Westphal Does It All
Friday, November 20, 2015 | Soccer, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- In the spring of 2014, the Florida coaches used the offseason to tinker some with their lineup looking ahead to the fall. Becky Burleigh and her staff took Christen Westphal, their starter in 47 straight games at center back, and moved her to midfield -- to an “Attacking 3” position -- in an effort to give the team's best defender a taste of playing the entire field with her head on a swivel.
They kept Westphal there the entire spring campaign.
“When you're playing center back everything is in front of you, but at [midfielder] it's a 360-degree position,” Burleigh explained. “We felt it would be good for her developmentally.”
And?
“She hated it.”
Maybe, just maybe, that was because Westphal (right) already had a really clear and all-encompassing picture, not just of the game, but her game. Maybe that development Burleigh was looking for just needed another year to accelerate in time for a spectacular 2015 senior season. Or maybe she was just made to be an on-attack center back, the best in the Southeastern Conference and one of the best in the country.
Whatever the case, Westphal has been a center-backing centerpiece on a rampage for No. 5 Florida (18-3-1), winner of 10 in a row heading into Friday night's second-round NCAA Tournament game against William & Mary (14-4-3) at Dizney Stadium. On her way to garnering SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors -- a nice compliment to teammate Savannah Jordan, the SEC Offensive Player of the Year -- the senior from Brecksville, Ohio, has helped anchor a defense that has given up less than a goal a game (7 total) during the 10-game streak and along the way injected herself on the offensive end, with a pair of game-winners in a run to the league tournament title.
“I really like it,” Westphal said of her dual-threat spot. “For me, it's the best of both worlds.”
In addition to Westphal's speed and prowess as a defender, her 19 points this season -- three goals and 13 assists – is the highest ever by a defensive player in the 21-year history of the Florida program. That assist number is tied for the fifth most all-time at UF (Abby Wambach's 16 in 1999 set the record) and fourth-best in the nation this fall.
“She's been great,” said Jordan, the nation's No. 2 scorer (22 goals, 50 points) and often a beneficiary of Westphal's pinpoint passing. “Christen has a given us a weapon back there that people aren't expecting.”
They are now.
The Tribe will be aware of her in the Friday match. And should the No. 2-seed Gators advance into the Sweet 16 round, either No. 3-seed Duke or Florida Gulf Coast, who face off in the other Friday second-rounder, will be well aware of Westphal, too.
It may not matter.
“With a threat like Christen back there, it's really hard for other teams to defend,” said senior Claire Falknor, Westphal's fellow all-league center back, with a pitbull mentality to match. “She's not only defending you and taking the ball from you, but she's attacking you. Forwards, yeah, they're the first line of defense, but that's not what they specialize in, so to have a player like Christen that is able to take people on is really difficult to handle.”
Westphal grew up in a family of athletes. Her father played basketball. Her mother danced and her younger sister dances. Her brother was a baseball player. Young Christen got a taste of a lot of sports, but eventually locked in on soccer and played all over the field on her way through high school and club levels.
During her UF recruitment, the Gators showed Westphal tape of former players, like Lauren Hyde and Kathryn Williamson, who played and excelled at the hybrid position center back that takes advantage of all-around skill and allows one to play both ends of the field.
“To have the freedom to come up, with others taking our spots, that intrigued me about playing center back here,” Westphal said. “I really liked it. Eventually, I just kind of took the position and ran with it.”
League commissioner Greg Sankey presents UF's Christen Westphal with her SEC Defensive Player of the Year award during the conference tournament this month in Orange Beach, Ala.
As if she didn't run away with that, Westphal has run away this year with her responsibilities on set pieces. The UF coaches settled on Westphal as one of their dedicated free-kick specialists. Good choice.
In the SEC Tournament semifinals, Westphal and Meggie Dougherty Howard teamed up to “dummy” a goal past Auburn on a 19-yard free kick. Instead of blasting the ball over the human wall, Westphal grounded a shot to the far left, where Dougherty Howard did a quick juke step that was enough to shield the keeper, as the ball rolled like a bowling ball into the corner of the goal.
The next game, in the tournament championship against Texas A&M, Westphal opted to go high -- over the wall -- and curled a 20-yarder into the net for UF's second goal of an eventual 2-1 victory.
“In years past, set pieces have been our Achilles heel, offensively and defensively,” Westphal said. “This year, our set pieces have come together and taken our team to another level.”
The upgrade in that phase of the game is a big reason for the Gators' big season. But so is the way the offense and defense have meshed together to play the wide-open 4-2-3-1 scheme that Burleigh likes; the one that gives the center backs freedom to rush.
But there is a very well-conceived method to the center back-on-attack madness.
“There is a lot of fluidity in what we do,” Jordan said. “But it's organized and it fits what we do best. It's fun playing it.”
Where most teams have defined defenders, the Gators can send their center backs forward -- and make it work, especially with this season's group -- because of their good communication and outstanding speed for recovery.
“It's my job and the outside backs' job to make sure another person is [getting] back or sitting back and that we have higher numbers on defense than the other teams' forwards,” Falknor said. “It's constant communication. That's my first responsibility because I see the whole field. It can be difficult at times. You're put in tough situations at times, but so is the other team.”
And that's the tradeoff.
The other team has to deal with Westphal.
“We don't curb it,” Burleigh said. “We trust she can make good decisions and know when to stay home and when others need to fill. But it's not just her. It's anybody on our team. We have the ability to let people get forward, knowing there is still a responsibility to keep our shape defensively.”
UF has surrendered just two goals the previous six matches, so that shape apparently has been maintained.
But this is the NCAA Tournament and things only get tougher, as teams survive and advance. For a UF team that came into the season wondering how 15 freshman could figure into the equation, the leadership of the upperclassmen -- like Westphal -- has made it all work.
The Gators are playing great soccer at a great time.
“This season has been so special in the sense of how things have all come together,” Westphal said. “It's a credit to everyone. That's the coolest part. In other years, I felt there were certain players who took us places. This year, it's been everyone.”
Some more than others. Some by doing a little bit of everything.
Or a lot of everything.
