Special to GC GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A pair of preseason top-20 teams open the 2015 season Friday when No. 8 Florida is at No. 17 UCF. Match time is set for 8 p.m. at the UCF Soccer Complex. This is the second time the two teams meet in a season opener, with the first coming at UCF in 1998. This is the seventh consecutive year Florida begins a season facing an instate rival. Friday’s meeting in Orlando is one of three season opening match-ups between top-20 teams across the nation Friday as No. 16 Kentucky plays host to No. 20 Washington and No. 18 California faces No. 19 BYU. Last Meeting Between Florida-UCF: The last time the two programs met was in 2012 NCAA First Round action in Gainesville, with the Gators taking a 1-0 win off a second-half goal from Taylor Travis<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2013&player_id=74>. The Gators lead the overall series 12-3-1. Tune In: Adam Schick and Matthew Stubbington’s call of Friday’s match can be heard at ESPN Gainesville 850AM/95.3FM or on GatorZone.com. 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<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=102> earned All-America honors in 2013 and 2014 and senior defender Christen Westphal<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=96> received All-America honors in 2013. Those two were joined by senior defender Claire Falknor<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=89> 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<http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/2015-womens-di-top-100-player-rankings_aid36939> 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<http://www.nscaatv.com/news/2014/08/2014-mac-hermann-watch-lists>. 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<http://www.nscaa.com/news/2015/08/2015-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<http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/2015-tds-womens-college-preseason-best-xi_aid36925> preseason Best XI first team. Jordan and Westphal are the only SEC players on the three Best XI three teams. · Junior Meggie Dougherty Howard<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=104> 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<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=124> and Briana Solis<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=112> - 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<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=123> and Gaby Rivera<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=126>. · Eight were listed among TopDrawerSoccer.com’s four- or three-star recruits<http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/search/?area=commitments&genderId=f>. Four stars: Brittney Bennett<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=113>, Melanie Monteagudo<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=115>, Pelayo, Rivera, Solis and Bryce Watts<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=116>. Three stars: Marckese and Sara Wilson<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=121>. · TopDrawerSoccer.com placed Monteagudo on its 2015 Winter All-America first team<http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/high-school-soccer-article/hs-girls:-winter-all-america_aid36844> 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<http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/high-school-soccer-article/hs-girls:-winter-region-state-all-stars_aid36829> – Solis (Florida-North region), Morgan Mannweiler<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=122> (Florida-South), Rachelle Smith<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=127> (Florida-South) and Bennett (Southeast). · Six were part of their high school’s state championship teams –Bennett, Sabrina Chung<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=120>, Giovana Giraldo<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=117>, Monteagudo, Pelayo and Sarah Troccoli<http://www.gatorzone.com/soccer/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=118>. 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. UCF won the 2014 American Athletic Conference with its 8-1 league record. Florida – The Gators are picked to win the 2015 Southeastern Conference title. UCF – The Knights are picked to finish second behind Connecticut in 2015. Rankings: Florida is ranked No. 8 on the preseason National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll<http://www.nscaa.com/rankings/4158/NCAADivisionI/women/PreseasonPoll> and UCF is No. 17. Friday’s Match Info: Preseason No. 8 Florida (0-0, 0-0 SEC) at Preseason No. 17 UCF (0-0, 0-0 AAC) Date & Time: Aug. 21 @ 8 p.m. ET Site: UCF Soccer Complex<http://www.ucfknights.com/facilities/ucf-track-soccer-complex.html> (2,475) The Coaches: Becky Burleigh, beginning 21st season @ UF (436-117-36/beginning 26th season overall – 354-94-30/UF), Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak, (87-58-23/beginning ninth season overall and 34-8-4/beginning third season at UCF) Television: none Radio: ESPN Gainesville 850AM/95.3FM Streaming video: available on UCF All-Access<http://www.ucfknights.com/collegesportslive/> Admission: General Admission Adult: $5; Youth/Senior (age 62+)/Faculty: $4. Visit the UCF Ticket Site<http://www.ucfknights.com/tickets/w-soccer-tickets.html> for further information.
The Gators moved to 2-0 in the SEC with a win over Georgia on Friday night.