The Southeastern Conference announced its annual Soccer Players to Watch list on Tuesday for women’s soccer, and predictably, a few members of Florida’s program earned a mention.
Lauren Donovan, Daviana Vaka and Emily Yaple — all playing their first seasons in Gainesville after arriving via the NCAA transfer portal — along with senior Delaney Tauzel earned the preseason honor.
Donovan, originally from Ohio, played for the Minnesota Gophers for two years before seeking greener pastures. During that stretch, she played in all but one game, starting each of the final nine matches of 2021 season.
Vaka, who hails from Utah, played for the Brigham Young Cougars the past four years, appearing in all but four matches in each of 2021 and 2022 seasons. She earned the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week award last October after notching an assist and goal-line clearance.
Yaple comes out of Pennsylvania and played for the Pittsburgh Panthers for the past three seasons, scoring 10 goals during their collegiate career. She was third among the 2021 Panthers squad with 5 goals and 11 points and earned a No.3 spot on ESPN SportsCenter’s top 10 plays.
Tauzel returns to Florida for her senior season after leading the team in points (7) and assists (3) in 2022 while sharing the team lead in goals (2). She started all 14 matches played that season, averaging 82.7 minutes per match — third among Gators field players.
The Gators have already played a pair of exhibition games and will kick off the 2023 regular season on Thursday, Aug. 17, against the East Carolina Pirates at Donald R. Dizney Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. The action is set to start at 7 p.m. EDT and can be followed either on the SEC Network + or ESPN 98.1 FM / 850 AM.
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