Missouri soccer entered Sunday afternoon’s game against Southeastern Conference rival Florida needing a complete effort to beat a team that’s been the Tigers’ boogeyman in recent seasons.

A chance at an SEC Tournament berth was at stake, as well as guaranteeing a happy senior day for goalkeeper Kelsey Dossey, defender Rachel Hise and forward Lauren Gaston. The stage was set.

With it all on the line, the Tigers performed how they needed and then some.

Missouri converted chances that have been near misses for much of the season and rode a rare multi-goal performance from its offense to a 2-0 win over the Gators. The victory was the Tigers’ second all-time against Florida and their first since 2013.

Missouri (6-9-2, 3-5-1 SEC) earned three desperately needed points in the SEC standings and temporarily catapulted itself into a spot in the SEC Tournament. If Mississippi State loses or ties its Sunday evening game against Mississippi, the Tigers will stay in a postseason spot going into their final game of the regular season at No. 18 Tennessee on Thursday.

Junior forward Sarah Luebbert was an offensive dynamo for Missouri on Sunday. She scored a goal, registered five shots and had three of Missouri’s seven shots on goal.

“We’ve lost some heartbreakers this year in really close games, where we’ve kind of walked away feeling like, ‘Wow, we just didn’t really get lucky,'” Luebbert said. “But I think you create your own luck, and I think we worked really hard today and the result came our way.”

Head coach Bryan Blitz said he’s been working on ways to give Luebbert more room to run, and it worked Sunday.

“She’s been doing everything else for the group, so we just tried to set her free and (told her), ‘Don’t worry about your defensive responsibilities and try and express yourself on the attack,'” Blitz said. “She did that.”

Luebbert’s 10th-minute goal gave her team some needed breathing room in a critical game. It was facilitated by a cross from sophomore midfielder/forward Bella Alessi, who delivered a beautiful ball into the middle of the goalie box that Luebbert knocked into the back of the net.

Luebbert’s goal was the highlight of a first half that saw Missouri dominate in quality chances. Florida responded well to begin the second half and registered three shots in the first five minutes of the period, but Dossey kept them in check. Her best play of the day came in the 50th minute, when she dove to her right to deny a shot with some serious velocity on it.

Dossey’s four saves secured her fifth clean sheet of the season.

After Dossey’s highlight-reel save, the Tigers regained the advantage in the possession battle. Momentum shifted to the home side for good in the 66th minute, when freshman forward Skye Kingsley scored her second goal of the season on a rebound that came off a Morcquess Oliphant header.

Dossey was ecstatic after the game and said she knew her teammates would come through when it mattered most.

“We’ve been preparing for this,” Dossey said. “We’ve been very patient waiting for our time, and it showed through really well today.”

Blitz knows his team faces a tall task when it takes on Tennessee at 6 p.m. Thursday in Knoxville, Tennessee, but he reiterated that he feels his team will find a way to sneak itself into SEC Tournament play.

“They haven’t quit,” Blitz said. “They haven’t quit in practice, they haven’t taken a day off, so for that reason I’m definitely confident.”

Supervising editor is Eric Lee.