Florida soccer falls to South Carolina to begin conference play

Florida soccer has been on a skid as of late, losing two straight games as conference play begins. The Gators have played two back-to-back nationally ranked teams and have fallen to both of them.

The program will have eight days in between before their next match to clean up around the edges and return to the winning column.

UF has a grueling conference schedule, playing three ranked teams as the season goes on. With a week of preparation ahead of their match against Mississippi State, hopefully they flip the switch on the road before returning home.

Here's a look at the latest Florida soccer weekly update, including how the Gators fared in their previous matches, where they stand in the most recent national rankings, and what's ahead for the program.

Florida suffers loss to No. 5 Wake Forest

Florida had many opportunities against the top-five opponent but failed to execute. The Gators had the game tied 1-1 following a goal from sophomore Tatum Borman in the 58th minute; however, the Demon Deacons answered in the 80th minute with a penalty kick that allowed them to skate by in a 2-1 victory. To this point, the Orange and Blue were the only team to score a goal on Wake Forest.

"Super proud of the group. We created a lot of really good chances. That team's No. 5 in the country. They went to the College Cup two years ago and they returned basically every single starter. I thought we were very, very good. We gave them everything they could handle and dominated long stretches of the game. Sometimes football is cruel that way, but I'm incredibly proud of the group, the chances we created and the fight to come back, tie it and continue going all the way to the end." Florida head Coach Nick Zimmerman said.

"We added Wake when I got here, and it was for this exact reason. We want to play teams that challenge us and we can learn a lot from it. We want to be in these games because that's who we are. That's the type of program we want. We scheduled this. This was our decision, and I'm glad we did because this was a great game and a great experience for us," he concluded.

Gators extend losing streak against No. 19 Gamecocks

What was expected to be a strong opening statement for Florida soccer in conference play instead ended in a minimal defeat. No. 23 Florida opened SEC play with a 1-0 loss to No. 19 South Carolina on Thursday night on the road.

South Carolina's Reese Slater scored the match's lone goal in the 40th minute.

Florida, which entered the match 19-9-4 all-time in SEC openers, nearly tied it before the break; however, Zoe Main's shot attempt clipped the crossbar.

The Gators continued to apply pressure and stay on the attack, recording four shots in the final 20 seconds. South Carolina goalkeeper Christina Tsaousis was a stout defender and came up with saves in the closing seconds of the half.

Florida attempted to close the gap, but nothing went their way in the second, thus falling to the conference foe.

"Always a very tough place to play. South Carolina doesn't concede many goals and this was a great environment for our young group to experience. Lot of credit to South Carolina. We will recover and we will go again as we prepare for another very good opponent next week." Zimmerman said.

Florida will now look to regroup as its SEC schedule continues.

After the Gators suffered their loss to the Demon Deacons, their ranking in the IWSOC Coaches Poll slipped two spots after previously being ranked No. 21. The tough loss to South Carolina may knock the UF out of the top 25 when the next poll rankings are released, given the fact that there are no other three-loss teams within the top 25 or even right outside of it.