No. 9 Florida Soccer Team at Florida International Sunday
Sunday, August 21, 2011 | Soccer
The No. 9 University of Florida soccer team continues its stay in south Florida to meet Florida International on Sunday, Aug. 21. Match time is set for 7 p.m. at the FIU Soccer Stadium. Sunday's match can be heard live on Gatorzone.com.
| Sunday's Match Info: |
| Florida at Florida International
Preseason No. 9 Florida (1-0-0, 0-0-0 SEC) at Florida International (0-1-0, 0-0-0 SBC) Date & Time: Aug. 21, 2011 @ 7 p.m. ET The Coaches: Becky Burleigh, 17th season @ UF (366-95-32/21st season overall - 284-72-26/UF), Thomas Chestnutt, 18-30-9/ fourth season overall and at FIU Television: none Radio: none Internet: live stats and audio for UF-FIU match available on www.GatorZone.com Tickets: $5 for adults; $3 for kids. For more information, contact the FIU Ticket Office at (305) FIU-GAME |
The Gators opened the 2011 season Friday, using goals from sophomore Taylor Travis and freshman Havana Solaun to take a 2-0 win at Miami. It was the second consecutive meeting between the two teams that Travis has scored, as in 2010 she gave Florida a golden goal in the 107th minute to give UF a 2-1 2OT win in the season opener. Solaun, a product of Gainesville's Buchholz High School, became the ninth Gator in the program's 17th year history to score in the opening match of her freshman year.
Sunday's match is the home opener for the Panthers, as they lost 2-1 at Stetson Friday in their season opener. In 2010, FIU turned in a 11-9-1 record and finished fourth in the Sun Belt with a 7-4 slate. Sophomore Chelsea Leiva, the 2010 co-SBC Freshman of the Year and the preseason pick for the 2011 SBC Player of the Year, led the Panthers last year with 10 goals and 2 assists for 22 points. Two on the FIU coaching staff have ties to the Gators. FIU Head Coach Thomas Chestnutt worked with the Gator soccer team as a student coach from 2001-04 while he was working toward his Ph.D. in environmental engineering at UF. Graduate assistant coach Ameera Abdullah earned All-America honors as a sophomore and senior during her Gator career (2005-08).
The Gators open the 2011 season ranked No. 9 on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) preseason poll. It is the 15th consecutive season that Florida appears in the NSCAA preseason poll in the program's 17-year history.
Florida is picked to repeat as the Southeastern Conference champions in the preseason vote by the league coaches. FIU was picked to finish second behind Denver in a preseason vote by the Sun Belt Conference coaches. The Gators have won 11 SEC titles, including the last four, since the program started in 1995.
Sunday's match can be heard live with Adam Schick calling the action on www.GatorZone.com.
