Big Hole and Overtime Goal Result in 'Big Bummer' for Gators Lacrosse Team
Sunday, March 4, 2012 | Lacrosse, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- They climbed and climbed and climbed.
And each time the Gators pulled even with Syracuse on Saturday afternoon, the Orange would speed up just enough to pull back ahead. The Orange's final surge came 55 seconds into sudden-death overtime when Syracuse's Katie Webster scored.
Game over. Syracuse 12, Gators 11.
It was a disappointing ending for the majority of those in the stands at Dizney Stadium who came out on a sunny afternoon to watch two of the best lacrosse teams in the country. The fourth-ranked Gators entered with four consecutive wins after an opening-season loss at No. 2 North Carolina a month ago.
Ninth-ranked Syracuse had lost two of its three games, but those losses came against No. 6 Virginia and No. 1 Northwestern.
As soon as Webster's shot found the net, a mass of orange and blue gathered its belongings and began to head for the exits. Meanwhile, a small patch of fans behind Syracuse's bench cheered and took pictures as the Orange celebrated.
"Big bummer'' were the first words Gators junior attacker Kitty Cullen used to describe her feelings afterward.
Cullen, the American Lacrosse Conference Player of the Year in 2011, was relatively quiet on Saturday until the end of regulation. After trailing 4-0 early in the game, the Gators pulled even 7-7 late in the second half. The Orange quickly shot back for a 10-7 lead.
The Gators looked done and then Nora Barry's goal on a free-position shot made it 10-8 with 2:43 remaining. Twenty-nine seconds later Ashly Brun's wrap-around goal made it 10-9.
Suddenly the Gators' bite was back.
That's when Cullen, who took a game-high 10 shots, finally made one with 52.6 seconds left.
The game was tied. The crowd was alive. The comeback was on.
Florida finally had momentum on its side as the game headed into overtime. Following a brief delay when one of the officials needed to be replaced for health issues, the Gators looked ready to take their first lead of the game after a Syracuse player received a yellow card.
The Gators were a man up. Next thing you knew they were a goal down after Sarah Holden's short-handed score put Syracuse ahead. Soon afterward the Gators climbed back even on Brittany Dashiell's goal in the second overtime.
That forced sudden-death OT and 55 seconds later, Webster's goal sent everyone scurrying to the rest of their Saturday afternoon.
"The whole game we were trying to come back after not playing so well in the first half," Dashiell said. "You can just see the heart on our team working all 60 minutes and then overtime. It's just a tough loss."
While the Syracuse players and coaches celebrated with big smiles and photos with their families, the Gators walked past somber-faced on their way to a postgame autograph session with fans.
You could tell they would rather have been elsewhere as they signed away with the loss still stuck in their heads.
Florida coach Amanda O'Leary continually referred to the start of the game when trying to dissect the defeat, only Florida's fourth home loss in 26 games since starting play in 2010.
The Gators didn't score their first goal Saturday until Shannon Gilroy scored more than 17 minutes into the game.
"We got ourselves in a hole early. We came out really slow. You have to come out with a fire and we didn't,'' O'Leary said. "We made comebacks, and that's fantastic, but we didn't finish. We came out with an L instead of a W.''
O'Leary was pleased the Gators took 39 shots and created ample scoring opportunities, and she liked the fight her team showed in digging out of that early hole, but a loss is a loss and there was no way around that.
The Gators didn't show any sense of a we'll-get-them-next-time mentality. They wanted it this time as they head into the heart of their schedule.
In their previous four games -- wins over Jacksonville, UMBC, Siena and Detroit -- Florida owned a 77-19 scoring edge.
Syracuse was an opportunity to prove they could beat one of the nation's best. They learned they still need to improve.
"You go out and there are things against the Sienas and the Detroits you can do that you can't do against Syracuse,'' Cullen said. "When we were trying to do those things you get turnovers. I just don't think we should have ever been in that position in the first place.
"It's not a fun place to be and I hope we don't find ourselves there again any time soon."
A better start Saturday and the Gators likely wouldn't have been in that place Cullen talks about.
But they were, and instead of leaving Dizney Stadium to celebrate a win, the Gators finished signing autographs and once again walked past the contingent of Syracuse players sharing the win and hugs with their families.
That would be a big bummer for any team after a tough home loss.
