Gainesville, FL - A challenging schedule stands before a youthful
University of Florida soccer team in 2009 as half of the Gators' 20
regular-season opponents advanced to the 2008 NCAA Championship.

“A tough regular-season schedule helps prepare us for the
post-season,” UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. “The competiveness
of the SEC teams grows each year, which was shown last season with six
SEC teams advancing to NCAA play. This entire schedule is going to test
this team, so we’ll need to be prepared for every match.”

By the end of September, Florida will have faced five 2008 NCAA
Championship teams, including 2008 NCAA College Cup semifinalist UCLA on
Sept. 6 in Champaign, Ill. This is the 12th time in the program's
15-year history that Florida will face at least one team from the
previous season’s NCAA College Cup field.

The season begins with three consecutive in-state rivals. Florida opens
at Miami in Coral Gables on Friday, Aug. 21. The Hurricanes advanced to
their second consecutive NCAA appearance in 2008, falling to UCF 3-1 in
opening round action. The 2009 home season opens for Florida the next
weekend with Florida International (Aug. 28) and USF (Aug. 30). A road
trip to the Midwest opens with the first meeting with Indiana in
Bloomington, Ind., on Friday, Sept. 4. Then Florida meets UCLA on
Sunday, Sept. 6 in Champaign, Ill.

Florida returns to Gainesville to begin a six-match home stand which
opens with three consecutive opponents that advanced to the 2008 NCAA
Championship field. 2008 NCAA quarterfinalist Duke meets Florida for the
first time since 2006 on Friday, Sept. 11. Then Colorado makes its first
visit to Gainesville for a Sunday, Sept. 13 match. The Buffaloes
advanced to the NCAA opening round in 2008. Another NCAA
quarterfinalist, Florida State, comes to the James G. Pressly Stadium on
Friday, Sept. 18. Eastern Kentucky (Sunday, Sept. 20) is the Gators’
final opponent prior to the opening weekend of conference play.

Defense of Florida’s 2008 Southeastern Conference team title begins
the final weekend of September. League action opens with Kentucky
(Friday, Sept. 25) and Vanderbilt (Sunday, Sept. 27). Five of
Florida’s final six league opponents received a 2008 NCAA
Championship berth – vs. Auburn (Sunday, Oct. 11), at Tennessee
(Friday, Oct. 16), at Georgia (Sunday, Oct. 18), vs. LSU (Thursday, Oct.
22) and vs. South Carolina (Friday, Oct. 30).

Other SEC dates include at Mississippi State (Friday, Oct. 2), at
Mississippi (Sunday, Oct. 4), vs. Alabama (Sunday, Oct. 11) and vs.
Arkansas (Sunday, Oct. 25).

The 2009 SEC Tournament, set for Nov. 4-8, will be played in Orange
Beach, Ala., for the fourth consecutive year. The NCAA Championship
field will be announced on Nov. 9.

During the 2008 season, Florida turned in a record of 19-4-1, which
included becoming the first team to post an 11-0 record in SEC play
since the league started round-robin play in 2004. The Gators advanced
to the NCAA Round of 16 and won its ninth SEC title. The Gators ranked
No. 10 on the final National Soccer Coaches Association of America
(NSCAA) poll.

2009 University of Florida Soccer Schedule
Date                                   Opponent                              Site
Friday, Aug. 21                     Miami                                   Coral Gables, Fla.
Friday, Aug. 28                     Florida International               Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, Aug. 30                   USF                                      Gainesville, Fla.
Friday, Sept. 4                      Indiana                                 Bloomington, Ind.
Sunday, Sept. 6                    UCLA                                    Champaign, Ill.
Friday, Sept. 11                    Duke                                    Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, Sept. 13                  Colorado                               Gainesville, Fla.
Friday, Sept. 18                   Florida State                           Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, Sept. 20                 Eastern Kentucky                    Gainesville, Fla.
Friday, Sept. 25                   Kentucky                               Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, Sept. 27                 Vanderbilt                              Gainesville, Fla.
Friday, Oct. 2                      Mississippi State                     Starkville, Miss.
Sunday, Oct. 4                    Mississippi                              Oxford, Miss.
Friday, Oct. 9                      Alabama                                Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, Oct. 11                   Auburn                                  Gainesville, Fla.
Friday, Oct. 16                     Tennessee                            Knoxville, Tenn.
Sunday, Oct. 18                  Georgia                                  Athens, Ga.
Thursday, Oct. 22                LSU                                      Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, Oct. 25                   Arkansas                               Fayetteville, Ark.
Friday, Oct. 30                     South Carolina                       Gainesville, Fla.

Home matches played at James G. Pressly Stadium