Hinnenkamp scores twice, Florida blanks LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. - It's going to be an enjoyable flight back to the Sunshine State tonight for the Gator soccer team.
Double goals in each half gave Florida a 4-0 win over Louisiana State Friday evening in front of season-high 2,029 fans at the LSU Soccer Stadium.
It is Florida's first Southeastern Conference win this season and pushes out the Gators all-time record in Baton Rouge to 10-0-1. Florida also won 4-0 when these two teams last met Oct. 24, 2021 at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
This Evening's Scoring:
From the opening kick, Florida was on the attack. That effort was rewarded in the 16th minute when Julianne Leskauskas jumped on the LSU goalkeeper's misplay of a backpass, scoring on an empty net from just inside the top of the box. It was Leskauskas' second score of the season and Florida's earliest first-half goal of 2023.
Then just under six minutes later, Florida scored on a set play. Junior Madison Young sent the long free kick to Megan Hinnenkamp located a step above the six-yard box. Sandwiched between a Tiger defender and the LSU goalkeeper, Hinnenkamp's header flick scored at 21:26.
The second half produced two more Gator goals.
In the 68th minute, Madeline Pirrello's deep cross was headed in by senior Anna DeLeon from the far corner of the six-yard box. It was DeLeon's second collegiate goal and first since starting UF's scoring for the 2022 season at Stetson.
Hinnenkamp earned the brace in the 74th minutes. Florida's Oakley Rasmussen cleared the LSU free kick to midway of the Florida half. Hinnenkamp headed the ball to herself and then moved down the right side of the field, scoring from 22 yards on a right-footed shot. It is the second double-goal match for Hinnenkamp, who leads UF and all SEC freshmen with six goals.
For the match, Florida outshot the Tigers 16-6 as LSU was unable to register any shots on goal.
Hear from Coach Bohon:
On Florida's performance today: "This was long overdue. Our group has done enough to win a few times in conference play and it's not fallen our way, so I'm really happy for them to have a win like this. Wins are hard to come by but road wins are even harder, so this is something our group should be proud of.
"LSU has some weapons so to keep a clean sheet with no shots on goal says a lot about the mental and physical commitment we had tonight. It makes for a happy flight home, that's for sure. We'll enjoy it tonight and get back with the rest of our group and have an enjoyable film session before turning our attention to Mississippi State. But we hope this will give us a little momentum going into a crucial part of SEC play." - Florida Head Coach Samantha Bohon
Records:
Florida: 5-3-3, 1-2-1 SEC
LSU: 7-4-1, 2-2-0 SEC
Series Record: Florida leads 21-2-2.
Next Up:
It's a Homecoming Weekend meeting with Mississippi State for the Gators. The Bulldogs (6-3-3, 1-2-1 SEC) tied Tennessee 3-3 tonight in Starkville, Tenn.