With
cylinders firing on all ends, the No. 5 seed Florida lacrosse team used nine
unanswered goals in the first half, sending them to a 16-5 win over Denver on
Sunday at Donald R. Dizney Stadium in the NCAA second round. The Gators (18-2)
advance to the Elite 8 for the third-consecutive season and will face No. 4
seed Syracuse in Syracuse, N.Y. next Saturday.
Three
Gators scored multiple goals as senior attack Kitty Cullen (Rockville,
Md.) tied a season-high five goals as senior attack Ashley Bruns (Ellicott
City, Md.) and sophomore midfielder Shannon Gilroy (Northport, N.Y.)
each chipped in four goals as they improved to 4-2 all-time in the NCAA
Tournament. With her five goals, Cullen becomes the first Gator to record 200
career goals.
Senior
midfielder Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) also etched her name into
the record books with her three assist for the afternoon, becoming the third
Gator in program history to record 200 career points. In addition to her four
goals, Gilroy had a team-high seven draws as the Orange and Blue won draw
controls 16-7.
UF’s
offense fired off 34 shots in the contest and also won ground balls 23-14 with
Bruns recording a team-high five in the game. In return, Florida’s defense, the
second-best in the nation, allowed just 17 shots and got a solid performance
from senior goalie Mikey Meagher (Liverpool, N.Y.) who recorded nine
saves.
“Basically
it was just a total team effort,” Head coach Amanda O’Leary said. “
Mikey came up really big in the goal cage and I thought Jamie (Reeg) and Emily
(Dohony) did a great job on the two-man on the crease and Sam (Farrell) containing
one of their most potent attackers.”
Florida
took off from the opening draw as Cullen burned the defense to score 1:02 into
the contest. Gilroy followed up 22 seconds later after winning the draw and
taking it all the way to the goal putting the Gators up 2-0.
A
Bruns goal, on a dish from Dashiell, would make it 3-0 before Denver’s
Annabelle Gilbride got the Pioneers on the board with 26:25 to play in the
half. But it was all Florida from there, scoring nine unanswered goals to head
into the break with a 12-1 lead.
Senior
defender Sam Farrell (Millersville, Md.) picked up three ground balls, caused
two turnovers and recorded a draw control as part of the Gators’ defense that
allowed five goals or less for the seventh time this season. Florida also kept
sophomore attacker Jill Remenapp, who leads the nation in assist and assist per
game, and held her to just a goal and assist in the contest. The Pioneers also
scored all five goals from five different players while dishing out three
assists.
“It
was just a total team effort out there defensively. I thought that we
communicated well and we slid well on the double team so I’m really pleased
with our effort today,” O’Leary said.
UF
end’s Denver’s best season in the program’s 13 year history. The Pioneers
earned their first NCAA Tournament bid after winning the Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation regular season title and defeated Jacksonville in Friday’s
first round game, 14-7.
“I
think Florida was hands down the best team we have played all season,” Denver
head coach Liza Kelly said. “Walking into a big stage against a good opponent,
I wish it hadn't taken 30 minutes to calm down.”
Denver
found life in the second half, scoring the first two goals out of the break but
Cullen retaliated with back-to-back goals as the Gators held a 10 goal lead for
much of the second half. The two teams exchanged goals to close the half as
Gilroy scored with 12:21 on the clock while freshman attack Devon Schneider (Lititz,
Pa.) came off the bench to wrap up scoring with 4:10 left on the clock.
