Gators junior Melanie Monteagudo makes a pass in Florida's first-round win against South Alabama. (Photo: Jim Burgess/UAA Communications)
Game Changers Power Gators' Bench Production
Thursday, November 16, 2017 | Soccer
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The UF soccer team hosts USF on Friday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Gators will have freshman standout Deanne Rose back in the lineup after three games away.
By: Tyler Savitsky, Writing Intern
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – With the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament getting underway on Friday, the Gators get back their leading scorer.
Deanne Rose, who was with the Canadian Women's National Team last week, will play against USF in Florida's second-round match. Rose missed the team's last three games as she trained with the Canadian team for a pair of friendlies against the USWNT.
Deanne Rose
Rose leads the Gators (15-6) with eight goals and adds a different dimension when she is on the field.
"Other teams have to respect her pace, so it makes them change a little bit how they defend," UF head coach Becky Burleigh said.
Other players rose to the occasion with Rose out.
In the Gators' 3-1 first-round win over South Alabama, junior Melanie Monteagudo had a goal and an assist. It was her first goal of the season. In 2016, Monteagudo had eight goals and four assists, and totaled 836 minutes. This year she has logged 514 minutes due to the tremendous depth on the team.
"I think it's really special that we can continuously sub and bring in fresh legs, but the level of play will never drop,'' redshirt sophomore midfielder Parker Roberts said. "Other teams don't have that."
Without a 10-goal goal-scorer for only the second time this decade, that depth has been key for this team's success.
Midfielder Gabby Seiler said: "Having that depth is huge, especially going into NCAAs and people's legs might be more tired than normal."
The Gators call the subs who come into a match "Game Changers."
These Game Changers have 11 of the team's 36 goals this season, which adds up to more than 30 percent, a significant amount of firepower on the bench.
The Game Changers usually provide an immediate impact when they get on the field.
Five of the goals have come within the first six minutes of the player substituting into the game.
"Getting contributions from everyone, in some ways, makes us more dangerous because it's not just one player you can mark," Burleigh said. "We felt like from the beginning of the season, that was going to be a real strength of ours. I think it just continued due to the circumstances that have occurred.
Florida's Gabby Seiler controls possession in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. (Photo: Jim Burgess/UAA Communications)
"The idea that someone can come off the bench and be a game changer is one that we embraced early."
The Game Changers faced additional pressure to produce during Rose's absence. They did not disappoint.
Florida scored five goals in its three games without Rose. Four of the goals came from the Game Changers, and all of those came within the first 10 minutes of the player substituting into the game. This includes Madison Alexander's goal six minutes after entering match to start UF's scoring versus South Alabama.
The contributions off the bench should relieve some pressure on Rose, who played in both friendless last week against the U.S. in Vancouver and San Jose.
Even with all the travel and training over the last two weeks, Rose is ready to help her team.
"I love this team and I love to be back with them," she said. "I'm excited to get my first NCAA Tournament underway."
Rose's return clearly makes the Gators a more dangerous team. The Game Changers make them one of the deepest in the NCAA Tournament.
