Gator Country

Gators senior attacker Kitty Cullen led Florida with five points in Wednesday's 16-9 home win against Stony Brook. / Gator Country file photo by Rob Foldy

Senior attack Kitty Cullen (Rockville, Md.) had five points as senior midfield Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) and sophomore midfielder Shannon Gilroy (Northport, N.Y.) chipped in four goals apiece to guide No. 3 Florida past No. 18/19 Stony Brook 16-9 in the 2013 home opener at Donald R. Dizney Stadium on Wednesday.

The Gators continued on their win streak as they improve to 4-0 overall with help from five players with two or more goals and taking the advantage in draw controls, winning the battle 19-8 overall including 11 in the first half. Senior defender Sam Farrell (Millersville, Md.) stepped up to tie her career-high six draw controls on the afternoon while Dashiell added four and Gilroy earned three. The 19 draw controls ties for the fifth-best team total in school history.

“I thought we started out really strong,” Head coach Amanda O’Leary said.  “I thought we came out offensively everything was clicking, defensively I thought we gave up some quick goals which is uncharacteristic of us and hitting that lull. We have to fix that because we could find ourselves into a deep deficit we let that happen again.”

UF came roaring out to start the game with an early 5-0 lead to take control of the first half.  Dashiell got things started off a free position shot just 50 seconds into the game, followed up by goals from sophomore midfielder Nora Barry (Marcellus, N.Y.), Cullen, senior attack Ashley Bruns (Ellicot City, Md.) and senior attack Gabi Wiegand (Bay Shore, N.Y.). The Gators defense held Stony Brook scoreless for nearly the first nine minutes before Stony Brook’s Demmianne Cook scored at the 21:04 mark.

Gilroy scored her first goal of the day at the 20:28 mark on a free position shot that sparked another UF run, scoring five goals in a row to take a 10-1 lead.  In the run, Cullen found the back of the net for back-to-back goals as Dashiell and Barry helped the Gators take a nine goal lead.

Stony Brook (1-1) was relentless in its effort, coming back to score four goals to close out the half, as Florida held a 10-5 advantage at the break. The Seawolves held the Gators scoreless for the final 11 minutes of the first half.

But Florida veterans Dashiell and Gilroy added two goals to start the second half, although Stony Brook would cut the lead to four with 19:37 to play.  Gilroy and Dashiell again combined for three goals to help keep the Seawolves out of reach.

Freshman goalie Mary Sean Wilcox earned a team-high five saves in the win as she relieved starter senior Mikey Meagher (Liverpool, N.Y.) who had four saves and earned the win. O’Leary said it adds to the Gators depth having Wilcox on their bench. Wilcox entered the game with 19:37 left in the second half and allowed just one goal to her five saves.

“Mary Sean is such a great option to have and you see why. She can step in there and for her to come into a game like this where the momentum was certainly not in our favor and make some good saves, that certainly says a lot about her and our defense is really comfortable playing in front of her,” O’Leary said.

Courtesy of UF Communications

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