Florida Gators
Niagara
Balanced Scoring Attack Leads No. 4 Florida to 21-4 Home Win over Niagara
Saturday, March 7, 2015 | Lacrosse
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – With its next two games coming against top-10 competition, No. 4 Florida (6-1) showed no signs of overlooking Niagara (1-3) on Saturday at Donald R. Dizney Stadium as 12 gators scored goals in Florida's 21-4 victory.
The Gators started the game on an 8-0 run, with the first goal of the game coming off a free-position shot by sophomore Sammi Burgess just 38 seconds into the game.
Following a Nora Barry goal off an assist from Darcy Messina with 11:49 remaining in the first half, the Gators lead was 12-2 and the 10-goal running clock was initiated.
Florida entered halftime with a 15-2 lead and outshot Niagara, 25-5.
In the second half, head coach Amanda O'Leary's reserves continued the offensive barrage, tacking on six goals.
With looming matchups against No. 6 Syracuse (March 10) and No. 1 Maryland (March 14), it would have been easy for the Gators, to overlook the Purple Eagles, but the Orange and Blue were clicking on all cylinders, setting season highs in shots (35) and ground balls (27) while tying a season-best for goals scored (21)
In total, 12 Gators scored goals, led by junior Darcy Messina, who finished with her first-career hat trick. Junior goalie Mary-Sean Wilcox had two saves in 30 minutes of action and improved to 6-1 on the season. Freshman Olivia Cole came in for Wilcox to start the second half and tallied two saves of her own.
Florida celebrates Mollie Stevens' goal during the first half of Saturday's game. (Photo: Matt Pendleton)
Record
- Florida – 6-1
- Niagara – 1-3
Series Update
- Today marked the first-ever meeting between Florida and Niagara.
- Florida improved to 4-0 all-time against teams from the Metro Atlantic Conference
Numbers of Note
- Florida is on a six-game win streak and during that streak has outscored its opponents, 105-37
- The Gators' seventh-ranked scoring offense racked up 21 goals, the second time this season UF has scored more than 20 goals (Michigan – 21, Feb. 14)
- During the Gators' six-game win streak, Florida has averaged 17.5 goals per contest
- Florida fired off a season-high 35 shots while scooping up a season-best 27 ground balls
- 12 different Gators scored goals, the second time this season this feat has occurred (Michigan, Feb. 14), and eight had multiple scores
- Every dressed member of the team saw playing time
- Junior Darcy Messina scored a game-high and career-high three goals on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting. She added two assists and finished with a career-high five points
- Sophomore Chloe O'Haire scooped up a career-best four groundballs and added two goals on four shots
- Senior Shannon Gilroy tallied two goals and an assist and now has 24 goals in 2015
- Freshman defender Kat Hamer caused her first-career turnover and finished the game with two
- Redshirt junior midfielder Nicole Graziano, who entered today with 14 goals, was held scoreless for the first time all season
Mandee's Minute
Head coach Amanda O'Leary
Opening Statement:
"I just think it's a great gauge for us. I thought that we came out and we played hard. I credit Niagara for coming in here and competing the whole 60 minutes, but for us, it's really important to finish all games out, and I thought we did. I was really pleased with our efforts completely today."
On the depth of Florida's bench:
"I thought that said a lot about them. I thought defensively they played really, really well. They competed throughout the entire game, and I thought it was a smooth transition from one group to the next. I was just really excited to see our younger players perform the way they did. It was all good for me."
Up Next
Florida hosts No. 6 Syracuse (5-2) on Tuesday (March 10) at 6:30 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium. The game will air on SEC Network+ and will be available to watch through WatchESPN.
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