Preseason No. 8 Florida Soccer meets Ohio State for first time Sunday
Saturday, August 22, 2015 | Soccer
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The preseason No. 8 Florida soccer team continues its season-opening weekend Sunday when it is at Ohio State Sunday. Match time is set for noon at the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
| Sunday's Match Info: | |
| Preseason No. 8 Florida (1-0, 0-0 SEC) at Ohio State (1-0, 0-0 Big 10) Date & Time: Aug. 23 @ noon ET
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| UFSoccerOfficial |
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| @UFGatorSoccer (Becky Burleigh) |
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This is the first meeting between the two teams in their 20-plus year histories. Florida is just beginning its 21st season and Ohio State has started its 23 season. The Gators have competed at the Owens Memorial Stadium before, as the 2009 edition of the team competed in NCAA First and Second Round action there. But the two teams did not meet in the course of that action.
This is a trip home for three Gators. The hometowns for three Gators - Claire Falknor (Dayton, Ohio), Liz Slattery (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Christen Westphal (Brecksville, Ohio) – are within a two-hour drive from Columbus.
Tune In:
Matthew Stubbington handles the call for Sunday's match, which can be heard at ESPN Gainesville 850AM/95.3FM or on GatorZone.com.
In Friday's Season Opener
Florida opened the 2015 season Friday with a 2-0 win at preseason No. 17 Central Florida. The first shot of Mayra Pelayo's career scored at the upper far slot from 22 yards. In the second half, Savannah Jordan headed in a Pamela Begič cross to the near post. The clean sheet was the first complete shutout for goalkeeper redshirt junior Valerie Tysinger.
The 2015 Gators:
The 2015 Gator team is made up of 32 players, including 15 incoming freshmen. The 15 freshman class is the third largest in the program's 21-year history. Florida returns six starters from the 2014 team that advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinal Round.
A pair of All-Americans returns in 2015. Junior forward Savannah Jordan earned All-America honors in 2013 and 2014 and senior defender Christen Westphal received All-America honors in 2013. Those two were joined by senior defender Claire Falknor on the U.S. Under-23 roster that won the 2015 Four Nation's Tournament, played in Norway at the end of May. The trio also claimed All-SEC honors in 2015 and appear among TopDrawerSoccer.com's Top 100 returning players for 2015 (Jordan – No. 5, Westphal – No. 8, Falknor No. 83).
· Three Gators – Jordan, Solaun and Westphal – are among the 63 Division I players on Preseason MAC Hermann Watch List. The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most prestigious individual award in NCAA soccer presented annually to one male and one female athlete. The winners will be announced Friday, Jan. 9, 2015, at the trophy presentation banquet at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
· Two Gators – Jordan and Westphal – are among the 58 Division I players on Preseason MAC Hermann Watch List. The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most prestigious individual award in NCAA soccer presented annually to one male and one female athlete. The winners will be announced Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, at the trophy presentation banquet at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
· The duo also appears among TopDrawerSoccer.com's preseason Best XI first team. Jordan and Westphal are the only SEC players on the three Best XI three teams.
· Junior Meggie Dougherty Howard earned a spot on the USL W-League All-League team playing with the Washington Spirit Reserves. She is one of five of the 11 on the team who will play collegiately in 2015. The Spirit Reserves won the W-League championship final.
The 15 freshmen is the third-largest class ever for UF and is the largest since 16 joined the team for the 2008 season. The group checks in at No. 8 in TopDrawerSoccer.com's recruiting class rankings.
· Among the 15 freshman are a pair – Kaylan Marckese and Briana Solis - who were called into U.S. Under-19 Women's National Team camps this year. Another duo have been called into U.S. age-group national team camps, Mayra Pelayo and Gaby Rivera.
· Eight were listed among TopDrawerSoccer.com's four- or three-star recruits. Four stars: Brittney Bennett, Melanie Monteagudo, Pelayo, Rivera, Solis and Bryce Watts. Three stars: Marckese and Sara Wilson.
· TopDrawerSoccer.com placed Monteagudo on its 2015 Winter All-America first team and Pelayo on the second team. In addition to Monteagudo and Pelayo (both on Florida-South region), four other incoming Gators earned spots on 2015 TopDrawerSoccer.com All-Region teams – Solis (Florida-North region), Morgan Mannweiler (Florida-South), Rachelle Smith (Florida-South) and Bennett (Southeast).
· Six were part of their high school's state championship teams –Bennett, Sabrina Chung, Giovana Giraldo, Monteagudo, Pelayo and Sarah Troccoli.
About the Buckeyes:
Ohio State opened its 2015 season Friday with a 6-2 win versus Illinois State, which included a pair of goals each from Nikki Walts and Michela Paradiso.
The Buckeyes return eight starters and 14 letterwinners from last year's team that finished 6-10-3 overall, 3-7-3 in Big Ten play. The team's top returning scorer from 2014 is back in sophomore forward Sammy Edwards, who turned in six goals. Junior defender Nicole Miyashiro collected five assists last season. Lori Walker is in her 19th season as OSU's head coach.
Preseason Conference Votes:
Florida was second in the 2014 Southeastern Conference final standings with a 9-2 record. Texas A&M won the league title with a 9-1-1 record. Ohio State was 11th in the 2014 Big Ten standings with its 3-7-3 league record.
Florida – The Gators are picked to win the 2015 Southeastern Conference title.
Ohio State – The Buckeyes are picked to finish ninth in the 2015 Big Ten standings. Penn State is the preseason pick to win the league.
Rankings:
Florida is ranked No. 8 on the preseason National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll.
