via press release, photo by Courtney Culbreath
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 14 Florida lacrosse team kicked off the 2020 season on a high note, recording a come-from-behind 11-10 victory against No. 18 Colorado.
Brianna Harris led the way with a career-high five goals, while Shannon Kavanagh posted four goals on the day. Freshman Emily Heller notched two goals and an assist in her first game in a Gator uniform.
Hannah Mardiney dished out three assists, followed by two from Kaala Puglisi in her Gator debut.
The Gators dominated the draw circle, winning 17 draws to Colorado’s six. Harris registered a team-high seven, while Kaitlyn Dabkowski pitched in a career-high six.
The defense caused a total of eight turnovers, led by two from Dabkowski. Cara Trombetta, Emerson Cabrera, Emma Wightman, Heller, Kavanagh and Harris each pitched in a caused turnover of their own on the day.
Redshirt freshman Sarah Reznick recorded 11 saves in her first appearance in the cage, recording a .524 save percentage.
The Gators return to action next Saturday, Feb. 15 against No. 1 Maryland in College Park, Md.
How It Happened
Records
No. 14 Florida (1-0)
No. 18 Colorado (0-1)
O’Leary’s Insight
On Sarah in the cage
“It was unbelievable. We knew how talented she was last year, but to see her come out in her first game was incredible. She played with a lot of confidence and has such passion for the game. She dictated the defense and did what we asked her to do. Wow what a start to the season for her.”
On Brianna Harris’s performance
‘Bri is one of those dominate players, she is so quick. What she has improved upon this year is her endurance – her ability to play a full game. We are using her on the draw circle and she was dominate today.”
On the turnovers
“Those are mistakes you cannot make because they will be goals on the other end, but we had a lot of freshmen out on that field. We want them to make those mistakes because they are only going to learn from making mistakes. We would rather have them out there making those mistakes than not taking those opportunities. Take the opportunities that are afforded to you. Do we need to make better decisions, absolutely. We made some tough decisions that were not as timely as we would have liked, but we fought hard when we did make those mistakes.”
Notables
Up Next
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