Special report on the Florida Gators lacrosse team:
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -The No. 14 Florida lacrosse team completed the upset of top-ranked and defending national champions Maryland on Saturday afternoon, winning the game 15-14 after scoring with less than a minute to play.
The Gators broke Maryland’s 86-game home win streak and serve the Terps their first home loss since March 10, 2012.
This win is also the first time since April 12, 2012 that the Gators have knocked off the top-ranked team in the IWLCA rankings (Northwestern, 8-7).
Shannon Kavanagh led Florida on the offensive end, recording a career-high eight goals. That is the second-best total in a game in program history. Brianna Harris and Emerson Cabrera each notched a hat trick of their own on the day, a career-high for Cabrera. Hannah Mardiney added in her first goal of the season as well.
As a team, Florida shot 15-for-26, good for a .583 shooting percentage on the day.
Harris notched three assists, while Kaala Puglisi added one of her own.
Defensively, the Gators caused six turnovers, led by two from Cabrera and Becky Browndorf – a career-best for both.
Cara Trombetta marked Brindi Griffin, holding her to 1-of-5 shooting, while Kaitlyn Dabkowski held Catie May to 2-of-5 shooting on the day.
Sarah Reznick once again had a day in the cage, recording a career-high 14 saves. That is the third-best total in a game in program history.
The Gators are back in action on Feb. 22 with another Top-15 clash. No. 11 Loyola heads to Donald R. Dizney Stadium, with opening draw set for 12 p.m.
How it Happened
* Maryland got on the board first, scoring just :56 seconds into the game, but the Florida defense answered on the next play, with Cara Trombetta causing her first turnover of the day. That CT led to a breakaway goal for Shannon Kavanagh, knotting the game at 1-1.
* The Terps once again grabbed the lead after a free position goal at the 23:51 mark, but Kavanagh registered the equalizer on a free position goal of her own just :40 seconds later.
* After a Maryland goal, redshirt freshman Emerson Cabrera notched the first goal of her collegiate career, tying the game at 3-3 with 20:47 left in the first half.
* Kavanagh’s hat trick gave Florida its first lead of the game at 4-3, but the Terps quickly answered, registering the tying goal with 19:16remaining in the half
* The Gators went on 2-0 run to take the 6-4 lead with 13:18 remaining in the first half. The run started with Cabrera’s second goal of the day – on another free position attempt – while Kavanagh followed with her fourth goal of the day.
* Maryland got one back at the 12:15 mark to pull to within one, but Brianna Harris posted her first goal of the game to push the lead back to two goals with 10:26 remaining in the half.
* The Terps went on a 3-0 run late in the half to go ahead 8-7, but Cabrera answered with just :16 seconds remaining to tie the game and grab her first career hat trick.
* Out of the half, Maryland got on the board first, but Kavanagh quickly answered on a pass from Harris to knot it up at 9-9.
* Florida kept it rolling, with Kavanagh notching her sixth goal of the game at 24:03 mark, putting Florida up 10-9. Maryland tied it up at 10-10, but Hannah Mardiney answered with her first goal of the season to give the Gators the 11-10 advantage with 20 minutes remaining.
* Harris registered her second goal of the day to put Florida up 12-10 – tying the largest lead of the game for the Gators. Maryland pulled within one once again with 18:08 remaining in the game, but Harris would record her own answer, posting her third goal of the day on an assist from Kaala Puglisi.
* Maryland would not let Florida’s lead grow any greater than two, pulling back to within a goal with 14:30 left in the game.
* Kavanagh’s career-high seventh goal of the game put once again put Florida up two goals with just under 13 minutes left. Over the course of the next five minutes of play, the Terps scored two goals to tie it up at 14-14 with 8:00to play.
* With under a minute to play, Florida went on the offensive charge, with Kavanagh notching her eighth goal to give Florida the game-winner with :49 seconds remaining.
Records
No. 14 Florida (2-0)
No. 1 Maryland (1-1)
O’Leary’s Insight
* “I am beyond proud of the effort this team brought today. No matter what the circumstances, they battled until the end and came up with a terrific win. This goes to show how much work they put in, not only on the field, but in the weight room, in the classroom, etc. This was a complete team win – the offense, defense and bench shone today and helped get us this win.”
Notables
* This is the first time since April 12, 2012 that Florida has knocked off the No. 1 team in the IWLCA rankings (Northwestern, 8-7)
* Before today, Maryland had not lost at home since March 10, 2012 (86 games)
* Shannon Kavanagh notched a career-high eight goals
* The eight goals are the second-highest total in a game in program history
* Emerson Cabrera posted three goals on the day, a career-high for the redshirt freshman. She also notched a career-high two caused turnovers
* Sarah Reznick posted 14 saves during the game, a new career-high
* In her first two games, she has combined for 25 saves, the most for any Gator goalie in their first two games in the cage
* The 11 saves ties the third-highest mark in a single game in program history
* Becky Browndorf recorded a career-high two caused turnovers
* Kavanagh crept closer to 200 career points, posting eight points to move her to 171 in her career
* The Gators improve to 1-5 against the Terps in the all-time series
* Florida picks up its first win in College Park, Md. (1-2)
* Kavanagh continued her program-record streak of consecutive games with a draw control, moving to 36
Up Next
* The Gators return to Donald R. Dizney Stadium to take on No. 11 Loyola
* Opening draw is set for 12 p.m.
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