After returning home from being on the road for five games, the Gators won their fourth conference game 2-0 in an aggressive match against the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters.

“It does feel really good to win at home just to show the audience that we’re here just to get that “W” and to move forward,” junior Anisa Mahram said.

Junior forward Michelle Kay was responsible for putting both goals in the net for the Gators today, landing each just below the top of the post.

“It feels amazing (scoring both goals), especially against Monterey,” she said. “I’ve been injured so it’s a great comeback for me.”

Not only did players on each team slip continuously on Cox Stadium’s wet field, but their combative game play kept the referees busy with foul calls, resulting in double-digit foul counts for both teams by the end of the match.

“I thought it was very aggressive (game),” head coach Jack Hyde said. “There was a lot of competition between players out there. It was good, healthy competition, but it was tougher than a lot of games we’ve played.”

Despite the rough conditions, the Gators adjusted successfully to the wet field and aggressive opponents with that victory in mind.

“We decided to come off hard, so they know that we’re here to play. We’re gonna be tough and we’re not gonna let them get to us,” Mahram said.

Today’s match not only gave the Gator’s their sixth overall win, it also recorded senior goalkeeper Annicia Jones‘ third shutout match for the season.

The Gators will finish the rest of their conference game schedule at home, which is something Hyde, Kay and Mahram are looking forward to.

“We’re trying to win the rest of our games,” Kay said. “It sucks that we didn’t start out too well, but we came so far. We gotta come out strong in the end to show them that they played the wrong team at the beginning.”

Their home game stretch-to-the-end continues on Oct. 21, when the Gators play a rematch against Cal Poly Pomona at 2 p.m.

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