Ashlee Elliott is not a fan of hard conditioning, but it will be crucial if she is to be more assertive on offense.
UF coach Becky Burleigh told her during Sunday's match against Kansas to be more aggressive and get involved with the offense more.
It immediately paid off, as Elliott scored both goals in the Gators' 2-1 victory.
Although Burleigh wants to see Elliott stay busy on offense, Elliott is still a defensive midfielder and needs to get back quickly. That's where the hard conditioning comes in.
"After awhile (the constant movement) could affect me, especially during the first half, cause I'm not allowed to get subbed," Elliott said.
On the few occasions she does get a break in the second half, they tend to be short lived. She leads all midfielders in minutes played with 645, good for third on the team behind defenders Caitlin Howard and Jazmyne Avant.
Her conditioning is important to her staying on the field, and she stayed for the summer A and B training sessions this off-season.
"I take my leadership a lot more seriously than I did last year," she said. "I have to bring a lot of leadership, so when I do slack on my conditioning, everyone sees that and that's not a good leadership quality."
This has landed her on the team's leadership committee.
While the team is starting to come together more, there are still areas UF must improve to be a championship-caliber team.
"To this day we are still getting comfortable with each other, we're still trying to communicate, we're still not fully set on trusting each other," Elliott said. "Even though we trust each other as friends, on the field you don't want to pass it to that person because you don't want to get them in trouble or vise versa."
These issues have caused Elliott to stay back on defense more often early in the season. As the season progresses and she gains more trust in the young defense, Elliott expects to get involved in offensive attacks more and more.
Having her in the box could bring a new dynamic to the offense, as she is one of the taller, more physically gifted players.
"Ashlee is a player that when she decides to impose herself physically on teams, there are very, very few teams that can stop her from doing that," Burleigh said. "She has that ability that no one else has."
She will have extra incentive to score this weekend with her parents making the trip from California. She credited her second goal Sunday to her mom, who told her before the match to "take a shot."
The Gators can expect plenty of advice from Elliott's mom during Friday's game against Georgia, and who knows, maybe it will pay off again for the team.
"You're going to be hearing her telling me to go forward, go forward, go forward, and not only me but everyone else," Elliott said.
