GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It is the nation's top women's collegiate soccer match-up of the weekend – No. T-1 Stanford at No. 8 Florida. This is Stanford's first visit to Gainesville since 2001.
Match time is 5 p.m. Friday at the
Donald R. Dizney Stadium. Admission is free for all Gator soccer regular-season matches.
Stanford is the fourth team to bring a No. 1 ranking to Gainesville. UF is 1-1-1 in the previous home meetings versus the top-ranked team. This is the fourth consecutive UF-SU meeting that both bring top-10 rankings.
The Cardinal leads the all-time series 4-0-1. Four meetings between these two teams went to overtime, including the last three.
Match Promotions
Amplify your Gator support! The first 250 fans Friday receive a vuvuzela!
Youth are invited to come to field post-match to hear from the Gators as part of Florida's Watch the Player, Meet the Person season-long initiative.
Here's how to follow the Gators
Friday's match is the first of five regular-season matches to be televised on the SEC Network or ESPNU. Calling Friday's action for the SEC Network is Gator Great Heather Mitts and Jonathan Yardley.
Listen to Kyle Crooks and Matthew Stubbington's call of the match on
GatorVision.com.
The match can also be seen on WatchESPN..
In Last Weekend's Season Opening Action:
A six-goal weekend from five different scorers opened Florida's 2017 season with a pair of wins. First, the Gators claimed a 1-0 overtime win at Florida Atlantic on Aug. 18. Senior
Gabby Seiler put in a penalty kick in the 96
th minute to give UF its fifth consecutive season opening win.
Florida then returned home to take a 5-0 victory versus Troy on a steamy Sunday afternoon. Five different Gators scored in the match. Seiler scored her second goal of the weekend, while
Deanne Rose,
Brittney Bennett, Parker Roberts and
Tess Sapone each scored their first Gator goal.
About Stanford:
Stanford opened the 2017 season with a pair of high-scoring road wins in Milwaukee. The Cardinal started with a 4-0 win over Marquette and then defeated Wisconsin 5-0 on Sunday. Catarina Macario and Kyra Carusa lead SU with three goals each.
Stanford is the first of four Florida opponents with a player among the Missouri Athletic Club-Hermann Trophy Watch list. Stanford has two midfielders in consideration for the sport's top collegiate honor – sophomore Tierna Davidson and senior Andi Sullivan.
Stanford is picked to repeat at Pac-12 champions in the league's conference poll released Aug. 8. The Cardinal turned in an 18-2-1 record in 2016 and won the Pac-12 with a 10-1 record. A No. 1 NCAA regional seed, the Cardinal reached the 2016 NCAA second round.
Head Coach Paul Ratcliffe is in his 15th season with the Cardinal.
Records:
Florida: 2-0-0, 0-0 SEC
Stanford: 2-0-0, 0-0 Pac-12
Preseason Conference Votes:
Florida tied for third in the 2016 SEC regular-season standings and won the SEC Tournament title. Stanford won the 2017 Pac-12 title.
Rankings:
Florida ranks No. 8 on the
United Soccer Coaches (USC) poll and Stanford shares the top spot with West Virginia.
