Florida recovered from its 5-18 loss to North Carolina with an easy 22-11 win over St. Bonaventure. However, the Gators will have another difficult and experienced top-five team to face on Tuesday – the No. 5 Georgetown Hoyas.
The match is scheduled to begin 6:30 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
UF coach Amanda O’Leary said her squad is on an offensive high heading into the matchup with Georgetown, because it had multiple players score during the big win over the Bonnies, and the offensive efficiency in that game has left her squad excited.
However, going up against the Hoyas will not be as easy for the young team. Georgetown poses a threat similar to UNC, in that it will test the Gators’ ability to recover after it goes on runs as most top teams are capable of doing.
UF has small, yet perhaps inconsequential edges going into the game. This will be its second look at a top-five team already this season, and unlike the road matchup in Chapel Hill, UF will play the Hoyas at home.
“Georgetown is exactly like Carolina,” O’Leary said. “They’re such a well-skilled team. Offensively, defensively, they’re incredibly mature, (so) to have a 60-minute game under our belt with the competition we played is very good for us.”
She added that the team from Washington, DC, does not make many mistakes, and so the Gators will need to counter the Hoyas by not making many errors on their end.
“It’s all about us making changes,” O’Leary said. “We can’t give up that many free positions. We will not be able to compete against the best teams in the country if we play that kind of defense.”
O’Leary’s squad must also clean up its fundamentals in order to challenge Georgetown and avoid a second-half letdown as it had against Carolina.
Against UNC, UF had 10 turnovers, and gave up 8 free-position shots in the second half, to shatter its hopes after trailing by only 2 at the break. In the period, Florida only picked up 4 ground balls and had 6 shots on goal.
“We just have to go out and play the way we know how to play,” O’Leary said. “It’s really not about Georgetown, it’s really about Florida, and we need to fix our mistakes. If we can do that, I think it will be a very competitive game.”
