The term "special teams" isn't only applicable to football.
UF soccer has its own version of special teams - it's how the Gators refer to set pieces.
Set pieces are situations where play is resumed and usually refers to corner kicks and free kicks.
When these situations arrive, they indicate a scoring opportunity; something UF has had a bit of trouble with lately.
While Florida has scored 10 goals in its last four games, the team has had a tougher time scoring on set pieces.
The Gators know how it feels to be on the wrong side of set pieces and are using that for motivation. UF lost to FSU last Friday 1-0 in overtime off a set-piece goal that started with a throw in and ended on a goal off a deflection.
"We are a team that has been scored on with set pieces enough to know how much that can change a game," senior Angela Napolitano said.
Victor Campbell, the Gators assistant coach, works with the team on free kicks and services for corner kicks. He tries to stress how valuable set pieces are, including all the nuances that go into an effective set piece.
"It's all about technique," Campbell said. "It's nothing to do with who wants it more or who wants it less.
"It's almost like kicking a field goal, you're very deliberate," Campbell said about the technique. "You set the ball down exactly so you hit that same spot every time."
Mis-aiming by even a quarter of an inch or hitting the ball a fraction off-speed could be the difference between a goal and a save.
Lauren Hyde scored a goal on Aug. 30 against USF on a 25-yard free kick that hit off the goal post and ricocheted in. Faced with a similar situation on Sunday against Eastern Kentucky, Hyde didn't hit the ball with the right pace, and it went right into the hands of the keeper.
Campbell said the real key is having the technique down pat so in pressure situations, the player can focus on just hitting the ball.
"Vic has helped a lot with teaching us the way you hit the ball, where you hit it on your foot, the place of the ball that you hit it," Napolitano said. "Those types of things all factor into how it spins, where it's going to land."
Any set piece starts and ends with the service, so knowing where the ball is going is crucial to developing an offensive opportunity.
Without the right delivery, it doesn't matter who is in the box near the goal because that player may never touch the ball.
"It's hard to perfect something that has to be so precise every time," Tricia Townsend said.
One of the main corner kickers, Townsend knows a potential set piece goal can be squandered on the delivery and that may mean not even attempting a shot on goal.
"It's frustrating even for the people involved in the play because they all want the scoring opportunity," she said.
