It is a significant accomplishment for a soccer player to surpass her minute total from the previous season in less than seven games.
Maggie Rodgers not only accomplished this feat, but did so while seeing time at a position she had never played before.
As a four-year starter for Gulf Breeze High School, Rodgers was an all-county selection each year as a forward, and a Class 4A All-State first-team member and honorable mention selection in 2009.
As a freshman last season, Rodgers appeared in 17 of the Gators’ games, but never for more than 44 minutes.
“Coming to college, it was definitely a change,” Rodgers said. “Everyone was you. Everyone came from high school where they were the big stars in their hometown, and it gets a little more competitive, and that was something I was not used to back home.”
According to Gators associate head coach Victor Campbell, heading into this season, Rodgers was in a position where she would have to wait another year before seeing significant time at forward, so he approached her about switching to outside back.
“At first I told him, ‘I don’t want to do it’,” Rodgers said.
She eventually changed her mind, and started playing defense in Summer B practices and during the preseason. She told Campbell she trusted him if he thought the switch was best for her.
Campbell said Rodgers possesses several attributes of an elite outside back, including good athleticism, the ability to get up and down the field and strong technical skills.
In Florida’s 7-2 win against Kansas on Sunday, Rodgers recorded her first two points of the season, both of which were assists on crosses to forward Tahnai Annis.
Opportunities such as those will not be uncommon with Rodgers’ ability, according to Campbell.
“Because the other team’s defenses are set in locking down our midfielders and forwards there’s rarely any tracking on the outside backs, “ he said.
Thus, having a player with ball skills such as Rodgers’ can help the Gators’ attack when the defense fails to pick her up.
“The way I’ve scored a lot of my goals in the past is from crosses and getting balls served in from our outside backs,” Annis said.
“It benefits us if we are getting more crosses off during games. It’s where we’ve generated a lot of offense in the past.”
Rodgers said she has grown to like her new position better than forward because it allows her to play the game at a slower pace and stay focused on her responsibilities.
Campbell said Rodgers has much more to learn about the position, but if she keeps up her current pace, she could be special.
“If she really wants to do it,” he said, “she has a good future here as an outside back.”
Maggie Rodgers never played on defense before coming to Florida, but the sophomore is making the switch in order to see more playing time.
