"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px;">
After finishing the
regular season with an upset loss, the No. 4 Gators lacrosse team
(14-2, 5-0 American Lacrosse Conference) looks to get back on track
at 3 p.m. on Friday with an ALC Tournament semifinal matchup
against No. 18 Ohio State in Nashville, Tenn.
"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px;">
Will a week filled with conference awards translate into
wins? Top-seeded
Florida led the ALC with eight conference awards earlier this week,
including top honors for midfielder Kitty Cullen and coach Amanda
O'Leary as Player and Coach of the Year. The accolades come after
two of the Gators' worst performances of the season - a last second
escape at Vanderbilt and a 9-6 loss to Cornell last Sunday in which
Florida had a season-high 15 turnovers. "When we make a mistake, we
need to getter better from it rather than just letting it pile up,"
junior Caroline Cochran said. "Obviously, it didn't end up the best
way for us."
"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px;">
Can Cullen spark the Gators offensively?
With Cullen limited over last
two weeks with a knee injury, the offense has been held to single
digits in back-to-back games for the first time this season. "I'm
hoping that this weekend I'm going to be 100 percent...it's kind of
frustrating, but hopefully, I'll be able to come out hard," Cullen
said. The sophomore averages over four goals a game for the Gators
but has been held to just one score over the last two.
"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px;">
Is it Florida's turn to come out fired up? Against
lesser opponents, Cullen said the Gators have played down to their
competition. Recently, it's come back to haunt Florida with
Vanderbilt and Cornell playing inspired lacrosse on its respective
Senior Days. The loss of focus broke the Gators' 14-game winning
streak and ended a potential chance to claim the No. 1 spot in the
nation heading into the tournament. "I definitely think it will
light a bit of a fire and make us work that much harder this
weekend just to show people that it was a mistake," Cullen
said.
"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px;">
