Twenty-two goals and a diamond ring capped a flawless night for Emily Dohony and UF at Dizney Stadium.
During Florida’s post-game exercise, her boyfriend of four years proposed to Dohony with her team, family and fans watching. She said yes.
“This team is my family just as much as my family,” Dohony said.
She was happy about the win, too.
No. 2 Florida (12-0) routed Stetson (0-8) in a 22-1 victory on Tuesday night.
With a 5-0 lead, coach Amanda O’Leary had pulled every single starter out of the game by the 8-minute mark.
The Gators won every statistical category, except saves. Florida took 38 shots. Stetson had one.
Five of UF’s shots came from freshman Hayler Katzenberger, who scored her first three college goals in Florida’s win.
“It was great,” Katzenberger said. “It felt good to finally get some goals in.”
Freshman Lizzie Strazza and sophomore Mikki Offit also tallied their first college goals.
“It is a great thing (to see the freshmen score their first goals),” O’Leary said. “Every one of them were unselfish and that was the key tonight to our success, because we had multiple goal scorers.”
Sophomore Nora Barry led the starters with three goals on three shots. She has scored 17 goals on 23 shots this season.
UF’s 22 goals mark its highest total this year and tied for the third-best mark in program history.
While the offense padded its lead, the defense clamped down.
Anchored by freshman Sam Darcangelo, the Gators held the Hatters to only one goal, which is the lowest total by a UF opponent this year and Florida’s best defensive performance since a shutout against Fresno State on March 28, 2012.
“We’ve been learning a lot from the older girls,” Darcangelo said. “They’ve definitely been helping us a lot, and we’ve been working very hard in practice.”
Darcangelo finished with a career-high six draw controls, stepping up as the draw specialist while sophomore Shannon Gilroy and senior Brittany Dashiell rested.
Florida allowed Stetson to move it to the offensive third of the field only 10 times. Only one Hatters possession ended with a shot. The other nine were turnovers.
“The man-to-man ride against Stetson was a big factor to those turnovers,” O’Leary said. “It just worked out to our favor.”
Stetson is a first-year lacrosse program and is only the third in Florida.
“We know how it feels to be a first-year program,” Dohony said. “It’s a huge step that they are taking, and we see them maybe following us in our shoes one day.”
Sophomore midfielder Nora Barry runs past Stony Brook’s Amber Kupres during the Gators’ 16-9 win on Feb. 20 at Dizney Stadium. Barry scored three goals in Florida's 22-1 win against Stetson on Tuesday.
