via UF press release – photo by Courtney Culbreath

BOX SCORE

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the first-ever meeting between Florida and Princeton, the ninth-ranked Tigers prevailed with a 13-11 victory at Donald R. Dizney Stadium on Tuesday night.

Lindsey Ronbeck, Shannon Kavanagh and Sydney Pirreca each posted a hat trick for the Gators, while Grace Haus and Madi Hall both pitched in one apiece. Ronbeck has now recorded a hat trick in seven out of nine games and Kavanagh has five hat tricks this season.

Cara Trombetta and Emma Wightman led the defensive effort for Florida, each recording two caused turnovers. Sabrina Cristodero and Kavanagh controlled the draw circle for the Gators, winning five and four draws, respectively.

Haley Hicklen posted seven saves in the cage against the Tigers.

How it Happened 

Princeton got out to the early lead, going up 2-0 just under five minutes into the first half, but then Lindsey Ronbeck answered to get the Gators on the board with her 35th goal of the season at the 23:27 mark.

The Tigers followed with a goal of their own after Ronbeck’s, but Sydney Pirreca was able to cut the deficit to just one at 3-2 on a free-position attempt.

Princeton scored again to take the 4-2 lead, but the Gators went on a 3-0 run behind two goals from Shannon Kavanagh and one from Ronbeck. 

Kavanagh’s first goal came from an assist by Grace Haus, while Ronbeck followed with a free-position goal of her own. Alix Lopez then found a cutting Kavanagh to give Florida its first lead of the game at 5-4.

The game of spurts continued when Princeton went on a 3-0 run of its own – taking the 7-5 lead – but Haus and Pirreca scored back-to-back goals within the last four minutes of the half to tie it all up going into the locker room.

Coming out of the half, Princeton went on a 2-0 run, taking the 9-7 lead with just over 21 minutes remaining in the half. Kavanagh then scored her third goal of the game to bring Florida within one at 9-8. The Tigers responded to Kavanagh’s goal with a 3-0 run, taking the 12-8 lead with 13:56 left in the game.

Florida would continue to fight, climbing back to within one at 12-11 after unassisted goals from Pirreca and Hall, but Princeton would go on to score one more goal, pulling out the 13-11 win.

Records

No. 16 Florida (3-6, 0-0)
No. 9 Princeton (5-1, 1-0)

Notables

• Lindsey Ronbeck currently sits at 190 career goals, trying to become just the third Gator to reach 200 goals
  • Ronbeck has potential to be the second-fastest Gator to reach the 200-goal mark. Shannon Gilroy did it in 67 games, while Kitty Cullen did it in 78 games. Ronbeck has currently played 67 games in a Gator uniform
• Shannon Kavanagh recorded three points against Princeton, moving her to 93 in her career
  • She is on track to become the 16th Gator to score at least 100 points in a career and she would be the sixth one to do so in her sophomore season
  • The fastest Gator to reach 100 points was Ashley Bruns, who did so in 24 games. Currently Kavanagh has played in 30 games and sits at 93 points.
• Streaking: Haley Hicklen has recorded a save in 35-straight games, the second-best mark in program history.
• Streaking: Lindsey Ronbeck has also scored at least one goal in 20-straight games, tied for the fourth-best mark in program history
• Streaking: Sabrina Cristodero (23) and Shannon Kavanagh (22) are creeping closer to the record for most consecutive games with a draw control (27)

Up Next

• The Gators hit the road for a matchup with No. 17 Stony Brook on Saturday
• Opening draw is set for 11:30 a.m.

#FLax
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