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#9 Gators Down Owls

Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in , , , .

via UF press release/website, by Katie Callahan, picture by Mark Powell

BOX SCORE

Three Florida players record hat tricks in the victory

PHILADELPHIA – The ninth-ranked Florida lacrosse team put another tally in the win column on Saturday afternoon after defeating conference foe Temple 17-13 in a back-and-forth battle.

The Gators – winners of four-straight – improve to 9-3 overall and 2-1 in the AAC, while Temple drops to 5-7 on the year and 0-3 in league play.

Florida was led on the offensive front by Emma LoPinto and Emily Heller, who each posted five goals in the matchup. That mark was a career-high for Heller and a season-high for LoPinto.

Maggi Hall followed with four goals of her own, while Danielle Pavinelli (2) and Madison Waters (1) combined for three goals.

Three Gators finished the game with multiple assists: Kaitlyn Davies (2), Hall (2) and LoPinto (2). Ashley Gonzalez also dished out one helper on the afternoon.

The Gators won 18-of-31 draw controls in the victory, with Emily Diaz posting a team-high six. Liz Harrison followed with five of her own, while Paisley Eagan and Davies each tallied two in the game.

Florida held Temple to 13-of-38 shooting on the day (.342). Theresa Bragg and Pavinelli each registered one caused turnover in the win.

Sarah Reznick had a team-leading three groundballs on the afternoon, followed by two apiece from Josie Hahn and Emily Heller.

In the cage, Sarah Reznick tallied 14 saves on the afternoon, finishing the game with a .519 save percentage.

The Gators are back in action on Wednesday as the team travels to Lynchburg, Va. to take on the Liberty Flames. Opening draw is slated for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

Records
No. 9 Florida (9-3, 2-1 AAC)
Temple (5-7, 0-3 AAC)

How It Happened

  • Maggi Hall found Emma LoPinto on the give-and-go within the first minute of the game to give Florida the early lead.
  • Just 22 seconds later, Hall found Danielle Pavinelli to put the Gators up two goals. Temple responded with a quick goal of its own to cut the deficit to one at 2-1.
  • LoPinto added her second of the day to once again put Florida up two goals with 12:38 left to play in the first quarter.
  • Each team went scoreless over the next 8+ minutes, but the Owls broke that stretch with a goal with 4:13 left in the frame, cutting Florida’s lead to one at 3-2.
  • Emily Heller found herself in the scoring column, cutting through traffic to score and put UF up 4-2. Just over two minutes later, LoPinto found Hall for her first of the day and 24th of the season to give the Gators the three-goal lead.
  • With just 12 seconds left in the frame, Kaitlyn Davies dished the ball to LoPinto, resulting in a first-quarter hat trick for the sophomore attacker.
  • The second quarter got started with a Heller free-position conversion, putting the Gators up 7-2. Florida scored on a woman-up opportunity just 41 seconds later after LoPinto found Hall for the second time, giving UF the six-goal lead.
  • The Owls got one back with 12:38 left in the half, but 11 seconds later, Davies found LoPinto on a fast-break opportunity to once again put the Gators up six.
  • The middle of the second quarter also saw a scoring drought from both sides, with Temple finding the back of the cage after almost eight minutes of game play to pull within five at 9-4.
  • The Owls tacked on three more goals within the span of final four minutes, cutting Florida’s lead to 9-7 heading into the halftime break.
  • The third quarter was a back-and-forth battle for the two teams, with an unassisted Maggi Hall goal getting the scoring going in the frame. That goal put the Gators up 10-7 and gave Hall her fifth hat trick of the year.
  • Temple answered that Florida goal twice within the span of a minute, cutting UF’s lead to just one with 8:51 left to play in the third frame.  
  • LoPinto netted her fifth of the day on a pass from Ashley Gonzalez to give the Gators an insurance goal, putting UF with 11-9 with 5:37 remaining in the frame.
  • Temple once again cut Florida’s lead to one, but Heller rocketed a shot for her third of the day to put the Gators up two at 12-10.
  • The final game of the third quarter came from a Temple stick, but UF held the 12-11 lead going into the final 15.
  • Hall’s fourth goal of the game was a crucial one for the Gators as she scored 49 seconds into the fourth frame, putting Florida up 13-11.
  • Heller and Pavinelli each converted on their free-position attempts, putting Florida up four goals with 10:38 left to play in the game.
  • The Owls pulled back to within three at 15-12, but Madison Waters found the back of the cage to give the Gators the four-goal lead.
  • Temple scored one final goal with 2:29 left, but Heller’s fifth score of the day gave Florida the 17-13 lead and secured the victory for the Gators.

Notables

  • 2023 Hat Trick Tracker:
  • With her five goals today, Emma LoPinto moves closer to becoming Florida’s 16th 100-goal scorer. She sits at 98 in 34 games
    • If she hits the mark this season, she becomes Florida’s fourth sophomore to achieve the milestone: Kitty Cullen (35 games), Shannon Kavanagh (41 games), Danielle Pavinelli (42 games)
  • Florida improves to 14-0 in the all-time series over Temple, including a 6-0 record in Philadelphia
  • The Gators have now won 47 of their last 48 regular season conference games
  • When scoring at least 14 goals, the Gators are 175-2 (.989) in program history
  • Streaking: Sarah Reznick has recorded a save in 63-straight games, a new program record
  • Streaking: Danielle Pavinelli has registered a point in 37-straight games and a goal in 35-straight games (third-longest streak)
  • Streaking: Emily Heller had recorded a draw control in 35-straight games, the second-longest streak in program history

Career-Highs

Insight from O’Leary

  • “Road wins are always hard to come by and we pulled out a gritty conference victory this afternoon.”

Up Next

  • The Gators are back in action on Wednesday as the team travels to Lynchburg, Va. to take on the Liberty Flames
  • Opening draw is slated for 1 p.m. on ESPN+

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