With 16 freshmen of 30 players on the UF soccer team, some of the newcomers were bound to have to play early in the season.
What was not apparent to coach Becky Burleigh was how fast many of them would become meaningful contributors.
"We knew it was a pretty talented class coming in, but obviously you never know how quickly they can make the transition to college soccer," Burleigh said.
So far, so good.
The Gators' (4-1-1) leading goal scorer is freshman Tahnai Annis, who has four goals in six games along with two weekly honor awards.
Freshman Sarah Chapman scored the game-winning goal in UF's last match against Illinois and collected a freshman of the week award as well.
Jazmyne Avant has become a staple on defense, and Lindsay Thompson seems to be a regular in the midfield. Both are freshmen, and all four started and made an impact in the last game.
Burleigh said the transition in speed of the game from high school to college is "huge," and picking up the speed has been an important factor in determining playing time.
"The quicker you make that transition, the more you get to play," she said. "It's pretty much that simple."
Defender Liz Ruberry can relate to the younger players who are being forced to contribute so early in their careers.
She started every match as a freshman in 2004 and led the team in total minutes played.
"I was really lucky because I had some great senior leaders," Ruberry said. "As a senior, I hope that I can only set that example for the freshmen."
Senior midfielder Ameera Abdullah knew the team, having lost several players from last year, would have to rely on its freshmen early on, but what she's most happy about is their offensive production.
"You want them to contribute as far as working hard on the field, but having them score and having a freshman even be our leading scorer is fantastic," Abdullah said.
When she sees freshmen putting the ball in the net, it motivates her to raise her own level of play.
"You never want to be shown up by a freshman," she joked.
Abdullah has given advice to some of the younger players on matters on and off the field, but she just tries to encourage them, no matter what the situation is.
For experienced players, there's usually uncertainty whenever new players join the team, and building trust and confidence in them is important.
But Abdullah doesn't have to be too concerned with these players' inexperience anymore.
"Obviously, sometimes you may feel a little wary of relying on people with not that much experience, but they've done a good job of stepping into the situation," she said.
