It all starts at the opening draw. Players wrap their fingers tightly around their sticks, as they itch to leave the circle with a win.
Midfielder Belle Mastropietro, the Owls’ leading scorer, caught Florida by surprise and cut into the eight-meter arc. The Springfield, Pennsylvania, native sent an assertive shot past a stunned Sarah Reznick to give Temple the lead.
Mastropietro let out a sigh of relief as the Owls took the lead for the first time. It became a battle between the prominent goal scorers.
No. 11 Florida lined up against No. 20 Temple in Philadelphia Sunday eager to sweep the Owls. The Gators boasted their AAC dominance with a 14-7 win.
Fierce defense on both ends of Howarth Field halted offensive play. And then, Florida led it all.
Gators’ attacker Maggi Hall flaunted her all-around skills. The freshman caused a game-changing turnover and scooped up a ground ball. The ball flung into the air off of her underhanded shot and scraped the polyester strings as it rolled into the Owls’ empty net.
Hall chucked her stick in the air, and her cheers rang throughout the City of Brotherly Love.
Reznick, the AAC Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, and company held Temple to three goals in the first half. But the game had just begun.
The Owls darted out of the locker room hungry to stump the Gators in the second half. However, attacker Grace Haus scored and increased UF’s lead to five.
The 34-game goal streak stayed alive for the AAC Preseason Midfielder of the Year. Shannon Kavanagh completed her hat trick in the second half, which lit a fire under the Gators.
Not long after, Haus followed suit with a hat trick of her own. With 105 career goals, Florida reached for a victory. While the Owls posted four goals in the second half, an hour wasn’t enough, and Temple collapsed.
The Gators ran out of Philadelphia with back-to-back conference wins.
The team played a solid performance both offensively and defensively, head coach Amanda O’Leary said.
“Shannon and Grace continued to play at a very high level, contributing on both ends of the field,” she said. “Overall, I am very pleased with how we performed in our first conference weekend.”
Florida will look to stay in the win column on home turf at the ‘Diz Friday versus Cincinnati. The game is set to start at 4 p.m. and will stream on YouTube.
Contact Karina Wilson at kwilson@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @kk_rinaa
Karina Wilson is a second-year student at the University of Florida within the College of Journalism and Communications with a specialization in sports and media. She aims to produce engaging, accurate and current content for all types of sports fans. Currently, Karina is The Alligator's lacrosse beat writer.
