Gators lacrosse team and leading scorer Kitty Cullen ready to rumble against Northwestern
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 | Lacrosse, Men's Swimming & Diving, Scott Carter
When you start talking about who is the best current UF student-athlete in his or her respective sport, Gators lacrosse player Kitty Cullen has to be in the conversation.
The sophomore midfielder is the nation's leading scorer with 61 goals, or 4.69 per game for the No. 6-ranked Gators (12-1). Cullen is also fast, and we're not just talking about the way she keeps defenders on the run. Earlier this season, Cullen scored the second-fastest goal in NCAA history when she scored eight seconds into a game.
Cullen needs one more goal to double her total (31) as a freshman, which took her 18 games to accomplish. Cullen's prolific scoring outburst didn't just happen by chance. She worked hard to improve her shot in the offseason and returned on a mission to help the Gators' second-year program reach another level.
“I knew that I was going to need to step up a lot for our team to be successful,'' Cullen said Tuesday afternoon before the Gators started practice. “You don't have to just shoot it as hard as you can, but you also have to place it. Sometimes placement is more important that speed.''
It doesn't hurt that the former AAU basketball standout is the fastest player on the team. She can outrun most defenders, which frees up space for her to get a shot off.
Cullen hopes the opportunities come often on Thursday night when the Gators host No. 2-ranked Northwestern (12-0) in what is being billed as the biggest game in school history for the young Gators. Northwestern is a traditional lacrosse powerhouse that won five consecutive national championships until last season.
The Wildcats easily knocked off the Gators in their inaugural season a year ago. However, these Gators clearly have more bite, highlighted by a school-record 12-game win streak following a season-opening loss at North Carolina.
The Gators haven't lost since, defeating four ranked teams along the way.
If they knock off the Wildcats on Thursday at Donald Dizney Stadium, the Gators will officially be labeled a national title contender.
Win or lose, Cullen knows this is a much different Florida team than the one that lost to Northwestern last season.
“We kind of stepped on the field and we were all just so scared because they were so big,'' she said. “It's like, 'They're Northwestern. They had been the five-time national champ.' So we were just really scared and nervous.
“This year, we're going to step into the game knowing this is a team we can actually beat. We actually have a chance to beat them, which was unlike last year. We're a lot more mature, we work together a lot better and we have a lot better chemistry.''
Cullen said it's been that way since the first day of practice last fall. The Gators showed up with a better idea of Coach Amanda O'Leary's expectations, had more chemistry and more confidence.
One of the top prep players in the country coming out of the McDonogh School in Maryland, Cullen was invited to Northwestern's Junior Day but wasn't that interested in going there. She had plenty of options to player at tradition-rich programs, but instead, she signed with the Gators.
Some asked her why considering her options. Cullen recalled Tuesday what Gators athletic director Jeremy Foley said in a speech he gave prospective recruits when Cullen visited.
“If you want to win, you want to be a Gator,'' Foley told them. “That's what we do here.''
Three years after first hearing Foley's pitch, Cullen and her teammates can record their biggest win yet with a victory over the Wildcats.
If they do, Cullen will play a huge role with that dangerous shot of hers.
“We definitely have a lot of confidence,'' she said. “I think we're going into this game really confident, but not overly confident because we know that they are going to be a tough one. But I definitely think we have a chance.''
