GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 6 Gators (6-4) fought hard to come back from a three-goal deficit with 10 minutes remaining in regulation, but ended up falling short, as No. 17 Stony Brook (6-0) staved off UF's comeback to win 12-11 Tuesday night at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
Down 10-7 late in the second half, senior Nora Barry scored off an assist from fellow senior Shannon Gilroy to ignite Florida's comeback attempt and bring the score to 10-8 with 10 minutes left in regulation. On the ensuing possession, Gilroy fed junior Devon Schneider for another goal to make the score 10-9 with 9:34 on the clock.
The visiting Seawolves answered Florida's goal with 6:39 left in the game to increase their lead to two, but Barry found the back of the net just a minute later on a free-position shot to bring Florida within one and bring the score to 11-10 with 5:11 on the board.
A Gator turnover and another Stony Brook goal put the Seawolves ahead 12-10 with just under four minutes on the clock, but Gilroy earned a foul and drew a free-position shot, which she capitalized on, and brought the score to 12-11 at the 2:53 mark.
Florida had another chance to score and tie the game after redshirt junior Nicole Graziano won the draw and raced down the field for a scoring opportunity, but the midfielder was called for a charge, which gave Stony Brook the ball with 2:30 left in regulation. From there, Stony Brook ran out the clock, ending the Gators' chance of a comeback.
The Gators raced out to a fast start, scoring four of the game's five goals and held a 4-1 lead with 25:04 remaining in the half.
Stony Brook methodically made its way back into the game and tied the game at 4-4 with 10:34 left on the clock. After forcing a turnover at the 8:13 mark, the Seawolves held the ball for nearly eight minutes before scoring a goal on a free-position shot to gain a 5-4 lead going into halftime.
Gilroy totaled a team high six points on two goals and a career-tying four assists. Barry, Schneider and sophomore Mollie Stevens each tallied three goals. Junior goalkeeper Mary-Sean Wilcox tallied four saves.
Senior Shannon Gilroy tied a career high with four assists on Tuesday night. (Photo: Jim Burgess)
Record
- Florida – 6-4
- Stony Brook – 6-0
Series Update
- Tonight was the first-ever loss to Stony Brook – the Gators had won the previous three meetings
Numbers of Note
- Sophomore Mollie Stevens dished out her first assist of the night finding Nora Barry for the Gators' second goal of the evening
- Stevens tied a season-high with four points on three goals and one assist
- Shannon Gilroy tied a career-high with four assists and finished the game with six points, two goals and five draw controls
- Junior Devon Schneider totaled a season-best three goals on three shots. Schneider has totaled 11 goals in 2015 and is shooting at a .916 (11-for-12) clip
- Senior Nora Barry tied a season-best with three goals
- Junior Carly Ross set a season-high with three ground balls and added an assist
- Florida is on a three-game losing streak for only the second time in program history – the only other time coming in 2010 (4/11, at Colgate; 4/18 vs. Vanderbilt; 5/2 at Northwestern)
Mandee's Minute
Head coach Amanda O'Leary
What do you take from this heading into conference play?
“I think we understand now the importance of winning the BIG EAST. This was a tough game. I credit Stony Brook for coming out here and they competed. I thought they put 100 percent in. We fell short of giving and laying it all on the line so we didn't have anything left, and I don't think we did that tonight. Stony Brook did a great job tonight and we didn't.”
Up Next
Florida opens BIG EAST play on the road against Vanderbilt (3-4) on Sunday (March 22). The game is scheduled to begin at noon and will air on the SEC Network+.
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