Four
Gators scored multiple goals to help lead No. 3 Florida lacrosse to a 17-7 win
over UAlbany Sunday at Donald R. Dizney Stadium. The Gators improve to 6-0 with
the win with help from leading scorer sophomore midfielder Shannon Gilroy
(Northport, N.Y.), who recorded five goals and a career-high and UF single-game
high eight draw controls in the effort.
Gilroy,
senior attack Ashley Bruns (Ellicot City, Md.), senior attack Kitty
Cullen (Rockville, Md.) and senior midfielder Brittany Dashiell all
chipped in at least two goals apiece to help UF on the afternoon. Gilroy’s
eight draw controls bested her previous high of seven she recorded three times
in her career. The eight draw controls also pushed her career total to 104, as
she becomes the second Gator to record 100 in her career.
“She
(Gilroy) dominated the draw and that’s what she does,” Head coach Amanda O’Leary
said. “She is not only a threat on the draw but offensively. She has been
getting better and better on those draws and at the beginning of the season she
was hesitant going after ground balls but today she stayed with the ball and
picked them up and got the momentum going for us.”
Bruns
recorded her second-straight game with four goals as she chipped in five points
total for the afternoon. Cullen added a hat trick for the Gators while
Dashiell found the back of the net twice in the win. Senior attack Caroline
Chesterman (South Nyack, N.Y.) led with three ground balls on the afternoon
as part of the Gators 21 ground balls on the day.
The
Gators led the Great Danes in draw controls (21-4) and ground balls (21-17) on
the afternoon, helping swing the offensive momentum into their favor. UF was
also 3-for-5 on free position attempts with Dashiell going 2-for-2.
Florida
took an early 3-0 lead with all three goals in a 1:30 span, started by Dashiell
with her free position goal with 26:53 left in the first half followed by back-to-back
goals from Gilroy. UAlbany’s Rachel Bowles got them on the board on a free
position shot at the 19:53 mark, but UF scored the next four goals en route to
a 7-1 lead.
Bruns
added back-to-back goals at 9:03 and 5:34 as UF would go on to score the final
three of four goals in the first half, taking a 12-4 halftime lead. Albany was
held the 14 shots on the day, seven in each half and were led by Bowles with
four goals and Allie Phelan with two.
The
teams exchanged goals to start the second half but Dashiell’s free position
shot put the Gators up 10 just four minutes into the half. Sophomore
midfielders Nicole Graziano (Mendham, N.J.) and Nora Barry (Marcellus,
N.Y.) along with freshman attack Lauren Lea (Elkridge, Md.) all scored a
goal for the Gators. The Gators now improve to 2-0 all-time over the Great
Danes and have a perfect 6-0 record against opponents in the American East
Conference.
“I
thought we came out and played really, really well,” O’Leary said. “We
got out to a really solid start and we went well over 50 percent shooting,
which I know is one of the goals for our attack. I thought defensively we
played very, very well and overall I’m just really pleased”
Florida
is back in action on Saturday as it travels to Miami to take part in the Orange
Bowl Classic with a meeting against rival No. 6 Syracuse at Sun Life Stadium. The
Orangemen and Gators previously met in the NCAA Final Four, where SU won 14-13
in overtime. Opening draw is set for 5 p.m. on Sun Sports with Larry Vettel and
M.C. McFadden on the call.
