Florida defeated Vanderbilt in a low-scoring tight game in Nashville in 2011.
This time around, on their home turf, the Gators made sure the game played out much differently.
No 5. Florida (14-2, 4-0 American Lacrosse Conference) defeated No. 17 Vanderbilt 17-5 at Donald R. Dizney Stadium on Saturday behind two first-half hat tricks.
Junior attacker Kitty Cullen gave the Gators the lead two and a half minutes into the game when she scored unassisted. Commodore attacker Carly Linthicum tied the game less than a minute later with an unassisted goal of her own.
That was the closest Vanderbilt (7-6, 1-4 ALC) came to making it a competitive contest as freshman midfielder Shannon Gilroy put the Gators up for good thirty-three seconds later on a free-position shot.
After Cullen put UF up 3-1 with another unassisted goal, junior midfielder Brittany Dashiell assisted on two consecutive Gilroy goals. Cullen then scored just over midway through the first half to put Florida up 6-1 and complete a hat trick of her own.
Dashiell then tied a UF record as she brought her assist total to four, dishing off to junior attacker Caroline Chesterman on two more unanswered scores.
Chesterman’s second goal at the 6:57 mark of the first half put Florida ahead 8-1, matching its total from the two teams’ previous matchup.
In 2011, the Gators scored just eight goals in the entire game as they defeated the Commodores 8-7 in Nashville.
At the 19:54 mark in the second half, Dashiell had added two goals of her own while Chesterman scored her third of the game, but Vanderbilt was able to keep the deficit at seven thanks to two goals from midfielder Ally Carey and a goal apiece from midfielder Alex Duckenfield and attacker Hannah Clark.
Florida then put the game out of reach by ending the game on a 5-0 run in which Cullen scored the last two of her game-high five goals and Gilroy scored her fourth of the game.
