No. 22 Florida Soccer Team Opens Home Season Friday versus UCF
Thursday, August 28, 2008 | Soccer
The No. 22 University of Florida soccer team's 2008 home season begins with the same opponent the Gators faced in the final home match of the 2007 season. Florida meets UCF on Friday, Aug. 29 for the 2008 home opener. Match time is set for 8 p.m. at the James G. Pressly Stadium. The first 2,500 fans at Friday's season opener receive a 2008 UF soccer/volleyball schedule magnet courtesy of SUN Sports. Admission is free for all 2008 Gator soccer regular-season matches.
The two teams met at Pressly Stadium for 2007 NCAA Second Round action, playing to a scoreless tie. UF advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 after taking a 4-3 penalty kicks advantage. In the 11-match all-time series between the two programs, three have been pushed to overtime – all at Pressly Stadium.
Last season, Florida posted a record of 17-5-3, won its eighth Southeastern Conference team title with its 9-2 league record and advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 (losing 1-0 at Southern California). In 2007, UCF posted a record of 15-4-4 and shared the Conference USA title with its 7-1-1 league record. Florida is the preseason pick to win the 2008 SEC title. UCF was picked to place second in the Conference USA preseason poll.
Both teams opened the 2008 season with road matches last weekend. Florida and Colorado tied 1-1 20T in Boulder, Colo., on Aug. 22 and then returned to the Sunshine State to face Florida Atlantic on Aug. 24. The Gators defeated the Owls 2-1 OT. Tahnai Annis was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday after delivering the game-winning goal in the 95th minute versus FAU. The Knights season opener at No. 5 Florida State was twice rescheduled due to Tropical Storm Fay. The two teams finally played on Monday afternoon, with FSU taking a 5-0 win.
The Gators will be tested early this season. Florida meets five National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) top-20 teams in 2008 – with all of those meetings coming in the month of September. Florida travels to No. 5 Florida State (Sept. 7) and No. 6 Portland (Sept. 19). The other three meetings all come at UF's James G. Pressly Stadium – No. 14 Tennessee (Sept. 28), No. 19 Georgia (Sept. 26) and No. 18 Illinois (Sept. 12).
Florida returns five starters from 2007. The top returning scorer is Ameera Abdullah (4 goals, 5 assists, 13 points), followed closely by Ashlee Elliott (4g, 4a, 12pt)s. Junior defender Lauren Hyde has led the Gators in minutes played each of the last two seasons from her center back position. She earned NSCAA All-America third-team honors in 2007. Megan Kerns turned in six points in 2007 (1g, 4a). Sophomore goalkeepers Meghan Berlingo and Katie Fraine split all of Florida's 2007 minutes in goal, and the pair helped Florida to a 0.47 GAA – the fourth lowest in the final NCAA rankings.
Live, streaming video can be seen at www.GatorZone.com – just click on the GatorVision icon for more information. Adam Schick and Matthew Stubbington will cover the action Friday.
