Florida Gators
U.S. Open
Game, set pieces, match! Defense key in soccer upset of No. 2 Duke
Monday, August 27, 2012 | Soccer, Men's Swimming & Diving, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- When the Florida soccer team wrapped a solid preseason camp with an impressive exhibition shutout of UCF -- the same club that ended the Gators season with a second-round NCAA Tournament upset last fall -- Coach Becky Burleigh felt she had a pretty good pulse on this squad.
Then came that pretty pulseless performance in the season-opening loss to Miami.
“It was pretty stunning,” Burleigh said of the 4-1 home defeat against Hurricanes. “But if we had to have that Miami game to progress to where we are now, maybe it was a blessing in disguise.”
Whatever lessons were learned in that one were on display over the weekend at the Carolina Nike Classic, as the Gators played a pair of games against two of the top teams in the country.
UF battled the host and 14th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels to a scoreless tie Friday night, then Sunday erased a two-goal deficit to stun second-ranked Duke 3-2, thanks to a goal from senior midfielder Erika Tymrak in the 93rd minute of overtime to cap a very successful road trip.
“That was a really good step in the right direction,” Burleigh said.
Beyond the huge win, a key part of that step was the Gators defensive adjustments against set pieces. Where Florida gave a trio of goals in those situations against Miami, the defense this time out was tighter and more aggressive when the Tar Heels and Blue Devils lined up for free plays.
The improvement there was no accident.
Set-piece defense was a big part of last week's preparation for the Carolina trip, even though it's not the easiest element of the game to practice.
“You're basically encouraging them to beat each other up -- but we had to. We were very poor at it,” Burleigh said. “I think the players embraced the challenge. When we played against those teams this [weekend], it was a much more physical performance.”
Senior defender Kat Williamson was terrific in anchoring the back line, with plenty of help from the likes of Holly King and Christen Westphal, who played every minute of both overtime marathons, as well Jo Dragotta (pictured above), Taylor Travis and Lauren Silver.
The Gators (1-1-1) need that aggression and attention to defensive details to carry over this week, as things don't get any easier.
Quite the contrary, actually.
Next up: Friday at rival Florida State, which figures to be ranked No. 1 in the nation when the latest rankings are released.
“We'll have our hands full, but I think it's kind of the same thing,” Burleigh said. “Our offense has to click a little more, we have to continue to defend set pieces aggressively and maybe be a bit smarter in terms of, defensively, being ready for the opening whistle and not giving up early goals.”
Notes: UNC football coach Larry Fedora, offensive coordinator for the Gators under Ron Zook from 2002-04, stopped by the UF warmup Friday to wish Burleigh and her players luck. “I thought that was really classy.” ... Junior forward Adriana Leon, who transferred to UF from Notre Dame this summer, will join the squad this week. Leon, from King City, Ontario, was playing for the Canadian national team at the Under-20 World Cup in Japan. The Canadians were eliminated Monday morning by North Korea. ... The victory over Duke marked Florida's first win over a team ranked as high as second in the country since a 1-0 defeat of No. 2 Santa Clara on Dec. 6, 1998.
