Florida’s goalkeeper Katie Fraine discusses her two last-minute saves against Miami
The Florida Gators women’s soccer team was clinging to its 1-0 lead over Miami Friday night in the 2009 season opener at Coral Gables when the referees called a hand ball on Florida in the 89th minute just outside the 18-yard box.
The Gators were unhappy with the call and persistent in their protest. But goalkeeper Katie Fraine tried not to react – she had work to do.
As the goalkeeper, Fraine is charged with setting up the “wall” that the Gators put out in front of Fraine to defend the free kick. Two Miami players lined up on the ball and Fraine called for a three-man wall.
Fraine thought Miami was going to take a shot and keyed her attention on Miami’s Brittney Steinbruch, No. 13 in your program. But instead of a shot, Miami used a “dummy” play – the first player allowed the ball to go through her legs and the second, Steinbruch, shot.
Fraine adjusted in time to make the save.
“It ended up not being too hard to handle,” Fraine said before practice Monday. “If the wall can’t stop the shot, they’re supposed to make it easy for me to defend, and that’s what happened.”
Fraine punted the ball away, but it wasn’t another minute before Steinbruch was back again, splitting defenders and taking her second shot on goal in the dwindling minutes of the game. This time, the shot came from 22 yards out and Fraine “front-smothered” the ball.
“Basically, you front-smother if the shot is hard and on the ground, or if you’re trying to waste time,” Fraine said. “We were trying to waste a little time.”
As she boomed the ball away again, Fraine knew she had secured the 1-0 victory for the young Gators.
Head coach Becky Burleigh believes that Fraine’s confidence in those two situations is contagious.
“Katie is a player with a lot of confidence, and she’s always been that way,” Burleigh said. “She really gives that confidence to the players around her.
Part of Fraine’s confidence comes from the time that the team spends practicing free-kick situations near the goal. According to Fraine, about 80 percent of goals in women’s college soccer are scored from set plays like the one in the 89th minute against Miami.
The Florida team won’t let a statistic like that find its way through the wall.
Another part of the confidence comes from being installed as the full-time starter. Last season, Fraine split time with Meghan Berlingo, but Berlingo transferred to Washington State in January.
“We both felt we were good enough to start here,” Fraine said, “but obviously, she left and I didn’t. It does make life easier for the both of us.”
But just because Berlingo is gone doesn’t mean that Fraine will relax. She knows that she’ll be pulled if she makes even a couple of mistakes in the game. With the talent on the Florida roster, no job is secure.
But it sure doesn’t hurt saving the game twice in the last two minutes.
Deepest team yet? Burleigh was singing the praises of her freshman class on Monday.
“This is a fantastic class,” she said. “This is the deepest team we have had.”
That’s strong praise considering each of the last three of Burleigh’s teams have won SEC Championships. She said that there is competition for playing time at every position.
Two freshmen, Kathryn Williamson (a redshirt) and Erika Tymrak, started Friday’s game at Miami. Four other freshmen came in as substitutes.
Looking ahead: Although Burleigh liked much of what she saw from her team on Friday, she said they have a lot of work to do before their next two games.
The games, both of which are at home, will be on Friday against Florida International and Sunday against South Florida.
“Most importantly, we need to get better defensively,” Burleigh said. “There were too many breakdowns in our defense.”
Burleigh wasn’t happy about Miami’s many opportunities, especially toward the end of the game. Miami had 14 shots – the same as Florida – but just four shots on goal.
“We can’t expect to be able to play that way again and win,” Burleigh said. As for the offense, “It’s coming along.”
Getting to work: Burleigh likes to live by the rule that if you’re on time, you’re five minutes late. So to avoid getting stuck in traffic, she started riding scooters about five years ago.
Mary Howard, Florida’s soccer information director, indicated that “Becky has been riding scooters since before it was cool.”
The ride? It’s a classic white Vespa with tan leather seats. The scooter’s name is Pearl.
And yes, Burleigh wears a helmet.