via UF press release by Katie Callahan, photo by Courtney Culbreath

With a strong second and third quarter, Florida remains unbeaten in conference play

Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After a stellar 11-0 run that spanned the second and third quarters, the 10th-ranked Florida lacrosse team topped the Vanderbilt Commodores 16-8 on Saturday afternoon.

The Gators have secured their eighth-straight win and move to 10-4 on the year and 3-0 in league play. Vanderbilt drops to 8-6 overall and 1-2 in the AAC.

Emma LoPinto led the offensive surge for Florida, tallying seven goals on the afternoon – a career-high for the freshman. That also set a new program record for the most goals scored in a game by a freshman.  

Danielle Pavinelli followed with four goals of her own in the victory, while Paisley Eagan and Maggi Hall each found the back of the cage twice. Ashley Gonzalez also tallied one goal of her own on the day.

Gonzalez dished out four assists, tying her career-best mark in the victory, while Pavinelli, Emerson Cabrera, Kaala Puglisi and Jill Quigley each recorded one.

Florida won 19-of-28 draw controls, with Liz Harrison leading the way with a career-high 11. Emily Heller added three, while Josie Hahn and Shelton Sawers each finished the day with two.

The Gator defense held Vanderbilt scoreless for 25:37 throughout the end of the first quarter until midway through the third and kept the Commodores to 8-of-30 shooting (.267). Emma Wightman led the way with two caused turnovers, while four Gators each registered one in the game.

Wightman also registered a team-high five groundballs, just one off her career-high mark.  

Sarah Reznick had a day in the cage, coming up with 13 saves for a .722 save percentage during her 52:18. Julia Hammerschlag notched two saves of her own during her 7:42 minutes between the pipes.

The Gators are back in action on Saturday, April 23 when they welcome the Temple Owls to Donald R. Dizney Stadium. The game will serve as Senior Day for Florida’s nine seniors and opening draw is slated for 12 p.m. on YouTube.

Records
No. 10 Florida (10-4, 3-0 AAC)
RV Vanderbilt (8-6, 1-2 AAC)

How it Happened

• Both teams were held scoreless through the first 5+ minutes of the game, but the Gators were the first to break through after Emma LoPinto scored her first of the day on a dish from Ashley Gonzalez to give Florida the 1-0 advantage.
• The Commodores answered, scoring back-to-back goals within 90 seconds to take the 2-1 lead with 6:03 left in the first quarter. Vanderbilt extended its lead to two goals after finding the back of the cage with 1:48 remaining in the frame.
• The second quarter belonged entirely to the Gators, with Florida going on a 7-0 run within the frame, while also holding Vanderbilt scoreless.
• The run started with Maggi Hall, as she cut the deficit to just one less than two minutes into the second quarter, converting on a free-position attempt. LoPinto followed with a free-position goal of her own four minutes later, knotting the game at 3-3.
• LoPinto continued to have the hot stick, recording her eighth hat trick of the season on a pass from Danielle Pavinelli to put Florida up 4-3. Pavinelli then got herself into the scoring column, converting on her free-position attempt to force a Vanderbilt timeout.
• Out of the timeout, LoPinto netted her fourth score of the day, giving the Gators the 6-3 advantage before Pavinelli followed with her 46th goal of the season to put Florida up four goals.
• LoPinto found the back of the cage for Florida’s seventh goal of the second quarter with 3:24 remaining in the half, giving the Gators their seventh and final goal of the second quarter, putting them up 8-3 going into the locker room.
• Coming out of the halftime break, Florida kept it rolling, with Pavinelli tallying her ninth hat trick of the season to give Florida the six-goal lead with 2:30 gone in the third. Hall followed with her second of the day just 80 seconds later on a pass from Emerson Cabrera.
• The Gators were able to pull ahead eight goals after a rocket of a shot from Pavinelli, giving her her fourth goal of the afternoon. LoPinto kept it rolling for Florida, tying her career-high with her sixth goal of the day, this time on a pass from Gonzalez to put UF up 12-3.
• After Florida’s defense held them scoreless for 25:37 straight minutes of game play, the Commodores broke through with 6:10 left in the third to pull within eight goals.
• With just under two minutes left in the third, Paisley Eagan found the back of the cage for her first score of the day, putting Florida up 13-4.
• Vanderbilt tallied its fifth goal of the day with 10:54 remaining in the game, cutting Florida’s lead to eight, but the Gators once again extended their lead to nine after Eagan’s second score of the day.
• Gonzalez gave Florida the running clock after scoring her first goal of the day on a pass from Jill Quigley.
• LoPinto scored her final goal of the day with 5:57 left in the game, setting a new career-high with seven and putting the Gators up 16-5. Vanderbilt got three goals back in the final five minutes of play, but Florida was able to hold on for the 16-8 victory.

Notables

• Florida improves to 13-2 in the all-time series against Vanderbilt, including a 5-0 record in Nashville

• The Gators have not dropped a conference game since April 18, 2015 and have not lost a regular season conference game since that same day
  • That’s 55 games overall and 43 regular season games that Florida has won in conference
• Florida is 9-0 this season against teams not ranked in the IWLCA/ILWomen Top-25 poll
• LoPinto’s seven goals set a new record for goals scored by a freshman in program history
• Hat Trick Counter:
  • Pavinelli: 9
  • LoPinto: 6
• When scoring at least 14 goals, the Gators are 160-2 (.988) in program history
• Streaking: Sarah Reznick has recorded a save in 43-straight games, tied for the second-longest streak in program history
• Streaking: Danielle Pavinelli has registered a point in 17-straight games
• Streaking: Heller has also recorded a draw control in 14-straight games
• Streaking: Liz Harrison has recorded a draw control in 11-straight games  

Career-Highs

• Emma LoPinto recorded a career-high seven goals on the afternoon
• Ashley Gonzalez tied her career-best with four assists
• Liz Harrison tallied a career-high 11 draws
• Josie Hahn tied her career-best with two draw controls

Insight from O’Leary

• “We started a bit slower than we would have liked to today, but both our offense and our defense woke up in the second quarter. We came up with the draw more frequently after the first quarter and that really helped to kick start our offense.”

Up Next

• The Gators are back in action on Saturday, April 23 when they welcome the Temple Owls to Donald R. Dizney Stadium
• The game will serve as Senior Day for Florida’s nine seniors
• Opening draw is slated for 12 p.m. on YouTube.

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