Lauren Hyde Named to National Team of the Week

Gainesville, Fla. - Monday August 31, 2009

Senior All-American Lauren Hyde is part of the first TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week. This is her second appearance on the team and first since 2007.

Hyde (Carmel, Ind./Bishop Chatard H.S.) used her first collegiate goal - a 25-yard free kick - to tie the Aug. 30 Florida-USF match at 1-all. She also played a part in the game-winning goal, as she assisted on sophomore Tahnai Annis’ goal in the 78^th minute which gave UF the final 2-1 margin.

For Sunday’s goal to be the first for Hyde was surprising to some Gator fans, as they are used to Hyde’s presence on the field. She led the team in minutes as a freshman and sophomore and has started all but two matches of her Gator career (missing two starts in 2008 due to injury). But all those minutes logged in her first three seasons came at center back, a position that Hyde admits is hard to get involved in the attack. Her previous appearance on the TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week was as the national player of the week after providing the Gators with key defensive play in the 2007 regular-season wins versus USF and Florida State.

But this year, Hyde has moved to the midfield and the position allows her to get involved in the attack more often.

Hyde is a three-time All-Southeastern Conference selection and is part of the 2009 Preseason All-SEC team. Last week, Hyde was named one of the 30 candidates for the 2009 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.

The Gators (3-0, 0-0 SEC) head to the Midwest next weekend for a pair of matches. First, Florida will play in Hyde’s home state as the team faces Indiana (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten) on Friday, Sept. 4 at 1 p.m. The Hoosiers were 1-0 winners over Central Michigan Sunday. Then the Gators heads to Champaign, Ill., to face No. 9 UCLA (1-1-1, 0-0 Pac 10) on Sunday, Sept. 6 at noon. Both matches can be heard on www.GatorZone.com and Sunday’s match can also be heard live on AM 850 WRUF.