The top-seeded Florida Gators (13-5) advanced to the BIG EAST Championship game after defeating the fourth-seeded Villanova Wildcats (9-8), 18-8, Thursday evening at George J. Sherman Family-Sports Complex. Florida will play the winner of tonight's game between Georgetown and Connecticut in the title game on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Just as they did in the regular-season matchup between the two schools, the Gators scored first and built an early lead following a goal by senior midfielder Shannon Gilroy just 26 seconds into play. The Wildcats answered the Gators' goal, but UF used a 6-0 run to build a 7-1 lead by the 14:30 mark in the first half.
Villanova went on a 3-1 run at the end of the first half, which made the score 8-4 in favor of the Gators entering halftime.
After a Wildcat goal to start the second half, Villanova's defense held Florida scoreless for nearly 10 minutes and seemed to be gaining the momentum. However, sophomore Mollie Stevens rocketed a low shot past Villanova's goalie for her third goal of the game.
Stevens' tally broke Florida's scoring drought and made the score 9-5 at the 20:40 mark in the second half. After the attacker's goal, the momentum swung in favor of the Gators and they scored eight of the next nine goals to put the game away and coast into the championship game.
Gilroy led all scorers with four goals while Stevens, junior Lauren Lea and sophomore Sammi Burgess each registered three scores.
Junior Mary-Sean Wilcox and freshman Olivia Cole combined for six saves in goal.
Mollie Stevens (17) celebrates her game-changing goal in the second half of Thursday's game.
Tournament Bracket
Semifinals – Thursday, April 30
No. 1 Florida 18, No. 4 Villanova 8
No. 2 Georgetown vs. No. 3 Connecticut – 7 p.m. – BEDN
Final – Saturday, May 2
No. 1 Florida vs. Winner of semifinal No. 2 – 4:30 p.m. – FOX Sports 2
Numbers of Note
- Senior Shannon Gilroy netted four goals and now has 245 in her career, which ranks tied for 11th all-time in NCAA Division I history
- Gilroy entered today's game third-nationally in points while ranking fourth-nationally in goals. She now has 84 points and 63 goals in 2015
- Sophomore Mollie Stevens extended her program-record goal-scoring streak to 22 games with a goal off an assist from Devon Schneider at the 23:32-minute mark in the second half
- Sophomore defender Taylor Bresnahan scored her first goal of the season and third of her career
- Junior Lauren Lea set a career-high with three goals
- Nine Gators tallied goals and Florida assisted on nine goals
- Florida outshot Villanova, 25-16, and had four turnovers, compared to Nova's four
Mandee's Minute
Head coach Amanda O'Leary
Thoughts on the game:
“I think we started off slow in the first half and they put us on our heels scoring four goals. We came out strong in the second half and fixed what we needed to fix. I credit Villanova. I thought their goalie played outstanding and I thought their defense was a swarming defense, but we adjusted well in the second half and made the adjustments we needed to make and put it in the players' hands and they delivered.”
On Villanova's run at the end of the first half:
“This is a game of runs and it comes down to who is going to finish those runs. I thought we did a really nice job of adjusting and making sure we were the ones with the ball at the end of the game.”
On Mollie Stevens' goal that changed the momentum in the second half:
“You can rely on Mollie Stevens to be that person and we want the ball in her stick in those situations. She is incredibly talented and she sees the field really well. It is just a credit to her for being able to find the back of the net.”
Senior Midfielder Shannon Gilroy
On the win:
“Today was a great win for us today. After coming off the loss to UConn and not having the game we wanted to have this win was a huge one for us today and I think we are going to go into Saturday with a good mindset.”
Up Next
Florida plays the winner of tonight's other semifinal game between No. 2 Georgetown and No. 3 Connecticut at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 2. The game will air live on FOX Sports 2
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