Gators Soccer Set to Open 2025 Campaign at No. 3 Florida State
The Gators’ regular season opener Thursday night against Florida State showcases an in-state rivalry that is a tale of two cities.
Florida has lost seven straight games against Florida State and failed to qualify for the SEC tournament in each of the last three seasons. Meanwhile, Florida State enters the new season looking to return to its 2023 National Championship form.
Gators coach Samantha Bohon added six freshmen and five transfers to the roster for the 2025 season in their quest to end the program’s conference tournament drought, including Notre Dame transfer Abby Gemma. The sophomore defender was named to the SEC preseason watch list and ranked as the number 38 player in TopDrawerSoccer’s fall regular season freshmen rankings from the 2024 season.
Thursday’s matchup is set for 7 p.m. at the Seminole Soccer Complex and will be broadcast on the ACC Network. The game will mark the fourth time that the programs meet for a season opener, where Florida has posted a 2-1 record. Florida State leads the all-time series (17-13), while the Gators sit at 21-6-3 in season openers.
3️⃣ days 3️⃣ hours until our season opener
..but who's counting? #GoGators pic.twitter.com/VHIrisDGFK
— Gators Soccer (@GatorsSoccer) August 11, 2025
Bohon enters her fourth season in charge, holding a record of (12-27-13) and (3-21-7) in SEC play.
After the 1-0 exhibition win against Florida Atlantic University on Aug. 3, she brought a sense of optimism ahead of the regular season start.
“We’re really young.” Bohon said, according to the official Gators athletics website. “We lost nine starters from last season, but it was really cool to see these players step up to the moment … We have some really fun, new young talent – some proper-like soccer players that help us possess and build the way we want to play. It’s really encouraging”
Despite losing nine starters from the 2024 season, the Gators return their two top goal scorers. Juniors Lena Bailey and Delaney Tellex led the team with two goals each.
Helping boost the attack, Gators sophomore forward Megan Hinnenkamp will return after suffering a season-ending injury during last summer’s preseason. Hinnerkamp was the 2023 SEC goals leader (eight) and co-SEC Freshman of the Year.
While one team looks for redemption, the other looks to dominate to begin its 2025 campaign.
After suffering a 4-3 upset loss to Vanderbilt on penalty kicks in the NCAA Second Round last season, Florida State is once again at the top of the preseason rankings at No. 3. The Seminoles return their leading goal scorers from last season – junior All-American Jordynn Dudley and sophomore Wrianna Hudson each netted nine goals.
The Gators have been shutout in the last three contests against the Seminoles and need to figure out how to get past FSU goalie Addie Todd. The sophomore was in net for the Seminoles’ 3-0 in Gainesville last season and held a 0.98 goals-against-average.
Florida is a young team but understands the importance of working as a unit to be competitive throughout the season. It will require an instant impact from the new additions that were brought in, including freshman Kai Tsakiris, who scored a penalty kick and dished out two assists in Saturday’s 4-1 exhibition win against South Florida.
“We are ready for the real games to begin, I think we’ve all worked so hard,” said Kai Tsakiris, according to the official Gators athletics website. “And we’re just going to keep working and improving all together.”
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Category: Feature Sports News, Gators Soccer
