All-American junior Kathryn Williamson from McKinney, Texas, is the first Southeastern Conference Defensive Soccer Player of the Week selection, the league office announced Monday morning.
Last weekend in South Florida, Williamson helped the Gators open the season with a pair of shutout wins. She played the entirety of both matches during the weekend at center back. During the season opener at Miami, she had a pair of noticeable plays. A Hurricane player got behind the backline at the top of the Florida third and was moving toward the goal. Williamson tracked her down and executed a slide tackle to end the threat. Later, Williamson cleared the ball off the line following a Hurricane corner kick.
This is the first SEC Defensive Player of the Week honor for Williamson. She was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2011 after leading the Gators for the second consecutive season in minutes played with her average of 88.29 minutes per match. In addition to her selection to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-America second team, Williamson also was part of the 2010 Soccer America MVP team.
Williamson is a preseason All-America pick by the women’s soccer website All White Kit. She has started 49 consecutive matches – every game of her Florida Gators career.
The preseason No. 9 Gators will be facing a pair of top-20 teams at the First Tennessee Lady Vol Classic in Knoxville, Tenn., when Florida opens play with No. 11 and defending Big 12 champion Texas A&M on Aug. 26, and then meets No. 16 UCLA on Aug. 28.
Both matches can be heard on WRUF SportsRadio 850.