College Career
Wambach received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coach Becky Burleigh's Florida Gators women's soccer team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 1998 to 2001. While she was a Gator soccer player, the team won an NCAA national championship (1998), and four consecutive Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001). Individually, she was the SEC Freshman of the Year (1998), a first-team All-SEC selection for four straight seasons (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001), and a two-time SEC Player of the Year (2000, 2001), and twice received SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors (2000, 2001). She was also a freshman All-American (1998), and a three-time first-team All-American (1999, 2000, 2001).
In addition to leading the Gators to the Final Four of the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament as a senior in 2001, she set school career records for goals (96), assists (49), points (242), game-winning goals (24), and hat tricks (10). Ten years later she remains the Florida Gators' all-time leading scorer with ninety-six goals. Wambach was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2012.
Read more about this topic: Abby Wambach
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