An
eight-member class will bring experience spanning from regional to
international levels to the Gator soccer team next fall, Florida head coach Becky
Burleigh announced Monday morning.
"It
is exciting for us that we get to welcome a new class,” Burleigh said. “We have
a great senior class to replace so it is really important for this class to be
a class of people that we thought could contribute right away and I think we accomplished
that."
This
group has played with state, regional, national and/or international teams,
including goalkeeper signee Nora Neset Gjøen (Bergen, Norway), who is
currently in Portugal with Norway’s Senior National Team for the Algarve Cup.
Another international signee, Pamela Begič (Semic, Slovenia), has
played with Slovenia’s team in qualifying action for the 2013 Women’s EURO. Liz
Slattery (Cincinnati, Ohio) is a 2011 and 2012 National Soccer Coaches
Association of America (NSCAA) High School All-America selection. Meggie
Dougherty Howard (Largo, Fla.) and Savannah Jordan (Fayetteville,
Ga.) have attended age group national camp at the U.S. National Training Center
in Carson, Calif. Kristen Cardano (Tulsa, Okla.), Jordan, Katie
Richmond (Pensacola, Fla.) and Brooke Sharpe (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) all
have been part of state and regional Olympic Development Program (ODP) teams.
Two
members of the class, Gjøen and Jordan, enrolled at Florida for the spring 2013
semester.
Meet
the incoming Gators below:
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2013 Florida Soccer Signing Class
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Name
|
Position
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High
School
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Hometown
(Club Team)
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Pamela
Begič
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F/MF
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Gimnazija
Siska
|
Semic,
Slovenia
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Kristen
Cardano
|
MF
|
Jenks
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Tulsa,
Okla. (TSC Hurricane 95)
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Meggie
Dougherty Howard
|
MF
|
St.
Petersburg Catholic
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Largo,
Fla.(Tampa Bay United)
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Nora
Neset Gjøen#
|
GK
|
Knarvik
Videregående skule
|
Bergen,
Norway (IL Sandviken)
|
|
Savannah
Jordan#
|
F
|
Whitewater
|
Fayetteville,
Ga. (Concorde South Elite)
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Katie
Richmond
|
MF
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Pensacola
Catholic
|
Pensacola,
Fla. (Gulf Coast Texans)
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Brooke
Sharp
|
F
|
Ponte
Vedra
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Ponte
Vedra, Fla. (Ponte Vedra Storm)
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Liz
Slattery
|
MF
|
Indian
Hill
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Cincinnati,
Ohio (United Premier)
|
|
#
- enrolled at the University of Florida for spring 2013 semester
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Pamela (Paw-mel-ah) Begič
|
|
Part
of Slovenia team in qualifying for 2013 Union of European Football
Associations (UEFA) European Under-19 Championship…Member of Slovenia’s team
in qualifying for 2013 Women’s EURO…Appeared in match against U.S. U-17 team
in July of 2012…member of ŽNK Slovenj Gradec club team in the top division of
Slovenian women’s soccer.
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|
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Kristen Cardano
|
|
Region
III Olympic Development Program (ODP) pool player (2010-11)…Part of 2009-11
Oklahoma State ’94 ODP team…Member of TSC Hurricane ’95 Club team which was
among the 2012 Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) A top 16 final and won 2011
Oklahoma U16 State Cup…Coached by Kerry Shubert at TSC…Jenks High School
reached 2012 Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) Class
6A semifinal…Jenks H.S. won 2011 Heart of America Soccer Classic in Kansas
City, Mo., and took third in 2012…Named to 2011 Heart of America Classic
All-Tournament team…Tulsa All-Metro second-team selection in 2011 and also
part of all-district teams…Second-highest scorer for 2011Jenks H.S. team with
18 goals and 10 assists…Coached by Kalyn Reinhardt at Jenks H.S…Also competed
in track & field, recording 20-plus first-place finishes in
50-800-meters, 1600-meter relay, long jump and pentathlon…2011 and 2012
Frontier Valley Academic All-Conference selection…Will graduate from Jenks
H.S. this spring.
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Meggie Dougherty Howard
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Attended
U.S. Under 15 Girls’ National Team camp in Carson, Calif., at the U.S. Soccer
Federation National Training Center in November of 2011 and again in summer
of 2012…Member of Tampa Bay United Premier Girls 94 club team, which won the
2011 and 2012 Disney Qualifier…Prior to joining Tampa Bay United, played for
boys teams from 2004-11 and those teams won the Disney Showcase and
President’s Day team titles in 2010…Coached by George Fotopoulos at Tampa Bay
United…Member of St. Petersburg Catholic High School team as a freshman and a
senior…St. Petersburg Catholic H.S. reached the 2013 Florida High School
Athletic Association Class 2A regional final…Multi-sport athlete, running
second leg of SPC H.S.’s 4x800-meter relay which advanced to the 2012 FHSAA
Class 1A Championships…High school’s diving MVP in 2010 and 2011…Member of
National, Math and Science Honor Societies and president of Latin Honor
Society…Will graduate from SPC High School in spring of 2013.
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Nora Neset Gjøen
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Part
of Norway’s 2013 Algarve Cup roster which began Group A play on March 6 in
Portugal…Played the entirety of Norway’s four
matches in 2012 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan…Competed with Norway’s
Women’s U-15, U-16, U-17, U-19, U-20, U-23 and Senior national teams…Starting
goalkeeper for Norway in 2012 Women’s U-23 Four Nations Tournament in Spain
which involved teams from England, U.S. and Sweden…Attended three camps with
Norway Senior National team (twice in 2012 and one in 2011)…Goalkeeper for IL
Sandviken soccer club in Bergen, Norway, since January of 2012…Joined IL
Sandviken after playing with LSK Kvinner and Arna Bjørnar clubs…While with Arna Bjørnar,
played on loan for Åsane in the second division and FBK Voss in first
division…Also member of IL Gneist (1998-2007) and Øygard (2008) club
teams…Ended 2011 season with LSK Kvinner which took fifth-place in the
Norwegian Women’s Premiere League…Also played handball...Graduated from
Knarvik Videregående Skule in 2012…Enrolled at the University of Florida for
spring 2013 semester.
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Savannah Jordan
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Five-year
captain of Georgia Olympic Development Program (ODP) state team…Member of
Region III ODP team from 2008-12…Traveled with ODP teams every year to play
internationally, making trips to Costa Rica, France, Germany Holland,
Switzerland and Italy…Attended U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team at Olympic
Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., in December of 2011...Also attended
U-14 National camp…Captain each of five seasons with Concorde Fire South ’95
Elite club team and coached by Brian Moore…Top-ranked club team in Georgia
and second in Region III from 2010-12…Team took third in 2010 and 2009 Region
III Premier League and was second in 2007-08…Five time selection to Elite
Clubs National League (ECNL) national and ECNL All-Event teams…Played only junior
season with Whitewater High School soccer program due to travel team
commitments…Whitewater H.S. was runner-up in 2012 Georgia High School Association
(GHSA) Class AAAA after a penalty kick decision in the championship match…MVP
of GHSA Class AAAA final match…Also earned all-region and all-state honors
after scoring 26 goals and posting 21 assists as a junior…Finalist for
Georgia’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior…Holds all-county record in
triple jump and part of record-holding 4x400 and 4x100 relays…Three-time U.S.
Junior Olympic gold medalist for martial arts sparring (2003, 2004, 2005)…Member
of high school National Honor Society and Beta Club…Graduated from Whitewater
H.S. in December of 2012 and enrolled at the University of Florida in January
of 2013.
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Katie Richmond
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Three-year
member of Olympic Development Program (ODP) A team (2009, 2010, 2011)…ODP
Region III pool selection in 2010...Played in 2010 Region III championship
match…Member of the Gulf Coast Texans club team for past seven years and
coached by David Kemp…Only high school member of Gulf Coast Texans which won
2012 Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) Southeast Conference and national
championship…Team reached Disney Soccer Showcase final in 2010…Runner-up in 2009
Capital Area Soccer League (CASL) championship match…2011 Gulf State Premier
League champions…Four-year member of Pensacola Catholic High School…PCHS
reached 2013 Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Class 2A state
semifinal and also 2010 3A state semifinal…Team reached regional final in
2012 (2A) and 2011 (3A)…2010, 2011 and 2012 Pensacola News Journal all-area
first-team selection…Scored 40 goals as a senior and 30 in junior season…Coached
by Breck Smith at PCHS…National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta member…Will
graduate in top 10 percent of Pensacola Catholic High School this spring.
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Brooke Sharp
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Region
III Olympic Development Program (ODP) selection in 2010…2008, 2009, 2010,
2011 Florida State ODP A Team…Led Ponte Vedra Storm club
team in scoring in each of the last five seasons…Ponte Vedra Storm is a
three-time state cup champion in Florida (2008, 2009, 2011)…Scored
game-winning goal in 2011 State Cup semifinal and final…Led Ponte Vedra 94/95
Storm team to the 2009 and 2011 Southern Regionals…Coached by Daniel
Villarreal at Ponte Vedra Storm…Member of Ponte Vedra High School team which
claimed 2012 Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A Soccer
Championship and was runner-up in 2013…PV H.S. also reached 2011 4A semifinal
and 2010 regional semifinal…2013 Florida Dairy Farmers 3A Player of the Year…Scored
30 goals and turned in 17 assists as a senior…Also had 28 goals as a junior, 25
as a sophomore and 20 as a freshman…2012 and 2011 Times-Union All-First Coast
first team selection…2011 Player of the Year in St. John’s County, Fla….Coached
by Dave Silverburg at PV H.S….Great granddaughter of legendary football coach
Vince Lombardi…Will graduate from Ponte Vedra High School this spring.
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Liz Slattery
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2012
and 2011 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) High School
All-America selection at midfield…Finished career with Indian Hills High
School with 66 goals and 36 assists…2012 and 2011 all-Ohio Division II first
team selection at midfield by the Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches
Association…2012 and 2011 Southwest Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches
Association Girls Division II Player of the Year…Cincinnati Enquirer Player
of the Year after turning in 17 goals and six assists as a senior and 26
goals and 13 assists as a junior…Indian Hill H.S. won Ohio High School
Athletic Association (OHSAA) district title each year of prep career and
twice advanced to state semifinals…2011 ESPN High School fall girls’ soccer
state all-star selection…2012 Cincinnati Hills League conference player of
the year and also first-team selection for third consecutive year…Coached by
Amy Dunlap at Indian Hill H.S…All-state and all-city Scholar-Athlete…Seven-year
member of Cincinnati United Premier club team and coached by Scott
Rodgers…Also played basketball and part of Indian Hill H.S.’s diving team,
earning most improved for both sports…National Honor Society member…Will
graduate from Indian Hill H.S. this spring.
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