No.
5 seed Florida open up NCAA Tournament play against the Denver Pioneers on
Sunday. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
Florida
(17-2) is 3-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and are making their third
consecutive appearance in the postseason in the program’s four year history.
UF has played all opening round games at Dizney Stadium and are 3-1 at home in
the postseason. The Gators are led by senior attack Kitty Cullen (Rockville,
Md.) who had 61 points on the season with 43 goals and 18 assists. Senior
attack Ashley Bruns (Ellicott City, Md.) and sophomore attack Shannon
Gilroy (Northport, N.Y.) are tied for the team-high 46 goals. Cullen and
senior midfielder Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air Md.) each have a team-high
18 assists.
Tewaaraton
finalist Mikey Meagher (Liverpool, N.Y.) anchors the Florida defense,
one that allows just 6.58 goals per game. Meagher has recorded 104 saves and a
.495 save percentage on the season. She is backed by senior defender Sam
Farrell (Millersville, Md.) who has a team-high 22 caused turnovers and
senior defender Emily Dohony (Parkton, Md.) who leads with 32 ground
balls.
Florida
leads the all-time series between the two teams, 1-0, having met previously in
Gainesville on February 20, 2011. The then.-No. 17 Gators handled the Pioneers
15-7 behind Cullen’s eight points. Both teams are ranked in this week’s national
polls with the Gators coming in at 4/4 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll and
ILWomen.com/deBeer Media Poll while Denver is 13/18 respectively.
The
Gators are coming into Sunday’s contest after dropping an 8-3 decision to
Northwestern in the American Lacrosse Conference Championship last Saturday in
Baltimore, Md.
Denver
(18-2) advances to Sunday’s second round action after defeating Jacksonville
14-7 on Friday in the team’s first ever NCAA win. The Pioneers, who began play in 1999, will play in their
first NCAA tournament on an at large bid after winning the Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation regular season title. Denver held a 15-game win streak since
February 24 before it fell in the MPSF title game to Stanford. They are led by
sophomore attack Jill Remenapp who is third in the nation in points (105) and
assists (69). She also has 36 goals on the season with 13 ground balls and 14
caused turnovers. Redshirt senior attacker Kara Secora paces the Pioneers with
55 goals and sophomore midfielder Kiki Boone is the team’s draw control
specialist with 51 on the season.
Senior defender Kate
Henrich leads the defense, one that allows just 8.68 goals per game, and leads
with 59 ground balls and an astounding 65 caused turnovers. Redshirt sophomore
goalie Hannah Hook has recorded 173 saves for the second-best save percentage
in the nation, .524, and holds an 8.61 goals against average.
