The Gators look to finish their back-to-back matchups against Temple Owls with a win.
No. 11 Florida defeated No. 20 Temple Friday afternoon. It marked an empathetic 15-9 win in the City of Brotherly Love. However, the Owls didn’t go down without a fight.
Sunday’s matchup becomes the 11th game between the two teams. UF dominates the meeting with a 10-0 record.
Midfielder Belle Mastropietro leads Temple offensively with 18 goals, six of which were against the Villanova Wildcats. Attacker Meghan Hoffman trails closely behind with 10 but claims a team-high 17 assists.
However, Owls midfielder Bridget Whitaker netted a career-high five goals versus the Gators. The senior stood her ground on home turf.
Shannon Kavanagh, the AAC Preseason Midfielder of the Year, possesses a 33-game goal streak. The Smithtown, New York, native owns the second-longest streak in the program’s 12-year history and hopes to keep it alive Sunday. She finished Friday’s game with five assertive goals.
But Kavanagh faces adversity in her self-proclaimed draw circle as Owls defender Kara Nakrasius gloats 38 prominent wins.
Sarah Reznick, the AAC Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, preserved a slim Florida advantage with eight game-changing saves in the first half Friday. The Long Beach, New York, native recorded 11 saves in the cage.
Gators head coach Amanda O’Leary, a Temple lacrosse alumna, claims the fifth most wins of active Division I coaches with 334 wins and a 172-47 record at Florida. While at Temple, she won the NCAA Championship, which landed her on Temple University Athletics’ Hall of Fame.
O’Leary looks to stay in the win column Sunday, especially as UF (4-2) is projected to win the AAC Championship, according to the AAC 2021 Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The game will start at noon and will stream on ESPN+ from Howarth Field.
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.
