Florida Gators women's soccer
The Florida Gators women's soccer team represents the University of Florida in the sport of college soccer. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They play their home games in James G. Pressly Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, and are led by head coach Becky Burleigh. In the first sixteen years of the Gators' soccer program, they won thirteen SEC championships and one NCAA national championship.
| Florida Gators soccer | |
|---|---|
 | |
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| Founded | 1995 |
| University | University of Florida |
| Head coach | Becky Burleigh (23rd season) |
| Conference | SEC Eastern Division |
| Location | Gainesville, FL |
| Stadium | James G. Pressly Stadium (Capacity: 4,500) |
| Nickname | Florida Gators |
| Colors | Orange and Blue[1] |
| NCAA Tournament championships | |
| 1998 | |
| NCAA Tournament College Cup | |
| 1998, 2001 | |
| NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals | |
| 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2014, 2017 | |
| NCAA Tournament Round of 16 | |
| 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 | |
| NCAA Tournament Round of 32 | |
| 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 | |
| NCAA Tournament appearances | |
| 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 | |
| Conference Tournament championships | |
| 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016 | |
| Conference Regular Season championships | |
| 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 | |
History
Becky Burleigh was named the first head coach of the start-up Florida Gators soccer program on June 28, 1994, and has served as the only head coach in the program's history.[2] Since the Gators' began play in the fall of 1995, the team has compiled a record of 414-120-36 and a winning percentage of 0.7579, and Burleigh's Gators teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 21 of the 24 seasons of the program's history.[2]
In 1998, in the Gators soccer program's fourth year of existence, the Gators won their first NCAA national title by defeating the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels 1–0 in the final game of the tournament.[3] The 1998 Gators finished 26–1, having lost their only match to the same North Carolina team that the Gators defeated in the NCAA championship final.[3] Players from the Gators' 1998 national championship team included All-Americans Erin Baxter, Danielle Fotopoulos and Heather Mitts.[3]
In addition to their 1998 national championship season, the Gators have advanced to the NCAA tournament semi-final once (2001), the quarter-finals four times (1996, 2003, 2014, 2017), and the round of sixteen six times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017).[2]
The Gators play in the Southeastern Conference.[4] In conference play, the Gators teams have won ten SEC championships, and twelve SEC tournament titles, leading all other SEC teams since the Florida soccer team began play in 1995.[5] Most recently, the Gators won the SEC championship (regular season) again in 2015 and the SEC championship (tournament) in 2016. In 2016, the Gators advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament before losing to Auburn.[2] The Gators finished the 2016 season 8–3-0 in the SEC, and 17-5-1 overall.[2]
Current roster
as of 2019[6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable players
First-team All-Americans
The following Florida soccer players have been named first-team All-Americans:[7]
- Erin Baxter (1997)
- Danielle Fotopoulos (1998)
- Heather Mitts (1999)
- Abby Wambach (1999, 2001)
- Melanie Booth (2005)
- Erika Tymrak (2012)
- Christen Westphal (2015)
- Savannah Jordan (2015)
Internationals and professionals
- Former All-American Danielle Fotopoulos was a member of the U.S. National Team (1996–2005), and played on the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup championship team.
- Abby Wambach and Heather Mitts won the gold medal with the United States in women's soccer at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens,[8][9] and Mitts won the gold medal again at the 2008 games in Beijing.[9] Both Wambach and Mitts were members of the U.S. runner-up team in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, while Wambach captained the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup winning team.
- Former All-American Melanie Booth has been a member of the Canada National Team since 2001, and was a member of Canada's FIFA Women's World Cup team in (2007).
- Danielle Murphy played for the England National Team from 1998 to 2003, and was the youngest-ever member of England's FIFA Women's World Cup team.
- Erika Tymrak was named National Women's Soccer League Rookie of the Year in 2013 and won two titles with FC Kansas City, in 2014 and 2014.
- Deanne Rose has been a member of the Canada National team since 2015,[10] and won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games.[11]
- Christen Westphal was the third overall selection in the 2016 NWSL College Draft, taken by the Boston Breakers in the first round. She joined fellow former Gators Tymrak, Adriana Leon, Lauren Silver, Havana Solaun and Kat Williamson in the league.[12]
Coaching staff
Becky Burleigh became the first and only head coach of the Florida Gators soccer program on June 28, 1994. Prior to coaching at Florida, Burleigh was the head coach at Berry College, where her Lady Fury teams won two NAIA national championships.[2] At Florida and Berry, Burleigh has compiled an overall record of 496-141-43, with a winning percentage of 0.7610.[2] She ranks fourth in total number of wins, and fifth in winning percentage, among all active Division I women's soccer coaches.[2]
Victor Campbell has served as the Gators' associate head coach since 2003, after serving as an assistant coach for the previous eight seasons.[13] He primarily coaches the forwards and attacking midfielders.[13] Campbell had been an assistant at Methodist College for seven seasons.[13]
Alan Kirkup is also an associate head coach for the Gators, joining the team in 2005 after having been the head coach for Southern Methodist University, the University of Maryland and the University of Arkansas.[14] Before he began his U.S. collegiate coaching career, Kirkup was a professional soccer player for Manchester United Football Club.[14]
James G. Pressly Stadium
The Florida Gators soccer team plays its home games in James G. Pressly Stadium.[15] Pressly Stadium is a dual-purpose facility serving as home to the soccer team and the men's and women's outdoor track & field teams.[15] It is a lighted stadium and has a seating capacity of approximately 4,500.[15] The stadium is named for James G. Pressly, a 1972 alumnus of the University of Florida College of Law, who made a generous contribution to have the facility upgraded for Division I play.[15]
The Gators soccer team also has the exclusive use of a soccer practice field that was completed as part of the Florida Lacrosse Facility in 2009.[15]
Season records
| NCAA Division I Champions | Conference Champions | Conference Tournament Champions | Division Champions |
| Season | Conference | Conference Record | Conference Ranking | Conference Tournament Results | Regular Season Record | Final Ranking | Post Season Results | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Overall | ||||||||
| 1995 | SEC | 6-1-1 | 2 | 2 | Auburn T 0-0 v. Auburn (5-4 Auburn PKs) |
14-4-2 | NR | Did Not Make | |
| 1996 | SEC | 8-0-0 | 1 | 1 | Lexington W 3-0 v. Tennessee W 6-1 v. Auburn W 3-2 (2OT) v. Arkansas |
22-3-0 | 8 | Gainesville W 7-3 v. NC State W 5-0 v. Wake Forest Chapel Hill L 0-9 v. North Carolina | |
| 1997 | SEC | 7-1-0 | 2 | 2 | Gainesville W 6-0 v. Ole Miss W 3-1 v. Georgia W 4-2 v. Vanderbilt |
20-3-1 | 9 | Gainesville W 3-2 v. Vanderbilt Chapel Hill L 0-5 v. North Carolina | |
| 1998 | SEC | 8-0-0 | 1 | 1 | Tuscaloosa W 6-0 v. South Carolina W 2-0 v. Kentucky W 2-0 v. Vanderbilt |
26-1-0 | 1 | First Round Bye Gainesville W 5-1 v. James Madison W 1-0 v. Northwestern W 3-1 v. Penn State Greensboro W 1-0 v. Santa Clara W 1-0 v. North Carolina | |
| 1999 | SEC | 9-0-0 | 1 | 1 | Nashville W 4-3 v. Arkansas W 3-0 v. Vanderbilt W 3-0 v. Ole Miss |
21-2-0 | 10 | First Round Bye Gainesville L 0-1 v. Hartford | |
| 2000 | SEC | 9-0-0 | 1 | 1 | Athens W 4-1 v. Arkansas W 2-1 v. Kentucky W 2-0 v. Georgia |
16-8-0 | 19 | First Round Bye Gainesville L 1-2 v. Florida State | |
| 2001 | SEC | 8-1-0 | 1 | 1 | Baton Rouge W 4-0 v. Vanderbilt W 3-1 v. Kentucky W 2-1 v. Auburn |
21-4-1 | 4 | Gainesville W 4-0 v. UCF W 3-0 v. Georgia W 3-1 v. Clemson Los Angeles W 1-0 (2OT) v. UCLA Dallas L 2-3 v. Santa Clara | |
| 2002 | SEC | 5-3-0 | 2 | T3 | Oxford W 2-1 v. South Carolina W 2-0 v. LSU L 1-2 (2OT) v. Tennessee |
10-10-2 | NR | Did Not Make | |
| 2003 | SEC | 6-2-1 | 2 | 3 | Orange Beach W 3-1 v. Vanderbilt W 4-1 v. Georgia T 1-1 v. Tennessee (7-6 Tennessee PKs) |
19-4-2 | 8 | Gainesville W 3-2 (2OT) v. UCF W 4-3 (2OT) v. Mississippi W 1-0 v. Tennessee L 1-2 v. Florida State | |
| 2004 | SEC | 7-2-2 | 2 | 3 | Auburn W 2-0 v. Alabama W 3-0 v. Ole Miss W 2-1 (2OT) v. Tennessee |
16-4-3 | 21 | Gainesville L 2-3 v. UCF | |
| 2005 | SEC | 8-2-1 | T2 | T3 | Orange Beach L 2-1 v. Auburn |
13-6-1 | 20 | Gainesville L 0-1 (2OT) v. Illinois | |
| 2006 | SEC | 7-1-3 | 1 | 1 | Orange Beach W 4-1 v. Georgia W 2-0 v. South Carolina L 1-2 v. Kentucky |
14-6-5 | 10 | Milwaukee W 2-0 v. Loyola T 0-0 v. Marquette (4-3 Florida PKs) Los Angeles L 2-3 v. UCLA | |
| 2007 | SEC | 9-2-0 | 1 | 1 | Orange Beach W 4-0 v. Kentucky W 1-0 (2OT) v. LSU W 4-1 v. Georgia |
17-5-3 | 17 | Gainesville W 3-0 v. Miami T 0-0 v. UCF (4-3 Florida PKs) Los Angeles L 0-1 Southern California | |
| 2008 | SEC | 11-0-0 | 1 | 1 | Orange Beach W 2-1 v. Alabama L 0-3 v. Georgia |
19-4-1 | 10 | Gainesville W 2-1 v. California W 2-0 v. UCF L 1-2 v. Texas A&M | |
| 2009 | SEC | 8-1-2 | 1 | 1 | Orange Beach W 1-0 (2OT) v. Tennessee L 0-1 v. South Carolina |
16-6-2 | 15 | Columbus W 2-0 v. Illinois State L 0-1 (OT) v. Oregon State | |
| 2010 | SEC | 9-1-1 | 1 | 1 | Orange Beach W 5-3 v. Vanderbilt W 3-1 v. Georgia W 1-0 v. South Carolina |
19-2-3 | 12 | Gainesville W 3-0 v. Mercer T 0-0 v. Duke (4-2 Duke PKs) | |
| 2011 | SEC | 7-4-0 | T2 | T3 | Orange Beach W 2-0 v. Georgia W 2-1 v. Alabama L 2-3 v. Auburn |
17-8-0 | RV | Gainesville W 3-0 v. FGCU L 2-3 v. UCF | |
| 2012 | SEC | 11-2-0 | 1 | 1 | Orange Beach W 2-1 v. Mississippi W 3-0 v. Missouri W 3-0 v. Auburn |
19-5-1 | Gainesville W 2-0 v. FGCU W 1-0 v. UCF L 0-2 v. Notre Dame | ||
| 2013 | -SEC | 9-2-0 | 1 | Orange Beach W 1-0 v. Arkansas W 2-1 v. Mississippi L 1-2 v. Texas A&M |
15-3-1 | Gainesville W 2-0 v. Jacksonville Durham L 0-1 v. Duke | |||
| 2014 | SEC | 9-2-0 | 2 | Orange Beach T 1-1 v. Tennessee (Tennessee 5-4 PKs) |
17-4-2 | Gainesville W 3-0 v. Mercer W 3-1 v. UC Berkeley W 3-2 v. Texas Tech Palo Alto T 2-2 v. Stanford (Stanford 4-3 PKs) | |||
| 2015 | SEC | 8-2-1 | 1 | Orange Beach W 2-1 v. Vanderbilt W 2-0 v. Auburn W 2-1 v. Texas A&M |
19-4-1 | 6 | Gainesville W 1-0 v. Western Michigan W 5-2 v. William & Mary L 1-2 v. Duke | ||
| 2016 | SEC | 8-3-0 | T3 | Orange Beach T 3-3 v. Missouri (8-7 Florida PKs) W 1-0 v. South Carolina W 2-1 (OT) v. Arkansas |
17-5-1 | 10 | Gainesville W 3-0 v. Florida Gulf Coast W 3-2 (2OT) v. Wisconsin L 1-2 v. Auburn | ||
| 2017 | SEC | 7-3-0 | 3 | Orange Beach W 1-0 v. Auburn L 1-2 (OT) v. Texas A&M |
17-7-0 | Gainesville W 3-0 v. South Alabama W 1-0 v. USF W 1-0 (2OT) v. Washington State Columbia L 0-2 v. South Carolina | |||
| 2018 | SEC | 4-4-2 | 8 | Orange Beach T 1-1 v. Auburn (Florida 2-1 PKs) W 1-0 v. Vanderbilt L 0-1 (OT) v. Arkansas |
7-10-4 | NR | Did not qualify | ||
| Total | 188-39-15 | 44-8-5 | 414-120-36 | 35-18-4 | |||||
See also
- List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members
- List of University of Florida Olympians
- SEC Women's Soccer Tournament
- University Athletic Association
- Women's Soccer
References
- "UF Identity Style Guide". March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
- 2017 Florida Gators Soccer Media Guide, Year-by-Year Results. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
- Pat Dooley, "Top 25 Gator teams: #5 1998 Women's soccer," Gainesville Sun (June 4, 2009). Retrieved July 15, 2009.
- See, generally, SECSports.com, Soccer Archived 2009-08-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
- SECSports.com, Soccer, SEC Soccer Record Book. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
- "Roster".
- "GATOR SOCCER PLACES THREE ON NSCAA ALL-AMERICA TEAMS". University of Florida Athletics Department. December 5, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
- Official Site of Abby Wambach, Bio Archived 2012-07-17 at Archive.today. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
- Heather Mitts: The Official Website, About Archived 2009-07-16 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
- Armstrong, Laura (February 12, 2016). "Deanne Rose enjoys breakout moment with Canada's Women's National Soccer Team". The Star. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- Davidson, Neil (August 19, 2016). "Canada wins bronze in women's soccer". CTV News. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- "CHRISTEN WESTPHAL THIRD OVERALL PICK IN NWSL DRAFT". University of Florida Athletic Department. January 15, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
- GatorZone.com, Soccer, Coaching & Support Staff, Victor Campbell Biography Archived 2014-09-03 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- GatorZone.com, Soccer, Coaching & Support Staff, Alan Kirkup Biography. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
- GatorZone.com, Facilities, James G. Pressly Stadium. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
