Teams almost never want controversy and
confusion.
And that's why it was so surprising to see UF
coach Becky Burleigh bench goalkeeper Katie Fraine in the second
half of Friday's match against Georgia.
In Burleigh's defense Fraine had allowed two
first-half goals to the Bulldogs, which was the sign of Fraine
losing ground.
But isn't it a bit unwise at this point, with
the SEC season just getting underway to make a move like this. All
Burleigh has to do is look back to when Steve Spurrier roamed the
sidelines at Florida Field to know how fragile the psyche of a
goalkeeper - or in Spurrier's case a quarterback can be.
In the late 90's the Ball Coach went back and
forth with the "two-headed monster" of Doug Johnson and Jesse
Palmer and the result was the worst stretch of his career at
UF.
On Sunday Burleigh said she was reopening the
competition between Fraine and true freshman Megan Berlingo, which
at this point seems ridiculous to me.
Especially given the fact that the two appear
to be equal in terms of both talent and experience.
And especially when the four goals the Gators
gave up this weekend were more a result of poor defensive play
coupled with the inexperience of the pair.
With those things considered I don't see the
reason behind possibly hurting the confidence of one or both
goalkeepers.
Because like the saying goes: "If you have two
goalkeepers, you don't have one."
