An unranked Miami team outpaced then-No. 21 Florida last Friday, but coach Becky Burleigh doesn’t believe UF’s season-opening 4-1 loss was the result of a lack of effort.
She’s already pegged two areas in which the Gators (0-1) need to improve: communication and organization.
“It’s hard to convert when your team is not organized,” Burleigh said. “Some of that has to go to the coaching staff and some of that has to go to the players’ abilities to make changes during a game. We have to be able to adjust on the fly when things don’t go exactly as we planned.”
In preparation for a grueling stretch against No. 14 North Carolina (0-1) tonight at 7 and No. 2 Duke (2-0) on Sunday at the Carolina Nike Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C., Burleigh emphasized chemistry and trusting UF’s system of play to her team throughout the week.
“Both of the practices this week, it’s been concentrating on set pieces and staying with your man and bodying up and all the little things,” senior midfielder Holly King said. “As a team, we’ve definitely gotten better. We just learned from it.”
The Gators’ lack of defensive coherence on set pieces sparked the Hurricanes. Confusion from sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Burke and the back line during corner kicks led to Miami headers in the 12th and 32nd minutes.
A miscommunication on a clearance attempt resulted in UM’s second goal, a 3-yard tap in by Kate Howarth in the 17th minute.
Florida also had trouble communicating offensively, tallying only one shot on goal in the first half as it fell into a 3-0 hole.
“We have to stay patient. For us, our offense stems from our defense,” King said. “If we go hard at everything and our offense is helping us as a team, that’s just how it’s going to start our attack.”
The Gators are looking to get back on track against the short-handed Tar Heels, who have starting forwards Kealia Ohai and Crystal Dunn competing for the U.S. national team at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. UNC fell to Portland in a 1-0 upset last Friday.
“[UNC is] pretty high octane,” Burleigh said. “They’re going to go 100 miles an hour, and we’re going to have to deal with that pressure.”
Injury Report: According to Burleigh, junior outside back Maggie Rodgers will sit out this weekend as she continues to nurse an ankle injury. Last season, Rodgers started in 16 matches and logged 1,554 minutes, eighth most on the team.
Burleigh also said Tuesday that sophomore midfielder Annie Speese, who sprained her right ankle last Friday night in a collision, would see the field tonight.
