The Gators opened their season against one of the toughest opponents of women’s college lacrosse; the team fell to number two North Carolina by a final score of 17-11. Since that game, Florida has won three straight games by a combined total of forty goals. On February 11th, Shannon Gilroy scored five goals to lead the Orange and Blue past the Dolphins of Jacksonville University. Three days later, twelve different players scored a combined 21 goals while keepers Mary-Sean Wilcox and Olivia Cole combined to shutout Michigan. Then, on Friday, freshman Shayna Pirreca tallied four goals in the Gators’ 17-7 rout of the San Diego State Aztecs.
Shayna Pirreca shoots in warm-ups.
Unfortunately, the rest of the season won’t be as easy as the past three games for the Gators.
On Saturday, February 28th, a strong and experienced Dartmouth team will come to Gainesville. This will be only the second game of the season for the Big Green of Dartmouth. Dartmouth’s most dangerous player is, without a doubt, junior Jaclyn Leto, who netted seven goals in her team’s season opener. Shutting down Leto will be the key for a Gator defensive unit that has allowed an average of only eight goals per game so far this season.
Then, O’Leary will have just two practice days to prepare her team for the dangerous Loyola team that visits Gainesville during UF’s spring break on March 3rd. Number nine Loyola has three All-Americans from 2014 and will be especially motivated to take down the Florida squad due to the Gators’ narrow one-goal victory in this match-up a year ago. Florida will need to focus on stopping the multiple threats that the Greyhounds possess and maintaining offensive balance against a firm Loyola defense. Following Loyola, a weak Niagara team visits Florida on March 7th.
To culminate the out-of-conference schedule, the Gators face off against Syracuse, Maryland, and Stony Brook in a span of seven days.
On March 10th, head coach Gary Gait comes to Dizney Stadium with a very dangerous Syracuse team, which was one of only two teams that beat Florida in last year’s regular season. The number three Syracuse Orange are already off to an impressive 3-0 start and have totaled 58 goals. The staunch Orange defense may cause issues for Florida’s offense and 2014 Tewaaraton finalist Kayla Treanor will challenge UF on the other side of the ball.
Goalie Mary-Sean Wilcox clears the ball.
Four days later, the Gators will be in College Park to take on defending national champions Maryland. Perennial power and current number one Maryland will be quite a test for Florida; on top of having 2014 Tewaaraton winner Taylor Cummings, the Terps have a very experienced team and strong goaltending. Maryland will challenge the Gators in every facet of the game. On Sunday, the Terps won a close 13-11 game against North Carolina, who, as previously mentioned, bested the Gators by six goals in Florida’s season opener.
Three days later, Florida will take on number 16 Stony Brook to end this grueling stretch. After this run of games, we will certainly know more about the Gators. Will Pirreca and others prove they can be consistent offensive threats? Can Florida handle the nation’s top teams? Will the team live up to the expectations it has set for itself?
The Gators begin Big East conference play for the first time on March 22nd against Vanderbilt.
Notes and stats from Florida’s first four games:
Shannon Gilroy currently sits 5th in the nation in terms of individual goals with 14 and 12th in terms of total points with 16.
Mollie Stevens is 12th in the nation for goals, making Florida one of two teams (along with Ohio State) with two players in the top 15.
Redshirt junior Nicole Graziano, after missing most of last season due to injury, is playing great for the Gators. Graziano has 8 goals, 2 assists, and 13 draw controls. Plus, she is shooting 80% and has caused 5 turnovers.
Starting goalkeeper Mary-Sean Wilcox has an admirable .472 save percentage. Freshman goalkeeper Olivia Cole has an impressive .636 save percentage (but has played significantly less time than Wilcox and mostly in the second half of lopsided victories).
Wilcox has made good decisions and passes in clearing the ball. Her play, along with the athleticism at midfield, has contributed to a dependable transition.
Goalies for Florida opponents have a combine save percentage of only .283, speaking to the quality of Gator shooting.
Senior Nora Barry has only 6 goals and 0 assists. More should be expected of the 2014 Third-Team All-American in the more competitive games. On the bright side, Barry is shooting at an above average 75%.
Bella O’Connor tallied a hat trick on breast-cancer awareness night. Especially heartwarming when you read this story about O’Connor and her family, http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=29855 .
Freshman defender Aniya Flanagan has played significant minutes and played well.
Florida native Carli Marsh (Parkland/ Pine Crest High School) has 2 goals and 1 assist.
Florida native Katherine Hamer plays defense on fellow Florida Native Carli Marsh in warm-ups.
Florida native Chloe O’Haire (Vero Beach/ Saint Edwards High School) has 2 assists.
38 of Florida’s 66 goals have been unassisted. Make of that what you will.
The team is 9 for 17 (52.9%) on free positions and has held opponents to 8 for 20 (40.0%).
On the season, Florida is losing the groundball battle by a slim margin.
Florida has looked mostly solid in transition, aside from some early mishaps in the UNC game.
Florida is 3rd in the nation in “total goals for” with 66.
