GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 8 Gators honored three seniors on Senior Day and continued their dominance over BIG EAST competition, defeating Villanova, 21-3, Saturday afternoon at Donald R. Dizney Stadium. The win improved Florida to 11-4 and 5-0 in conference play.
Senior midfielder Shannon Gilroy got the scoring going when she scored an unassisted goal at the 28:39 mark in the first half. After Villanova scored its only goal of the half at the 22:54 mark, the Gators rattled off 13-straight goals to end the half.
The Orange and Blue dominated the Wildcats in every phase of the game and entered halftime with a commanding 16-1 lead.
Florida's offense was clicking the entire game and outshot Villanova, 29-1, in the opening half.
With its reserves playing the entire second half, Florida tallied five more goals after halftime and used a running clock to complete the quick contest.
Gilroy finished with a game-high six points on four goals and two assists, increasing her national leading point and goal total to 76 and 56, respectively. Fellow senior Nora Barry registered three points on one goal and two assists, while senior defender Mikki Offit nearly scored her first goal of the season after she took two shots on goal.
Junior goalie Mary-Sean Wilcox played 30 minutes and improved to 11-4 in net before giving way to freshman Olivia Cole in the second stanza.
Shannon Gilroy tallied six points on four goals and two assists in Saturday's win. (Photo: Jim Burgess)
Record
- Florida – 11-4, 5-0 BIG EAST
- Villanova – 7-6, 2-2 BIG EAST
Series Update
- Today's game between the Gators and Wildcats was the first meeting between the two schools
Numbers of Note
- Florida has won 14-straight regular-season conference games dating back to 2013
- In five conference games, Florida has outscored its opponents, 91-25
- The Orange & Blue tied a season high with 21 goals scored and 16 goals in the first half
- Twelve Gators tallied goals, tying a season best
- Senior Shannon Gilroy netted four goals and now has 238 in her career, which ranks tied for 13th all-time in NCAA Division I history
- Gilroy has scored five or more points in every BIG EAST game this season, totaling 33 points, 24 goals and nine assists
- Gilroy entered today's game leading the nation in points and goals. She now has 76 points and 56 goals in 2015
- Sophomore Mollie Stevens scored one goals and has now scored a goal in 19-consecutive games, one shy of tying the program mark held by Ashley Bruns
- Stevens also tallied a career-high four draw controls and caused one turnover
- Junior Devon Schneider netted two goals on four shots. Schneider has scored 21 goals on 25 shots this season (.840)
- Freshman defender Morgan Bracken scored her first-career goal and finished with two scores
Nora Barry tallied three points on one goal and two assists on Senior Day. (Photo: Jim Burgess)
Mandee's Minute
Head coach Amanda O'Leary
On her senior class:
"This is a class that you asked me earlier how to put into words how important they are to not only this program but to myself personally, and there aren't any words. I still haven't garnered the words to tell you what they've done for this university, for this athletic department, for the community, but most especially for our program. It's just really, really special. These are three young women that are going to be successful in the world no matter what they do. I'm really excited to follow their journey as they leave here, but we still have a couple more weeks with them, hopefully a month or so. I'm going to savor every moment we have with them."
On the lack of scoring lulls in the game:
"When you come out of the locker room with the type of passion that they did, I know that every player out there wanted to perform at their very best for these seniors, and I think they did, and they accomplished that goal. I couldn't be more proud of this team today."
On the team's defensive effort:
"It was very impressive. I thought Mary-Sean [Wilcox] and Olivia [Cole] both played very well. We gave up a goal early that I think was probably a little bit more preventable than the others, but I'm just really proud of them. They came out, they picked up ground balls, and we got the ball out of our defensive end -- that's what we've been asking them to do."
Up Next
Florida returns to action on Wednesday (April 15) against Cincinnati (2-11, 0-3 BIG EAST) at Donald R. Dizney Stadium at 12 p.m.
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