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Gators Late Surge Falls Short Against Seawolves

via UF press release by Katie Callahan – photo by Leslie White

Danielle Pavinelli posted a team-high four goals in the loss

BOX SCORE

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 11th-ranked Florida lacrosse team struck with a second half surge against the No. 5 Stony Brook Seawolves, but ultimately fell 14-13 at Donald R. Dizney Stadium on Saturday morning.

Danielle Pavinelli posted a team-high four goals on the day, good for her fourth hat trick in as many games. Emma LoPinto added a hat trick of her own with three goals, followed by two apiece from Paisley Eagan and Emily HellerMaggi Hall and Emerson Cabrera rounded out the scorers for Florida, each finding the back of the cage once.

Hall dished out two assists in the game, followed by one helper apiece from Eagan and Pavinelli.

Florida won the battle in the draw circle, winning 18-of-31 draws on the morning. Liz Harrison posted a career-high eight draws to lead the way, while Heller added four.

The defense caused 15 turnovers in the game, led by a career-high three from Pavinelli. Heller, Becky Browndorf and Emma Wightman each added two caused turnovers apiece, while six different Gators recorded one.

Wightman posted a team-best four groundballs in the game, followed by three apiece from Pavinelli and Shelton Sawers.

In the cage, Sarah Reznick notched three saves during her 60 minutes.

The Gators return to action on Wednesday when the team travels to Lynchburg, Va. to take on the Liberty Flames. Opening draw is set for 12 p.m. at Liberty Lacrosse Field.

Records
No. 11 Florida (1-3)
No. 5 Stony Brook (2-1)

How it Happened

  • Stony Brook found the back of the cage first, scoring just under two minutes into the game, but Emma LoPinto answered a minute later with her ninth goal of the season to knot the score at 1-1.
  • The Seawolves strung together a five-goal run over the next 20 minutes to take the 6-1 lead, but Pavinelli netted her first of the day on a pass from Kelly Schluederberg to cut the deficit to four at 6-2. Stony Brook would erase Florida’s answer, going ahead 8-2 with 6:29 left in the first half.
  • The Gators put together a two-goal surge to end the half, with Pavinelli scoring her second of the day with 2:20 remaining in the frame. Emerson Cabrera converted on her free position attempt to pull within four heading into the locker room.  
  • The third quarter belonged to the Gators, with Florida holding the 7-3 advantage in the frame. Pavinelli found the back of the cage for the third time just under 30 seconds into the quarter to cut the deficit to just three at 8-5.
  • Stony Brook responded exactly one minute later, but LoPinto scored her second goal of the day on a pass from Pavinelli to cut the lead right back to three. Over the course of the next 90 seconds, Stony Brook scored twice, but Eagan also got on the board with her first goal of the day, making it 11-7 midway through the third quarter.
  • The Gators then exploded on a 4-0 run to tie the game at 11-11, the first tie since the 12:02 mark in the first quarter. Pavinelli kicked off the spurt, followed by Eagan to cut it to 11-9 with 3:14 left to play. Maggi Hall found the back of the cage less than a minute later on a free position shot, then dished out an assist to LoPinto to tie it all up.
  • Stony Brook scored first in the fourth quarter, but Florida once again had the answer with a Heller goal with 7:41 left in the game. The Seawolves scored back-to-back goals to take the 14-12 lead, but once again Heller found the open space on a free position shot with 1:32 remaining. With Stony Brook winning the final draw, the shot clock was turned off and the Seawolves were able to hold the ball to close out the remaining 90 seconds.

Notables

  • With her four goals on the afternoon, Pavinelli has now recorded a hat trick in every game this season
  • The Gators move to 7-2 in the all-time series against the Seawolves
  • Streaking: Sarah Reznick has recorded a save in 33-straight games, the third-longest streak in program history  

Career-Highs

Insight from O’Leary

  • “We came out and made some mistakes with yellow cards early in the game, we cannot have those penalties and those additional opportunities given to the other team. Really proud of the fight though, we came back from being down 8-4. The team showed a lot of grit and a lot of heart; our draw team did a phenomenal job, they have been working hard on their own and it showed today.”

Up Next

  • The Gators return to action on Wednesday when the team travels to Lynchburg, Va. to take on Liberty
  • Opening draw is slated for 12 p.m.

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