Though the Gators are less than a month into their season, UF coach Becky Burleigh feels like the team has already been through a round of the playoffs.
With three ranked opponents played so far and two more road games pegged for this weekend, No. 9 Florida (5-2) has tried to test itself against potential NCAA Tournament teams during its non-conference slate.
But the Gators’ 1-2 record against quality opponents — including a 3-2 loss to No. 5 Florida State last Friday — indicates the squad is lucky the postseason is still months away.
“We’re going to see this team again,” Burleigh said after the FSU game. “We’re going to see teams of this caliber again, and to play teams like this at this point of the season is exactly what we need.”
The Gators’ starting 11 looked shell-shocked at times by the intensity of the Seminoles’ attack, which was led by the ever-dangerous Tiffany McCarty. The forward scored the game-winner and added another goal and an assist.
“I honestly just don’t think we were ready for that,” junior midfielder Erika Tymrak said. “They are a top team; now we know how they play. I wish we played them again. I hope we play them again.”
The result was achingly similar to Florida’s first loss of the season to No. 6 UCLA in which the Bruins capitalized on a failed clearance and a missed through ball by UF en route to a 2-0 win.
For assistant coach Alan Kirkup, the only thing holding UF back when it plays teams of a similar class is the number of mental mistakes, which he said the Gators need to cut back on.
“You try and test yourself all the time,” he said. “We’re disappointed we lost two games. The UCLA game (we had) a couple of naive defensive errors; there was a couple more on Friday night.”
With No. 19 Tennessee as the only other ranked Southeastern Conference team, Florida looks once again to have a favorable table when league play starts on Sept. 23 — a contrast to FSU’s draw in the Atlantic Coast Conference, where eight teams are currently ranked.
The Gators have won the last five SEC regular-season titles and haven’t lost more than twice to conference opponents in a single season since 2002, meaning UF’s toughest tests in preparation for the postseason have likely already happened.
“We’re right in the mix, and we’re right where we need to be,” Kirkup said. “We continue to grow as a team, and these two games coming up this next weekend will just help us in that regard.
“This team will be a lot better in November and December than we are right now.”
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org
