Freshman Kai Tsakiris Shines in Florida Soccer’s Starting Lineup
Kai Tsakiris traded the West Coast for the SEC South, choosing to make Florida her new home.
Tsakiris was the 34th-ranked midfielder in the nation and 15th regionally in Southern California high school soccer. Coming to Florida as a true freshman, she is already on the team’s starting lineup as a forward and midfielder. Tsakiris has been challenging herself with a new position, coming in as a seven and 11 at wide, now starting at the 10.
The transition from club and high school soccer to college at the SEC level has been a spark of new energy for Tsakiris.
“I’ve never felt this kind of connection with my team and with my coaches,” Tsakiris said. “We’re around them so much and I feel like it is a different bond that I did not expect that I love so much. I’ve only been here for two and a half months and I feel like I have known these girls forever.”
Immediately joining the starting lineup is an intimidating role to fill for anyone. Despite the pressure, Tsakiris has been happy with her performance in her new position.
“I am feeling like each game there is more and more confidence. I do feel like starting at the 10 is kind of a big role to play and there is no point in doing it if you’re not going to believe in yourself,” Tsakiris said.
Tsakiris has embraced the chance to showcase her creativity, taking advantage of every opportunity on the ball. She is focused on constant improvement and is working on building confidence in front of the goal.
“I am a very passionate person and that definitely travels into how I play. I am very passionate about my team, the girls on my team, protecting our team and playing for each other,” Tsakiris said. “I am also just very competitive, I want to win.”
Tsakiris’ passionate spirit sparks her intensity to chase down tackles and loose balls.
Tsakiris is optimistic about the Gators’ future. She believes that by working as a team, keeping their heads high and believing in one another, they can maintain their hardworking mindset and no opponent should change that.
“I expect a lot from this team because at training, the environment we’ve created is very positive,” Tsakiris said. “Obviously every team has ups and downs, highs and lows, there’s been some injuries and key players that we’re missing, but I don’t think it’s really detrimental to how we’ve been doing. I think we’ve bounced back from things like that and we’re staying super positive.”
Even through the team’s struggles, Tsakiris found success by scoring her first goal against an SEC opponent in Florida’s match against Arkansas.
“Some losses, of course Arkansas was tough but we did prove ourselves, we proved to each other that we can be that team that we want to be and I am really looking forward to the rest of the season and just to continue the trajectory of this team because I believe in us and I think it is going to be really fun,” Tsakiris said.
The Gators (4-5-1, 0-2-1 SEC) play at No. 17 Georgia (7-2-2, 3-0) in Athens at 6:30 p.m. Friday (SEC Network+) before returning home to play Kentucky at 7 p.m. Oct. 2.
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Soccer, SEC, Soccer
