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Florida Gator soccer opens practice for 2013 season
The Gator soccer team kicked off the campaign with their first training session at Florida’s Lacrosse/Soccer Complex.
During
the 2012 season, Florida turned in a record of 19-5-1 and won both the
Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament titles. Florida
will start the 2013 season ranked one spot below the rank it held on
the BennettRank at the end of the 2012 season - No. 5.
The 2013
Gator roster runs 27 deep. The 2013 Florida roster is fairly even
between upper and lower classmen, as 15 are either freshmen or
sophomores while the remaining 12 are juniors or seniors. Florida
returns six starters from the 2012 team that reached the NCAA Third
Round. The Gators return two who have earned All-SEC honors during
their careers – senior Taylor Travis (2010 All-SEC second team) and
sophomore Christen Westphal (2012 All-SEC second team). Junior Havana
Solaun, who is part of the U.S. Under-23 National Team player pool, was
second among the 2012 Gators with 22 points off of seven goals and
eight assists. Fellow junior Annie Speese was fourth in 2012 with 16
points after turning in six goals and four assists.
The
eight-member freshman class has played with state, regional, national
and/or international teams, including goalkeeper signee Nora Neset
Gjøen (Bergen, Norway). Gjøen spent the summer with Norway’s Senior
National team who finished as the 2013 EURO Championships runner-up.
Another international signee, Pamela Begič (Semic, Slovenia), played
with Slovenia’s team in qualifying action for the 2013 Women’s EURO.
Liz Slattery (Cincinnati, Ohio) is a 2011 and 2012 National Soccer
Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) High School All-America
selection. Meggie Dougherty Howard (Largo, Fla.) and Savannah Jordan
(Fayetteville, Ga.) have attended age group national camp at the U.S.
National Training Center in Carson, Calif. Kristen Cardano
(Tulsa, Okla.), Jordan, Katie Richmond (Pensacola, Fla.) and Brooke
Sharpe (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) all have been part of state and regional
Olympic Development Program (ODP) teams.
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