From their glory days at Gainesville Buchholz High to rooming together in college, freshmen Havana Solaun and Kim Sapienza have shared nearly every experience in their young soccer careers.
Now four games into their first season at No. 13 Florida (3-1-0), the two also share a common role on their new team as key contributors off the bench in the midfield and on the back line.
“It’s really neat to have two kids from local Gainesville making big contributions to our program,” UF coach Becky Burleigh said. “I think that helps add local interest and the fact that the two of them have been able to make an impact right away is huge for both of them.”
In Florida’s 3-2 win against Texas A&M last Friday, Solaun and Sapienza became the first pair of local players in the program’s 17-year history to see the field at the same time. Only two other Gainesville natives — Kelli Eisenbrown (2003-2006) and Karah Smith (1996) — have ever played in a game for Burleigh.
The novelty of their rotation into the Gators’ lineup has worked brilliantly, with Solaun scoring in the season opener against Miami and then dishing an assist to junior Erika Tymrak in the matchup with the Aggies.
“Havana has been involved in a lot of our goals, maybe not directly on the stat page with the assists, but certainly with part of the balls that have been set up to get the assist and then lead to the goal,” Burleigh said.
The 5-foot-4 Sapienza, meanwhile, began her first year behind the learning curve, as she made the switch from an attacking midfielder at Buchholz to a defensive role with Florida.
“Transitioning from high school to college, you just keep your options open because you never know where they’re going to see you playing,” Sapienza said. “It could be completely different.”
In her senior year with the Bobcats, Sapienza led the team in scoring with 28 goals, nine ahead of Solaun. If the Gators’ coaches called for it, Sapienza said she could see herself eventually making the change back to an attacking role as she gets older.
The defender showed a flash of her old offensive prowess less than a minute after being subbed in against UCLA on Saturday, when she was able to fire off a quick shot in transition on Bruins goalie Katelyn Rowland.
“She kind of always intended on playing a defensive role, but she still gets into the attack a lot even as a defender,” Solaun said.
With Florida’s home opener against Texas Tech (3-1-0) in James G. Pressly Stadium coming up this Friday, both players expect a large contingent of family and friends at the game. While playing collegiately is still an adjustment for her, Solaun said staying in town has given her a comfort level not seen by most freshmen.
“It’s kind of been ingrained, being able to go to school where you grew up and play for the team and play with the girls you’ve always idolized,” Solaun said. “Watching them play and being able to play with them, it’s always been a dream.”
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
