Florida Rallies For Four Goals To Advance.
Senior midfielder Megan MacMillan scored twice as Florida (18-3-2) found net three times in nine minutes after trailing its Southeastern Conference rival 3-0 with 29 minutes remaining. It marked the first time the Gators won this season after trailing at intermission.
Florida will host another SEC foe, Tennessee, Saturday in the Round of 16. Tennessee (17-4-2) defeated the Gators 7-6 in a penalty-kicks tiebreaker last Sunday after a 1-1 draw in the SEC tournament final. The Volunteers also won the regular-season meeting 2-0 October 10 in Knoxville, Tenn.
Florida coach Becky Burleigh reached a milestone with her 250th victory, compiling a 250-61-16 (.789) in nine years with the Gators and five years at Berry College in Georgia. “What a terrific match. It had enough drama for four games,” she said. “It was very exciting. I think I aged 20 years. It’s a real testament to our team that we were able to come back from 3-0 against a team which allows very few goals.”
With a second and final 10-minute overtime period nearing end and penalty kicks looming, freshman defender Melanie Booth sent a high, bending ball into the box that found the feet of Kellgren who knocked it past senior goalkeeper Brittany Gillespie for the climatic 4-3 ending at 106:50.
Two days earlier, Kellgren scored in a second sudden-death period to beat Central Florida 3-2 in the first round.
“We definitely had the momentum going into overtime,” Kellgren said. “There was no way we were going to lose after coming back from three goals down.”
Eight minutes after Mississippi (15-6-2) went ahead 3-0, Kellgren found senior midfielder Robin Fulton streaking down the middle of the Rebel defense. Eight yards out, Fulton triggered a shot that beat Gillespie to make it 3-1 with 61:14 elapsed.
The Gators soon capitalized on one of their 15 corner kicks when Booth’s bending ball found McMillan’s head and suddenly it was 3-2 at 63:30.
Just three minutes later, Florida wasted a prime chance to tie when senior midfielder Crystal Frimpong was fouled in the box, but senior midfielder Dena Floyd’s penalty kick was stopped by Gillespie going high to her right.
McMillan snaked her way through the Mississippi defense, two yards in front of the goal, to knock home Frimpong’s pass for her 11th goal to tie matters at 3-3 at 70:01.
Florida controlled the early moments, but the Rebels gained a 1-0 lead after sophomore midfielder Hillary Beckman intercepted a pass in the Florida half and scored from 23 yards after 22:33.
Mississippi added two more tallies within a two-minute span early in the second half. Freshman forward Brittney Potts fed junior attacker Karen Hall who converted from eight yards to make it 2-0 at 51:53.
Then, Potts intercepted Gators keeper Brittni Goodwin’s clearance and sailed a 40-yard shot over Goodwin’s head to increase the bulge to 3-0 at 53:11.
“You never come into a game with a team like Florida and think you will get up three goals on them,” Ole Miss coach Steve Holeman said. “I think we brought out the best in them at that point and they turned things up even a notch further. They are a great team.”
Florida played its third straight overtime game in 2003 and fourth in a row in NCAA tournament play, dating back to 2001. The Gators outshot Mississippi 19-6.