Florida.
UNF final.#GoGators | Presented by @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/zNJ5fNG1nh
— Gators Soccer (@GatorsSoccer) 23 August 2024
Back-to-back bindings
Despite having home-court advantage against the Knights, the Gators ended up with another tie (2-2). Freshman Vera Blom scored the Gators’ first goal with an assist from sophomore transfer Delaney Tellex. UF tied the game with a goal from redshirt junior Sophie White at the 69:37 mark.
🐊 𝗦𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 was ready when the opportunity arose!#GoGators | 🐊⚽️ | #StudentPersonPlayer pic.twitter.com/jig4oM6sot
— Gators Soccer (@GatorsSoccer) 26 August 2024
Outlook for the State of Georgia
Georgia State (0-1-1) opened its season with a 2-2 tie against Chattanooga on August 15. The Panthers then traveled to Ole Miss last Thursday and lost 2-0.
Side trip
After Thursday’s game, the Gators will travel up the East Coast to face Towson in Maryland starting at noon Sunday.
