By her junior year of high school, Annie Speese’s road to playing soccer for Georgia was seemingly mapped out.
As one of the top young prospects in the state, she had her sights on winning another prep title in 2010, breaking every major school record at the Westminster Schools of Augusta and signing a scholarship with the Bulldogs upon graduation.
It wasn’t until after then-UGA coach Patrick Baker resigned on April 1, that Speese’s almost predestined path to Athens, Ga., began to take an unexpected turn.
When No. 6 Florida (7-2) faces Georgia (6-2) tonight at 7 in UGA Soccer Stadium, Speese — now a freshman midfielder for UF — will be doing more than just taking the field for a Southeastern Conference opener. She’ll be playing against the university she had every intention of calling home.
“[Coach Baker] was kind of a deciding factor in my decision when I was originally looking at the first schools,” Speese said. “When he left, I just wanted to look at other options.”
Though Georgia quickly hired a replacement for Baker in longtime Ole Miss coach Steve Holeman, Speese backed out of her commitment after receiving the blessing from her parents to look at Florida and Virginia.
“They were just supportive,” she said. “They wanted me to be happy and wanted me to go where I wanted to go. I had already looked at several schools and I had chosen not to go there, so I wasn’t going to look at them again.”
As Speese was reopening her recruitment, UF coach Becky Burleigh was trying to wrap up a large and talented class of 12 freshmen recruits.
But when Burleigh saw a player of Speese’s caliber — she scored a state-best 46 goals during her junior season — Burleigh took a chance.
“It was actually really late, so we’re excited to have her,” Burleigh said. “The main thing she was looking for was some place that could really challenge her soccer-wise and, of course, academically be a good fit too. We were fortunate that we fit the bill.”
With three goals and a team-high four assists in her first nine games with Florida, Speese also appears to have been a good fit. She immediately fell in love with the campus and was even more impressed with the Gators’ coaching staff.
“We play the same system she played in club, which is kind of unusual,” Burleigh said. “Most kids coming in haven’t played the same system we’ve played.”
Junior defender Jo Dragotta, who assisted a pair of Speese’s goals against Missouri, has also marveled at how quickly the freshman has picked up UF’s complicated attack.
Dragotta said she hasn’t seen a player come in with the same ability to assist and score since fellow junior Erika Tymrak had five goals and seven assists in her first season.
“She’s all over the field, she’s involved in everything and I love that we play in the center and she’s right next to me all the time for a little pass,” Dragotta said. “It makes my job a whole lot easier.”
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
