Florida’s lacrosse team has relied on offensive outbursts in the second half all season long, and the story was no different on Saturday afternoon.
UF defeated Georgetown 16-11 in Washington D.C., marking coach Amanda O’Leary’s 300th career victory.
“This team refuses to give up when faced with adversity,” O’Leary said in a release. “Obviously, we leave this game with plenty to work on. But once again, these young women proved themselves to be resilient and mentally tough.”
Florida (7-3, 2-0 Big East) improved its away record this year to 3-1 and remains undefeated in Big East play.
The No. 6 Gators started slowly once again, facing their sixth halftime deficit of the year. The Hoyas (5-3, 1-1 Big East) began the game with three goals in the opening six minutes of play. Two of those goals came from junior attacker Taylor Gebhardt. She led the way for Georgetown, scoring four goals.
Florida answered with several goals of its own, but was unable to contain the Hoyas’ offense in the opening half, trailing Georgetown 8-5 heading into the intermission.
Despite slowing down the Hoyas’ attack early in the second period, UF only found the back of the net four times. But with 14:09 remaining and the Gators trailing 11-9, the game flipped completely.
Florida began scoring and couldn’t be stopped. The team ended the game on a 7-0 run, sealing the five-goal victory. Though it trailed by three at halftime, UF outscored Georgetown 11-3 in the second half.
Attacker Grace Haus continued her electric freshman campaign, scoring four times. She has started every game this season for the Gators and has recorded 18 goals and four assists.
Defensively, Georgetown was one of the weaker teams Florida has faced this season, ranking 87th nationally in goals allowed per game. However, UF struggled to put up shots early. The Hoyas outshot the Gators 20-10 in the first half. But in the second half, Florida was able to penetrate Georgetown’s defense while slowing down its offense. After the break, Florida put up 26 shots while the Hoyas only attempted nine.
UF goalkeeper Haley Hicklin put on another strong performance on Saturday, making 10 saves and only allowing 11 goals. Her counterpart, Haelle Chomo, was not as impressive, totaling only eight saves while allowing 16 goals.
After being dominated by Towson in a 14-11 loss on Wednesday, the comeback victory over Georgetown should lift Florida’s spirits before the team returns home to continue conference play.
“I’m very pleased with their effort in the second half today, especially with the way we valued our possessions with the ball,” O’Leary said in a release. “We have a couple days to rest our legs and get better before hosting UConn.”
Follow Tyler Nettuno on Twitter @TylerNettuno and contact him at tnettuno@alligator.org
Florida lacrosse coach Amanda O'Leary recorded her 300th career victory on Saturday in UF's 16-11 win over Georgetown.
