STORRS, Conn. – After holding an 8-1 halftime lead, the No. 8 Gators fell to Connecticut, 11-10, on Saturday afternoon at George J. Sherman-Family Sports Complex. The Gators, who clinched the BIG EAST regular-season championship last week dropped to 12-5, 6-1 in conference play.
The game was a game of two halves for the Gators. Florida jumped out to an 8-1 halftime advantage after its defense held the Huskies to just four shots and forced eight turnovers.
After halftime, UConn started the second half on a 6-0 run and cut the Gator lead to 8-7 at the 20:04 mark.
UConn had a chance to tie the game on a free-position shot at the 18-minute mark, but junior goalkeeper Mary-Sean Wilcox, came up with a save on a low, bouncing shot. After clearing the ball, senior Shannon Gilroy ended Florida's scoring drought and fired a shot from the eight-meter line into the net to increase the Gators' lead to 9-7 at the 17:51 mark.
After trading goals for the next 13 minutes, the Huskies tied the game on a goal by Alexandra Crofts with four minutes remaining in regulation. Connecticut won the ensuing draw and scored the eventual game-winning goal off a free-position shot from Alyson Fazio.
Florida had a chance to tie the game in the last two minutes of play after winning the draw and setting up its offense. However, after firing two shots on goal, both wide, the Gators turned the ball over with 44 seconds and UConn ran out the clock to end the game.
Senior Nora Barry led the Gators with three goals, while Gilroy and junior Devon Schneider added two goals each.
Record
- Florida – 12-5, 6-1 BIG EAST
- Connecticut – 9-6, 4-2 BIG EAST
Series Update
- Today's game was the first-ever meeting between Florida and UConn
Numbers of Note
- Today's loss ended Florida's 15-game winning streak against conference competition in the regular season
- UConn became the first BIG EAST team to score more than 10 goals against the Gators
- Senior Shannon Gilroy netted two goal and now has 241 in her career, which ranks 13th all-time in NCAA Division I history
- Gilroy entered today's game leading the nation in points while ranking second in goals. She now has 80 points and 59 goals in 2015
- Sophomore Mollie Stevens scored one goal and has now scored a goal in 21-consecutive games, breaking the program mark held by Ashley Bruns
Mandee's Minute
Head coach Amanda O'Leary
Thoughts on the game:
“Connecticut was the better team today. They came out and played with more intensity than we did and it showed in the final score.”
Up Next
Florida has locked up the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament and will await to see who they play in the tournament semifinals. The tournament will be a four-team format with the semifinals taking place on Friday, April 30 and the finals happening on Saturday, May 2. All games will be played at George J. Sherman-Family Sports Complex in Storrs, Connecticut.
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