On Tuesday, the University of Florida women’s lacrosse team (No. 4 in the IWLCA poll, No. 6 in the media poll) beat a top-20 opponent for the first time this season; they defeated Loyola (No. 17 in the IWLCA poll, No. 18 in the media poll) by a final score of 11-8. The Gators got off to a rocky start against the Greyhounds.  On defense, Florida sophomore Mollie Stevens received a yellow card only a minute and twelve seconds into the game.  Loyola worked their offense for the next two minutes and Kara Burke scored shortly after the Gators returned to even strength to give the Greyhounds a 1-0 advantage.  Then Loyola scored two goals less than forty-five seconds apart to make it 3-0. The two goals looked nearly identical.  Both feeds from Annie Thomas behind the goal to a Loyola player (VanThof and then Hulseman) cutting down for a shot right on the crease. Florida struggled to find a rhythm on offense early in the game.  This was possibly due to Loyola’s game-plan to keep Shannon Gilroy in check.  The Greyhounds employed a faceguard to the 2014 Tewaaraton Finalist.  A Loyola player was completely dedicated to sticking to Gilroy, regardless of where she was on the field, for the entire game. It looked like it was going to be a long day for the team from Gainesville, but then head coach Amanda O’Leary called a timeout with twenty-four minutes left in the half.  Things changed after that. Coming out of the break, Nicole Graziano and Mollie Stevens combined to score five straight goals in less than ten minutes for the Gators.  Nicole Graziano got UF on the board first with an unassisted goal.  Next, Mollie Stevens scored from a Shannon Gilroy assist.  Despite being covered so tightly, Gilroy was ultimately able to play a role in the offense.  On the next play, Gilroy was able to pickup a ground ball and find an open Graziano, who earned a free position on a shooting space call.  Graziano shot a rocket to the top-left corner for her second goal.  The game was now tied at three. Thirty seconds later, Mollie Stevens found the net again.  Her quick stick from Carly Ross gave the Gators their first lead of the game.  It was the Gators’ third goal in a span of seventy seconds.  With 16:35 left in the half, Nicole Graziano completed the hat-trick to put UF up 5-3.  The Gator’s scoring streak didn’t end until Florida native Maddy Blakeman scored for Loyola. Loyola tacked on another goal to make it 5-5. Nora Barry played great in the middle third of the field all day.  Following Loyola’s tying goal, Barry earned the draw control leading to a UF possession.  Shayna Pirreca fired a shot but it was saved by Loyola’s Molly Wolf.  Wolf gave up the rebound though, and Shannon Gilroy swooped in for the groundball and buried it in the back of the net for career goal number 203. Towards the end of the first half, Florida’s Carly Ross scored off a failed Loyola clear to give the Gators a two goal lead but that advantage was cut in half when Loyola’s Hannah Schmitt scored with just 0.6 seconds remaining in the half. The second half began with Florida leading by a score of 7-6, but Graziano increased that lead with another free position goal less than forty seconds into the game.  Loyola then tied the game with goals from Molly Hulseman and Kara Burke. The game remained tied for less than two minutes; Nicole Graziano scored her fifth goal to give the Gators a lead they would not lose.  Carly Ross tacked on another goal to make it a 10-8 advantage for the blue and orange with 23:32 remaining in the game. Florida won the ensuing draw and had one of the most interesting (and boring) possession I have ever seen.  Mollie Stevens took an early shot that was saved but Gilroy got the rebound and fired a shot that ricocheted off the post.  The Gators retained possession and, with about twenty minutes left on the clock and a two goal lead, began stalling to kill the clock.  Shayna Pirreca, Nora Barry, and Nicole Grazziano took turns holding the ball for the next 8 minutes! It was bizarre that the Gators seemed content to kill all of the remaining twenty minutes of the game and even more bizarre that the Greyhounds were content to allow this for so long.  Loyola did not begin to pressure out on defense until about the twelve minute mark.  At this point, Graziano cut to the goal and attempted a behind-the-back shot.  This shot hit her defender in the face and drew a yellow card for a dangerous propel.  It was Graziano’s only miss of the day! Following this sequence of events, Loyola had the ball and the man-advantage.  The Gators put up a strong defensive stand, highlighted by a big save from Mary-Sean Wilcox with 8:47 left.  UF cleared the ball and Shannon Gilroy scored her historic goal to give the Gators a three goal lead they would not relinquish.  This goal (her 204^th) gave Gilroy the record for most goals in a career at the University of Florida, surpassing Kitty Cullen.   Talking about her record, Gilroy said “I’m not here to break records, I’m here to play lacrosse.” Emphasizing her focus on the team and a successful season. Wilcox made a couple saves late in the game to seal the deal for the Gators, including a big one with 2:50 left that all but guaranteed the victory for the home team.  The game ended with Florida ahead 11-8. The Florida Gators are now 5-1 with their only loss coming at the hands of No. 2 North Catolina.  The team returns to action against Niagara on Saturday, March 7^th at 1:00 pm. Notes from Tuesdays Victory:

• Loyola’s face-guarding of Gilroy was effective early in the game, but the Gators proved that they can win against a top team, even when Gilroy is kept from the ball.
• Gilroy did still contribute to the offense without the ball and Amanda O’Leary played some clever substitutions games to create offense.
• Nicole Graziano was a demon on the free positions. She had four goals on her four free position shots, showcasing her lethally accurate shot.  All in all, Graziano had five goals on six shots.
• Florida controlled the draw circle, winning 14 of 21.
• The Gators were perfect on their clears. Loyola’s only failed clear resulted in a Florida goal.
• The Florida defense was stellar. They allowed ten goals or less for the fifth consecutive game. Additionally, they only allowed committed two fouls resulting in free positions.
• Wilcox had 8 saves for a .500 save percentage.
• The most important stat of the game may have been turnovers. The Gators had seven in the first half and only two in the second half.  The difference was noticeable with the Gators controlling much more of the game in the second half, compared to the first.