Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gator soccer season No. 26 begins Sunday when No. 8 Georgia visits the Donald R. Dizney Stadium. This is the sixth time UF opens with a ranked team – and Georgia marks the third top-10 opponent to face UF to start a season.
 
Sunday, Sept. 27
Time: Noon
Television: SEC Network with Kyle Crooks and Matthew Stubbington calling action.
Streaming Video: SEC Network
Radio: ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM/850 AM with Ryan Urquhart and Juan Aguerrevere calling action
Live Stats
Series Record: Florida leads 30-3-1. Last meeting at UGA on 10-31-19: Georgia 1, Florida 0. Series History
Admission: Free but capped at 368 to ensure social distancing
 
Season Start for Florida:
This is the Gators second attempt to open this truncated 2020 campaign. Positive COVID-19 tests for three players and widespread quarantines for those in their direct contact postponed Florida's original season opener, set for Saturday, Sept. 19 at Missouri. A new date for UF-MU hasn't been set.
 
The 2020 fall schedule includes play only versus Southeastern Conference programs. Each SEC team plays eight regular-season matches and the SEC regular-season champion is based on results from those eight matches. All 14 league teams head to Orange Beach, Ala., where the SEC Tournament makes its final appearance Nov. 13-22. All teams are guaranteed at least two matches at the SEC Tournament site.
 
Season play continues in the spring of 2021 from Feb. 3 – April 17. The NCAA Championships field will be scaled back from the 64 team bracket to 48 teams. The NCAA College Cup is May 13-17.
 
About the 2020 Gators:
The 2020 Gators consists of 34 players, including 10 freshmen and two transfers. Florida returns nine starters from the 2019 team that made the program's 22^nd NCAA appearance in 2019.
 
Three returners earned All-SEC honors – Kit Loferski (2019/second team), Parker Roberts (2017 & 2019/first) and Deanne Rose (2017/first). Loferski and Roberts also claimed 2019 United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region accolades.
 
Rose, a member of Canada's National Team, is the only current NCAA Division I player who played in both the 2016 Olympics and 2019 World Cup.
 
Florida's 10 member freshmen class includes four high school All-Americans – Tori Grambo, Izzy Kadzban, Delaney Tauzel and Sydney Urban. Two different outlets awarded 2020 Florida High School Player of Year honors to a freshman Gator – Maddy Rhodes (Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Soccer) and Tauzel (United Soccer Coaches).
 
Two transfers join the Gators this season. As a Massachusetts freshman in 2019, Ansley Frazier led the Atlantic 10 with 12 assists. That assist total also led the nation's freshmen in NCAA D1 play. Junior Shaye Seyffart played in every match of the last two seasons for Villanova, which includes 33 starts.
 
2020 Gator Roster
 
About Georgia:
Georgia is led by four senior captains Ashley Andersen, Mollie Belisle, Kayla Bruster, and Katie Higgins with six additional seniors on the roster. The squad also consists of 10 juniors, 10 sophomores, and seven freshmen. Returning for the Bulldogs, Bruster and junior Cecily Stoute are staples of Georgia's backline, contributing to junior Emory Wegener's success of only 16 goals allowed throughout the 2019 season, which ranks fourth in fewest goals allowed in a season in program history. She has also started more games than any other active goalkeeper in the SEC. Billy Lesesne is in his sixth season as head of the Bulldog program.
 
The Bulldogs opened the 2020 season on Sept. 20 with a 1-0 home win over 2019 NCAA quarterfinalist South Carolina. It was Georgia's first win over the Gamecocks since 2014. Junior Abby Boyan earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors and also landed on TopDrawerSoccer's National Team of the Week as she scored the only goal of the match in the 63^rd minute.
 
The win landed the Bulldogs at No. 8 in the first United Soccer Coaches rankings of 2020, marking the first national listing for the program since September 2014.