Florida Closes Regular Season Sunday at Louisiana State Sunday

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Two soccer teams on unbeaten streaks – Florida and Louisiana State – meet Sunday in Baton Rouge, La., to close Southeastern Conference regular-season action.
 
The Gators are unbeaten in their last seven matches – the longest league unbeaten streak for the program since 2015. LSU brings a six-match unbeaten streak into Sunday’s match.
 
In addition, SEC Tournament storylines also are in play. LSU is currently seventh in the league standings and guaranteed a SEC Tournament berth. Florida is 11th in the SEC standings with 11 points, followed by two teams with eight points – Auburn and Texas A&M. Wins are worth three points and ties earn a point so teams will be looking for points Sunday to solidifying or lock down a SEC Tournament berth.
 
Sunday, Oct. 26 at Louisiana State
Time/Site: 3 p.m. ET at LSU Soccer Stadium
Stream: SEC Network +
Stats
Admission: Free
 
Florida Challenging Schedule:
Florida’s 2025 schedule tops the league in both overall top-25 (1-3-3 record) and SEC teams (1-2-3 record) ranked in the 2025 United Soccer Coaches top-25 at time of meeting.
 
In the current United Soccer Coaches poll, Florida’s faced four of the five SEC teams in the top-25.
 



Program
Top-25 Opponents
SEC Top-25 Opponents


Florida
7
6


Arkansas
7
4


Kentucky
6
5


Vanderbilt
6
4


Missouri
6
4


Mississippi
5
5


Auburn
5
4


Oklahoma
5
4


Texas
5
4


Texas A&M
5
4


Alabama
5
3


Georgia
5
3


LSU
5
3


Tennessee
5
2


Mississippi State
4
3


South Carolina
4
2

 
Last Match:
Florida and Mississippi soccer teams played to a scoreless tie on a soaked Sunday afternoon at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
 
The teams played in rain for the entire match, with the heaviest showers coming in the first half.
 
Florida outshot the Rebels 14-6 and were pressing for a goal right up to the end. Two corner kicks in the final minute saw shots by Skye Barnes and then Katie Johnston, but both were saved by UM goalkeeper Taylor Prigge.
 
The Gators appeared to score in the 69th minute when Abby Gemma’s free kick from just inside the Rebel half was headed back by Addy Hess for Njeri Butts to place in from eight yards. After a video review, the goal was waved off due to offsides.
 
This was UF goalkeeper Paloma Peña’s second consecutive shutout and third of her season.
 
Paloma Peña is TDS National & SEC Defensive Player of the Week:
After two shutouts – at No. 4 Tennessee (0-0) and versus Mississippi (0-0) – redshirt sophomore Paloma Peña claimed a pair of weekly honors. TopDrawerSoccer named her the National Player of the Week and Peña earned her second Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week honor of the season. Her 11 saves at Tennessee set her collegiate high and shares No. 3 all-time for the Gators. Two of her three solo shutouts this season came versus top 15 teams – then No. 15 South Carolina (0-0) and at No. 4 Tennessee (0-0).
 
Pena picks up Florida’s seventh TDS National Player of the Week honor and first since Deanne Rose in 2019. SEC weekly honors have gone to the Gators five times this season (Sept. 1 and Oct. 13 Freshman: Addy Hess; Sept. 22 and Oct. 20 Defender: Peña; Sept. 29 Freshman: Kai Tsakiris).
 
About Louisiana State (9-5-3, 4-2 SEC):
Louisiana State was 9-9-3 in 2024 and finished tied for 10th in the Southeastern Conference regular-season with a 3-5-2 record. The Tigers lost 2-1 to Texas Tech in the opening round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The Tigers will improve on their 11th place predicted finish in the 2025 preseason vote by the league coaches as LSU is currently tied for seventh in the current standings.
 

The Tigers are unbeaten their last six matches, with wins at Auburn (3-1), Missouri (1-0), Texas A&M (4-1) and at Mississippi (4-1). LSU opened league action with a tie at Vanderbilt (0-0) and also tied at then No. 17 Georgia (1-1) and at RV Kentucky (1-1). The losses came versus Alabama (2-1) and at then No. 5 Tennessee (2-1).
 
Leading the 12 different Rebel goal scorers this season is senior Ida Hermannsdottir’s six goals and 17 points. She joins Florida goalkeeper Paloma Peña on the current TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week after turning in two goals and two assists last weekend. Senior Sophia Kevorkian has started 10 matches and owns a goals-against-average of 1.14.