In
a battle of two top five teams, the No. 3 University of Florida Gators used
five unanswered goals to come from behind to beat No. 5 North Carolina, 5-3, in
the 2013 season opener. The Gators (1-0) claim their first win in four tries
over UNC and mark their first win over an ACC opponent.
Defense
and goalkeepers paced the low-scoring game, as the Orange and Blue held the Tar
Heels (0-1) scoreless in the second half. Senior goalie Mikey Meagher (Liverpool,
N.Y.) came up big with nine saves on 20 shots in the win while senior attack Gabi
Wiegand (Bay Shore, N.Y.) scored three points off two goals and an assist
to lead the Gators on the afternoon as seniors Ashley Bruns (Ellicot
City, Md.), Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) and Kitty Cullen (Rockville,
Md.) all chipped in goals.
UNC
wreaked havoc on the early on, scoring three unanswered goals within the first
eight minutes of the first half. The game turned into a defensive battle, with
each goalie having six saves at the break while Florida had seven turnovers to
UNC’s five.
“It’s
a great win for us,” Head coach Amanda O’Leary said. “Our fundamentals
at the beginning of the game and even throughout the first half were not very good.
That’s a part of our program we spent quite a lot of time on in practice every
single day so that to falter was disconcerting. But obviously, we persevered
and pushed through it and were able to pick it up in the second half.”
Senior
attacker Kitty Cullen scored the Gators first and only goal of the first
half off a free position shot with 20:19 in the half but the game came to a
standstill as the Gators trailed 3-1 at the break. Coming out energized in the
second half, Dashiell scored her first goal of her senior campaign off an
assist from Wiegand to cut the Tar Heel lead 3-2. Bruns followed up to come
from around the goal for a score to tie the game.
Wiegand
gave the Gators the lead for good with a goal at the 17:55 mark, and followed
it up with a goal with 10:53 to play to seal the deal. In all, the Gators held
UNC scoreless for 43 minutes of the 60 minute game.
The
Gators worked the ball in the final four minutes as they never gave up
possession in the final minutes of the game. The Gators were able to control
the game in key areas including winning the ground ball advantage 21-12. They
also totaled four draw controls on the afternoon.
With
the win, Florida marks the first time it was able to erase a halftime deficit
for a win, as they previously held an 0-11 record in games where they fell
behind before the half.
“I
think ultimately, North Carolina is such a fantastic team. They’re really well
coached and they have great athletes and as you saw, they never gave up,”
O’Leary said.
