No. 8 Gators Knock Off No. 2 North Carolina in Chapel Hill

Saturday, February 20

Chapel Hill, NC

11:00 AM

Florida Gators

3-0

North Carolina

3-1

Florida

North Carolina

Freshman Sydney Pirreca scored a game high five goals for Florida.

No. 8 Gators Knock Off No. 2 North Carolina in Chapel Hill

Saturday, February 20, 2016 | Lacrosse

Box Score

Freshman Sydney Pirreca scored a career high five goals.

By: Kelly Reynolds

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It was a total team effort at Fetzer Field as the No. 8 Gators moved to 3-0 on the season with a 16-15 win over No. 2 North Carolina (3-1) Saturday afternoon. Freshman Sydney Pirreca went off with a team-high five goals, Florida's freshmen accounted for seven scores in the game, seven Gator players scored and UF pressured aggressively on defense in a classic powerhouse battle in Chapel Hill.

In the seven-year history between the Gators and Tar Heels, UF locked up its second win, both coming in Tar Heel territory. The Gators start their season 3-0 for the second time in the program's young history and notched their second top-15 victory in as many ranked clashes so far this season.

While five Florida players registered multiple-goal games, Caroline Fitzgerald and Sydney DuPre led a feisty UF defense with three caused turnovers each and DuPre made it three straight games with a defensive score for Florida, just her second career goal as a Gator.

North Carolina scored the first goal of the game and extended its lead to 5-1 and then again 8-4 before the Gators went on a scoring splurge with final four goals in the first half for an 8-8 tie. The youngest Pirreca had a hat trick in the first half alone and right out of the gates in the second, put the ball in the net for the 8-9 advantage in the second.

Carolina and Florida traded scores in the second before a Shayna Pirreca goal at 20:18 gave the Gators a 12-11 lead they wouldn't relinquish. UF extended it to 14-11 on Sydney P.'s fifth goal of the game and 16-13 on DuPre's game winner. The Tar Heels scored the final two to narrow UF's lead, 16-15, but a crucial draw control from Taylor Bresnahan on the final draw sealed the deal for the Orange and Blue.

RECORDS
No. 2 North Carolina: 3-1
No. 8 Florida: 3-0

NUMBERS OF NOTE

99: wins for Florida head coach Amanda O'Leary at the helm of the Gator program. O'Leary entered the 2016 season as the fifth winningest active Division I coach with her .737 winning percentage in 20 years as a head coach. O'Leary is now (261-92, .739) overall and is the 17th winningest coach all-time in the history of NCAA women's lacrosse. O'Leary is 99-27 (.786) all-time at the University of Florida, just two wins shy of her 100th coaching victory at the helm of the program
67: fouls and 10 yellow cards were issued in Saturday's ultra-competitive showdown between UF and UNC
28: straight games with a goal for junior Mollie Stevens, who had three goals against the Tar Heels Saturday, marking three straight games with three or more goals to start the season
7: Gators scored against the Tar Heels, marking the third straight game five or more Gators have netted a goal
7: goals scored between UF's No. 1 and No. 2 freshman recruits: Sydney Pirreca (5) and Lindsey Ronbeck (2) as Ronbeck scored her first collegiate goals Saturday
2: the second win for Florida all-time against North Carolina, with both victories coming in Chapel Hill

O'LEARY ANALYSIS
"What a great team win -- this was a total team effort, from the players on the field to a bench that was outstanding this afternoon. The energy was fantastic today and it really comes down to the fact that everyone did their job."

UP NEXT
Next up, Florida returns home to the friendly confines of Donald R. Dizney Stadium for a match-up with Dartmouth Feb. 27 at noon before heading to Syracuse -- assistant coach Becca Block's alma mater -- for a Tuesday mid-week road game March 1.

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