The
Florida lacrosse team had its season come to a heartbreaking end on Friday
night in the NCAA Semifinals, falling in double-overtime to Syracuse, 14-13, at
Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, N.Y. The Gators finished the season
with a 19-3 record and the program’s first-ever appearance in the Final Four.
“Congratulations
to Syracuse [on advancing to the title game],” said head coach Amanda O’Leary.
“It was a great game and a game of runs. They scored when it counted and had a
fantastic comeback. We knew they wouldn’t give up and they competed hard. I’m
proud of my team and proud of our season as this is just the third year of the
program.”
After
playing to a 13-13 tie in regulation, neither team was able to score a goal in
the first overtime, although Florida’s Gabi Wiegand (Bay Shore, N.Y.) appeared
to net a possible game-winner with nine seconds left before Syracuse called for
a stick check. Officials deemed that Wiegand’s stick was illegal and the goal
was taken off the board, forcing a second overtime period and sudden-death
scenario.
“[The
stick check was] a smart play by Syracuse,” said junior captain Brittany
Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.). “We couldn’t do anything about it; just keep playing
and try to get the next ground ball, the next draw control.”
For
the second time this season, Florida and Syracuse needed a second overtime to
decide the winner. On March 3, the Orange held off the Gators, 12-11, in
Gainesville, UF’s last loss entering tonight’s semifinal matchup. Unfortunately
for Florida, the result was no different this time around, as Syracuse’s Sarah
Holden scored the game-winner 58 seconds into the sudden-death period, securing
the Orange’s first-ever berth in the title game.
Holden
led Syracuse with four goals on the night, while Alyssa Murray and Michelle
Tumolo each had three goals. The Orange outshot Florida, 43-24, and held a 19-6
advantage in ground balls. Both teams finished with 16 draw controls.
Freshman
Shannon Gilroy, from nearby Northport, N.Y., led the Gators with five goals
and an assist on the night and Dashiell added four goals and three ground
balls. Goalie Mikey Meagher (Liverpool, N.Y.) finished with a
school-record-tying 15 saves, including 10 in the first half.
“[Mikey]
literally kept us in the game [early in the first half] after a few doorstep
saves,” said O’Leary. “She made a huge save for us from her knees as well. Mikey
played a tremendous game, and was a shining star over 60 minutes.”
Dashiell
got things started early in the game, converting a pass from Gilroy to give
Florida the early lead. Syracuse controlled possession for a long stretch after
the Gators’ goal and Meagher withheld a barrage of shots for nearly five
minutes before Katie Webster got the Orange on the board at the 22:37 mark in
the first half.
Wiegand
gave Florida the lead again with an unassisted goal at the 17:23 mark, and then
Gilroy notched her first of the game just 13 seconds later for a 3-1 lead. Tumolo
cut into the Gators’ lead with her first goal of the game, but UF responded
when Kitty Cullen (Rockville, Md.) assisted on a goal from Nora Barry
(Marcellus, N.Y.), and the Gators regained a two-goal advantage. Syracuse again
cut it to one goal at 4-3 after Tumolo assisted on Devon Collins’ goal, but
then Gilroy scored three-straight goals to close the half and Florida entered
the locker room with a 7-3 lead.
The
Gators’ momentum continued into the opening minutes of the second half, as Caroline
Chesterman (South Nyack, N.Y.) and Dashiell scored back-to-back goals to
put Florida ahead 9-3 less than two minutes into the half. Syracuse’s Katie
Webster stopped Florida’s five-goal run, but Ashley Bruns (Ellicott
City, Md.) and Dashiell notched two more for the Gators to build an 11-4 lead
with 21:34 remaining in the game.
The
two teams traded goals as Tumolo and Dashiell each scored again and Florida had
a seven-goal lead at 12-5 with 17:15 to play, but Syracuse would not be denied.
With 11:38 remaining in the game, Collins scored her second goal of the game
and the Orange built off the momentum, scoring twice more to cut the lead to
four goals at 12-8 with less than eight minutes left.
Gilroy
seemingly halted the momentum 30 seconds later with her fifth goal, giving
Florida a 13-8 lead, but it would be the final goal of the night for the
Gators. Syracuse rallied in the final seven minutes, scoring six unanswered
goals. Playing two men up after a pair of Gator yellow cards, Holden notched
the game-tying goal off a free-position shot with 30 seconds left to end
regulation tied at 13-13.
Florida
had the possession that it wanted in the first overtime period, holding the
ball for one final shot before heading to sudden-death overtime. As Wiegand
drove to the cage, she was fouled and awarded a free-position attempt, which
she got past Syracuse goalie Kelsey Richardson only to have the goal called
back after the stick check.
