No. 5 Florida
scored a school-record 17 goals in the first half and held No. 10 Dartmouth
scoreless through the final 37 minutes of play to hand the Big Green its first
loss of the season, 20-4. With the win, the Gators improve to 9-2, while
Dartmouth drops to 5-1 (1-0 Ivy).
“I’m really
thrilled with the win,” said Head Coach Amanda O’Leary. “Dartmouth is the 10th-ranked team in the country.
Our team came out of the locker room really pumped and ready to go with some
quick goals on the board early, and I thought we just rode that momentum
throughout the game. Just a really
solid 60 minutes of play from our team.”
Kitty
Cullen (Rockville, Md.) tied her career
highs with eight points and three ground balls, leading the team with five
goals and three assists. Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) followed with three goals and two assists, Ashley
Bruns (Ellicott City, Md.) and Gabi
Wiegand (Bay Shore, N.Y.) each had four
goals, and Caroline Chesterman
(South Nyack, N.Y.) notched two goals and two assists. Shannon Gilroy (Huntington, N.Y.) and Nora Barry (Marcellus, N.Y.) scored the remaining points, each
contributing a goal and an assist.
Sam
Farrell (Milliersville, Md.) shined on
defense, grabbing five ground balls and causing two turnovers, while holding
Big Green leading-scorer Sarah Plumb to just one shot on goal and no points.
Barry had a strong performance in the midfield, earning four groundballs and
five draw controls.
“I was really
pleased with how our team responded,” O’Leary commented. “We have a lot of
respect for Dartmouth. They are a
tremendous team. I attribute this
victory to how hard our team prepared for it. They kept the focus and intensity throughout the entire 60
minutes. I’m just really pleased
with how they put this game together for a full 60 minutes. It is what we have been asking them to
do and they responded well tonight.”
