Senior
attack Caroline Chesterman (South Nyack, N.Y.) and sophomore midfielder Shannon
Gilroy (Northport, N.Y.) each scored three goals apiece helping No. 3
Florida Lacrosse to a 13-7 win over High Point on Sunday. The Gators improve to
3-0 for the first time in program history, marking the best start since the inaugural
2010 season. In 2010, UF went 2-0 before losing to North Carolina in the third
game of the season.
The
Gators (3-0) held a narrow 6-3 lead at halftime but seven goals in the second
half made the difference, as the Panthers (1-1) couldn’t overcome the onslaught
of goals in the final period. Overall, the Gators took 32 shots on the
afternoon and recorded 16 draw controls, 25 ground balls and nine saves.
“There
were a lot of bright spots to the day, we saw a lot of players get in there and
play very, very well and play very hard,” Head coach Amanda O’Leary said.
“There are definitely some things we need to work on, but overall to come into
a tough environment I thought we did a very, very good job.”
High
Point scored first in the contest, less than two minute into the game, off a
goal by attacker Kendyl Gardner. The Gators followed up with back-to-back
goals from senior attack Kitty Cullen (Rockville, Md.) and Gilroy to give
Florida a 2-1 lead. Chesterman added her first goal of the season to make it
3-1. The Panthers kept the Gators close in the first half as they cut the lead
to 3-2 off a Grace Gaeng goal with 17:45 to play.
Cullen
and senior midfielder Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) chipped in
back-to-back goals to put the Orange and Blue up 5-2 followed by a High Point
goal from Alec Perry sophomore midfielder Nicole Graziano (Mendham,
N.J.) found the back of the net for the first time this season off a free
position shot with 5:32 to play before the break.
O’Leary
said at the half she encouraged her team to focus on the game plan set by
assistant coach Erica LaGrow and the Gators came out ready in the second
half, responding with seven consecutive goals in the final period.
“I
think Erica put together a great game plan and I thought we were straying away
from that in the first half. In the second half, we started to see where the
openings were, taking advantage of it and putting the ball in the back of the
net when we needed to,” O’Leary said.
The
Gators came out firing, scoring their seven goals of the second half in
succession after a High Point took the first goal of the half. Chesterman and
Gilroy found the goal unassisted to start things off while senior attack Ashley
Bruns (Ellicot City, Md.) found Chesterman open for her third goal of the
game. Bruns followed up with a goal of her own at the 20:53 mark while Gilroy
and Graziano found the back of the net for the first time this season. Freshman
midfielder Sam Darcangelo (Freeland, Md.) scored her first goal to wrap
up the Gators scoring on the afternoon with 8;38 to play.
Many
newcomers saw action in the game including freshman goalie Mary Sean Wilcox
(Lutherville, Md.). Wilcox spent the final 7:56 of the game in the goal and
recorded four saves and allowed three goals.
“I
thought Mary Sean did a really good job coming in for Mikey (Meagher) and saw
some shots and really made some huge saves,” O’Leary said.
Bruns
and Dashiell led the Gators with four ground balls each on the afternoon while
Gilroy picked up seven draw controls, as part of UF’s dominance on draw
controls in the game. In the second half, the Orange and Blue recorded five
straight draw control to start the half while beating out the Panthers 16-6 in
the contest. Dashiell also led the Gators with two assists while sophomore
midfielder Nora Barry (Marcellus, N.Y.), senior attack Gabi Wiegand (Bay
Shore, N.Y.) and Bruns all chipped in one each.
“We
got three straight wins against three great opponents in UNC, Jacksonville and
High Point and we did it in some weather conditions today that weren’t ideal
but we have persevered and stuck with the game plan,” O’Leary said “But we are
certainly ready to be back home and play in front of our home crowd for the
next three games in five days.”
