Special report on the Florida Gators lacrosse team:
STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The 16th-ranked Florida Gators topped the 17th-ranked Stony Brook Seawolves, 11-10 in a tightly-contested battle on Saturday afternoon.
Shannon Kavanagh led the offensive attack for Florida – posting five goals on the day. That total tied her career-best and gave the sophomore her sixth hat trick this season. Lindsey Ronbeck followed with two of her own, while Sydney Pirreca, Grace Haus and Caroline Benitez each added one apiece.
The Gator defense caused six turnovers on the day and held Stony Brook to a .310 shooting percentage (10-of-31). Cara Trombetta led the way defensively with three caused turnovers, while Sabrina Cristodero added two.
Kavanagh (6), Ronbeck (4) and Cristodero (3) controlled the draw circle for the Gators.
Haley Hicklen posted 15 saves in the cage today, recording a .583 saves percentage in her 60 minutes of play. This was the fifth game that Hicklen has recorded double-digit saves and the 15 saves are just one off her career-best.
How it Happened
Defense reigned supreme in the first half, with goals coming at a premium for both squads.
Lindsey Ronbeck got the Gators on the board first, converting on a free-position attempt at the 24:34 mark, but Stony Brook answered back at the 23:24 mark to even it a one apiece.
On a scrum in front of the net, Shannon Kavanagh gave all her effort to grab the loose ball, allowing her to score and put the Gators up 2-1 with just about 19 minutes remaining in the first half. The Seawolves were able to knot it once again at 2-2, but Kavanagh fought hard for another loose ball in front of the net, coming up with it and firing into the back of the net.
Stony Brook retaliated with back-to-back goals, taking the 4-3 lead with 5:10 remaining in the half, but Brianna Harris found a cutting Grace Haus who maneuvered her way through the defense to tie it all up at four.
The Gators got out to the quick 6-4 lead in the second half on goals from Caroline Benitez and Kavanagh. Benitez scored on a pass from Sydney Pirreca, while Kavanagh converted on a free-position attempt to give her her sixth hat trick this season.
Florida continued to tack on goals early in the second-half, with Ronbeck and Madi Hall both scoring on free-position attempts to give Florida the 8-5 lead. Stony Brook fought back after the Gator run, going on a spurt of its own to tie it all up at 8-8.
The Gators retook the lead on Kavanagh’s fourth goal of the game – this one on a feed from Grace Haus.
Kavanagh continued firing, scoring her fifth goal of the game on a pass from Hall, giving Florida the 10-8 lead with just under eight minutes to play. The Seawolves cut the deficit to one goal at the 6:53 mark, but Pirreca fired one into the net on a free-position shot to once again give Florida the two-goal lead.
Stony Brook was able to cut it to one goal again at 11-10, but the Gators were able to hold on to secure the victory.
Records
No. 16 Florida (4-6, 0-0)
No. 17 Stony Brook (4-4, 1-0)
O’Leary’s Insight
– “Our defense really stepped up today, limiting a strong Stony Brook attack to just 10 goals. We still have some things to work on before heading into conference, but today was a good step.”
Notables
* Lindsey Ronbeck currently sits at 192 career goals, trying to become just the third Gator to reach 200 goals
o Ronbeck has potential to be the second-fastest Gator to reach the 200-goal mark. Shannon Gilroy did it in 67 games, while Kitty Cullen did it in 78 games. Ronbeck has currently played 68 games in a Gator uniform
* Shannon Kavanagh recorded five points against Stony Brook, moving her to 98 in her career
o She is on track to become the 16th Gator to score at least 100 points in a career and she would be the sixth one to do so in her sophomore season
o The fastest Gator to reach 100 points was Ashley Bruns, who did so in 24 games. Currently Kavanagh has played in 31 games and sits at 98 points.
* Streaking: Haley Hicklen has recorded a save in 36-straight games, the second-best mark in program history.
* Streaking: Lindsey Ronbeck has also scored at least one goal in 21-straight games, the fourth-best mark in program history
* Streaking: Sabrina Cristodero (24) and Shannon Kavanagh (23) are creeping closer to the record for most consecutive games with a draw control (27)
Up Next
– The Gators return to Donald R. Dizney Stadium for their final non-conference home game on Tuesday, facing the Brown Bears
– Opening draw is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed on YouTube with Ryan Urquhart and Annabeth Collins on the call