via UF press release – photo by Courtney Culbreath

BOX SCORE

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Gators kicked off conference play on a high note, topping Temple 15-8 in the first AAC game for both teams. Florida has won nine-straight conference openers in three different

Grace Haus led the Gators on the offensive attack, posting four goals on the day, tying her career-best. Lindsey Ronbeck and Shannon Kavanagh both recorded hat tricks for Florida as well to help secure the victory.

Ronbeck became just the third Gator to hit 200 career goals with her second goal of the day. She is the second-fastest Gator to hit that mark, doing so in 70 games.

The Gators controlled the draw circle, winning 15-of-25 draws on the day. Kavanagh led the team with eight draw control wins.

Florida’s defense held Temple to 8-of-31 shooting (.258) and caused four turnovers.

Haley Hicklen recorded 12 saves on the day, registering a .632 saves percentage against the Owls.

How it Happened 
Temple got out to the early 1-0 less than two minutes into the game, but Shannon Kavanagh evened it all up at 1-1 on a free-position attempt. The Owls followed with on a 3-0 run to take the 4-1 lead with just over 17 minutes remaining in the first half.

Florida came storming back though, beginning with Hannah Mardiney finding Lindsey Ronbeck cutting through the crease to cut Temple’s lead to two at 4-2. The Gators continued their run, with Grace Haus scoring on a free-position attempt and Kavanagh cutting through three defenders to tie it all up at 4-4.

The Owls got the lead back at the 6:04 mark, but Florida closed the half out on a 2-0 run to take a 6-5 lead into the locker room. The run was spurred by Mardiney’s first goal of the day and Ronbeck’s second goal of the afternoon. With that goal, Ronbeck became just the third Gator to hit 200 career goals.

Temple scored just over a minute into the second half to knot the game at 6-6, but the Gators answered with a 9-0 run to take control.

The run started with Haus powering the ball into the back of the net, followed with an acrobatic goal by Kavanagh, to give her a hat trick – her eighth of the season.

Caroline Benitez got her first goal of the day on an assist from Brianna Harris to put Florida up 9-6 with 20:45 left in the game. Haus added back-to-back goals during the Florida spurt, putting the Gators up five goals at the 19:28 mark.

Ronbeck then found a cutting Sydney Pirreca to put Florida up 12-6 with 17 minutes remaining in the game. Three more Gator goals from Ronbeck, Mardiney and Harris put the game out of reach for Temple and secured a 1-0 record in conference play for UF.

Records

No. 17 Florida (6-6, 1-0 AAC)
Temple (3-8, 0-1 AAC)

O’Leary’s Insight

• “We got out to a slower start than we would have liked today, but the team buckled down and had a strong second half. Our performance in the draw circle in the second half really sparked the team and I’m proud of the resilience we showed today.”

Quick Facts

• The Gators opened conference play with a win for the ninth-straight year ‘
• Grace Haus tied her career-high four goals, for her third hat trick of the year
• Shannon Kavanagh posted her eighth hat trick of the season
• Lindsey Ronbeck recorded her ninth hat trick of the year
• Ronbeck became the third Gator to reach the 200 career goal milestone on Saturday afternoon
  • She is the second-fastest Gator to reach the 200-goal mark, doing so in 70 games. Shannon Gilroy was the fastest Gator to hit 200 goals, doing so in 70 games
• Streaking: Haley Hicklen has recorded a save in 38-straight games, the second-best mark in program history.
• Streaking: Lindsey Ronbeck has also scored at least one goal in 23-straight games, the third-best mark in program history
• Streaking: Sabrina Cristodero (26) and Shannon Kavanagh (25) are creeping closer to the record for most consecutive games with a draw control (27)

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