No. 5 Gators Take On Undefeated No. 10 Big Green Tonight
Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in Uncategorized.
Gainesville, Fla. – The No. 5 Florida lacrosse team hosts No. 10 Dartmouth this evening in a non-conference matchup at Donald R. Dizney Stadium. The Big Green (5-0, 1-0 Ivy) will be the Gators’ third top-10 opponent of the season, following North Carolina and Syracuse who were ranked third and ninth, respectively, at the time of competition. Opening draw is set for 6:30 p.m.
Florida captured its fourth-straight victory and its program-best third-consecutive road victory on Saturday, defeating William & Mary, 21-8. The Gators combined to tie the school record with 11 assists in the game. Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) matched her personal best with five goals, Kitty Cullen (Rockville, Md.) and Gabi Wiegand (Bay Shore, N.Y.) both put up four goals and two assists and Shannon Gilroy (Huntington, N.Y.) netted four scores. Gilroy also set a new school record in draw controls, earning seven.
Florida started hot, opening the game on a 5-0 run in just over five minutes. William & Mary’s Kaleigh Noon put the Tribe on the board at 24:15, but the Gators pushed right back with a pair of goals to go ahead, 7-2. Kyrstin Mackrides notched one for the Tribe at 19:36, but Florida followed with six unanswered goals over the next six minutes to start the running clock, leading 13-2. The Tribe tacked on two more goals before the half, heading into the intermission trailing 13-4. Florida dominated the beginning of the second half, scoring seven out of the gate and taking a daunting 20-4 lead. The Tribe did not go quietly, scoring four in the final five minutes, but fell by a final score of 21-8.
Today’s matchup is the first between Florida and Dartmouth. UF is 1-1 all-time against Ivy League opponents, facing Cornell in 2010 and 2011. Dartmouth is 7-6 under Coach Patton against current members of the ALC, holding a 7-4 advantage in the series against Penn State and going 0-2 against Northwestern.
Dartmouth enters its matchup with Florida as one of three teams to remain undefeated, winning its first five games of the season. The Big Green is coming off a huge double-overtime victory over then-No. 4 Duke on Saturday, which jumps the Big Green into this week’s IWLCA top 10.
Dartmouth led for the entire game, but the Blue Devils scored the final three goals of regulation to send the game into overtime. After a scoreless first extra period, leading-scorer Sarah Plumb notched the game-winner in 2OT to hand the Big Green its biggest win since taking down No. 1 Maryland in the 2011 regular-season finale.
Senior midi Plumb leads the Big Green with 16 goals, six assists, 22 points and 24 draw controls on the year, ranking 18th in the nation in points per game, 17th in goals per game, and 15th in draw controls. Senior Kirsten Goldberg has 13 goals and five assists, and sophomore Lindsey Allard is tied for second with five assists.
Sophomore Kristen Giovanniello has played all 308:43 minutes in goal, making 46 saves and allowing 38 goals, and leads the nation with a .548 save percentage. Her 7.40 GAA ranks fifth in the nation, and she is also third in the NCAA averaging 3.80 ground balls per game.
Video coverage of tonight’s game will be streamed live on GatorVision. The live audio broadcast be heard on SportsRadio850 and streamed on GatorZone.com, with Cory Stephens on play-by-play and Kailey Mizelle as the color commentator. LiveStats will be presented by GameTracker, and for up-to-date notes from the press box, follow @GatorZoneLAX on Twitter.