The Florida Gators women's soccer team represents the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in the sport of college

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. The Gators compete in Division I of the

National Collegiate Athletics Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...

(NCAA) and the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC). They are coached by Samantha Bohon and play their home games at Donald R. Dizney Stadium on the university's

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

campus. They have won thirteen conference championships and one NCAA national championship.

History

Becky Burleigh was named the first head coach of the start-up Florida Gators soccer program on June 28, 1994.''2017 Florida Gators Soccer Media Guide''
Year-by-Year Results
Retrieved December 25, 2018. 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. 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 North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Tar Heels 1–0 in the final game of the tournament.Pat Dooley,
Top 25 Gator teams: #5 1998 Women's soccer
" ''Gainesville Sun'' (June 4, 2009). Retrieved July 15, 2009. 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. Players from the Gators' 1998 national championship team included All-Americans Erin Baxter, Danielle Fotopoulos and

Heather Mitts Heather Mitts Feeley (born Heather Blaine Mitts; June 9, 1978) is an American former professional soccer defender. Mitts played college soccer for the University of Florida, and thereafter, she played professionally in the Women's Professional ...

. 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). The Gators play in the Southeastern Conference. 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. 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. The Gators finished the 2016 season 8–3-0 in the SEC, and 17-5-1 overall. Burleigh announced she would retire at the end of the team's 2020–21 season and was replaced by Embry-Riddle head coach Samantha Bohon.

Roster

''As of September 5, 2024''

Notable players

First-team All-Americans

The following Florida soccer players have been named first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

s: * Erin Baxter (1997) * Danielle Fotopoulos (1998) *

(1999) *

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired Association football, soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on ...

(1999, 2001) * Melanie Booth (2005) * Erika Tymrak (2012) * Christen Westphal (2015) *

Savannah Jordan Savannah Brooke Jordan (born January 24, 1995) is an American retired soccer forward who last played for the Houston Dash in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She also played for Glasgow City in the Scottish Women's Premier League (S ...

(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 The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, soccer teams. It was hosted as well as ...

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,Heather Mitts: The Official Website
About
. Retrieved July 20, 2009. and Mitts won the gold medal again at the 2008 games in Beijing. Both Wambach and Mitts were members of the U.S. runner-up team in the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, football teams. It was held from 26 June to ...

, while Wambach captained the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

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 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

). * 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 The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

Rookie of the Year in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and won two titles with

FC Kansas City FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champio ...

, in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

. * Deanne Rose has been a member of the Canada National team since 2015, and won a bronze medal at the

2016 Olympic Games The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

as well as a gold at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. * Christen Westphal was the third overall selection in the

2016 NWSL College Draft The 2016 NWSL College Draft was the fourth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 15, 2016, at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Convention ...

, taken by the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...

in the first round. She joined fellow former Gators Tymrak,

Adriana Leon Adriana Kristina Leon (born October 2, 1992) is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Canada ...

Lauren Silver Lauren Amanda Silver (born 22 March 1993) is an American-born Jamaican professional Women's association football, footballer who last played as a Defender (association football), defender for Houston Dash of the National Women's Soccer League ( ...

Havana Solaun Havana Marguerite Solaun (born 23 February 1993) is a professional footballer who most recently played as a midfielder for Houston Dash of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Born in the United States, she represents Jamaica at ...

and Kat Williamson in the league. * Kaylan Marckese was selected with the 28th pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft by

Sky Blue FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 un ...

(now known as Gotham FC). In July 2022, she signed for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

of the WSL.

Coaching staff

Becky Burleigh became the first 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 Berry College is a private university in the Mount Berry community adjacent to Rome, Georgia. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Berry College was founded on values based on Christian principles in 1 ...

, where her Lady Fury teams won two NAIA national championships. At Florida and Berry, Burleigh compiled an overall record of 496-141-43, with a winning percentage of 0.7610. She ranked fourth in total number of wins, and fifth in winning percentage, among all active Division I women's soccer coaches. Tony Amato served as the coach for the 2021–2022 season before being terminated after 1 season and a 4-12-4 record. Samantha Bohon was hired as the third coach of the program on May 16, 2022.

James G. Pressly Stadium

The Florida Gators soccer team plays its home games in James G. Pressly Stadium.GatorZone.com, Facilities
James G. Pressly Stadium
Retrieved July 16, 2009. 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. It is a lighted stadium and has a seating capacity of approximately 4,500. 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. 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.

Season records

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Florida Gators Soccer 1994 establishments in Florida Association football clubs established in 1994 NCAA Division I women's soccer teams