CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – It was too little, too late for the Florida Gators (15-6) in their NCAA Tournament Second Round game against the North Carolina Tar Heels (15-3) Sunday afternoon at Fetzer Field. Despite scoring four of the game's last seven goals, the Gators couldn't overcome a sluggish first half, losing,11-6, to the second-seeded Tar Heels.
Florida and its national-leading scoring offense couldn't get anything going against the Tar Heels and their sophomore goalie Caylee Waters all afternoon.
The Gators, who entered Sunday averaging a national-leading 16.00 goals per game, mustered a season-low six goals. Despite firing off 23 shots, UF managed to find the back of the net just six times, as Waters made 10 saves, including a handful of point-blank stops.
After the Gators knotted the score at 1-1 at the 24:24 mark in the first, the Tar Heels scored four of the half's last five goals and entered intermission with a 5-2 lead.
North Carolina opened the second half on a 3-0 run and held an 8-2 advantage with 20 minutes remaining in regulation.
The Gators got the score within four and trailed 9-5 at the 13:17 after sophomore Carli Marsh scored her 10th goal of the season off an assist from freshman Shayna Pirreca. Florida had a chance to close UNC's lead to three with 10 minutes to go, but a quick-stick attempt by sophomore Mollie Stevens was saved by Waters.
During the last 10 minutes of action, the two teams traded scores and the Tar Heels held the ball for the last minute of action to end the Gators' season.
Playing in her final collegiate game, senior Tewaaraton Finalist Shannon Gilroy tallied two goals and finished her career with 256 goals – tied for the eighth-most in NCAA history.
Sophomore Caroline Fitzgerald led a UF defense that forced nine turnovers despite playing most of the game in its third of the field. Fitzgerald had a career day, totaling career-highs in caused turnovers (four) and ground balls (seven).
Junior goalkeeper Mary-Sean Wilcox registered six stops and made 14 saves during the Gators' two NCAA Tournament games.
Caroline Fitzgerald (11) caused four turnovers and finished the season with the most-ever caused turnovers (21) by a Gator sophomore. (Photo: Tim Casey)
Bracket
First Round: Florida 15, Stanford 10
Second Round: No. 2 North Carolina 11, Florida 6
Full Bracket
Numbers of Note
- Florida is 1-6 all-time against North Carolina and 1-5 in Chapel Hill
- Florida advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in its six year history
- UF finished the season with 326 goals, the most in the NCAA and second-most in team history
- Shannon Gilroy netted two goals and finished her career with 256 in her career, which ranks tied for eighth all-time in NCAA Division I history
- Gilroy entered today's game leading the nation in points while ranking second-nationally in goals. She finished her senior season with 98 points, 74 goals and a career high 24 assists
- Sophomore Mollie Stevens extended her program-record goal-scoring streak to 25 games finding the back of the net at the 17:25-minute mark in the second half
- Stevens finished with two goals and ended her sophomore season with a career-high 43 goals
- Sophomore defender Caroline Fitzgerald caused a career-high four turnovers and totaled seven during the Gators' two games in the NCAA Tournament
- Fitzgerald also recorded a career-high seven ground balls – the third-highest single-game total in UF history
- Fitzgerald finished her sophomore year with 21 caused turnovers, the most-ever in UF history by a second-year player
- Three UF seniors (Nora Barry, Gilroy and Mikki Offit) played in their final collegiate game
Mandee's Minute
Head coach Amanda O'Leary
Thoughts on the game:
“First, a huge congratulations to North Carolina. It was a well-deserved win; they were definitely the better team today. I was really impressed with their offense and I thought defensively they held us at bay. Caylee Waters did a great job in the goal cage. I want to thank our seniors. They came in as freshman and worked tirelessly and are a huge part of the winning tradition we have at Florida.”
On UNC's offense:
“They have so many offensive threats. They have Maggie [Bill] and Aly [Messinger] and for a defensive group it's not like you can slide to a double team and leave the other open because they are all really good attackers. They are really balanced and unselfish with the ball. They take their opportunities and if you make a mistake defensively, they recognized it and executed.”
On UNC's defensive pressure:
“We were taking really quick opportunities; the first opportunity that was afforded to us we took. The game plan was we didn't want to get into a run-and-gun game with them, and I thought that is what happened in the first half. We got into that style of play and that wasn't really the game plan. I credit North Carolina's defense because they forced us into those situations. I don't think we were really patient.”
On what Shannon Gilroy mean's to the program:
“I get that question a lot and you would think that I would be able to articulate an answer, but it is really hard to put into words. It is not only that she is an athlete, and a phenomenal athlete at that, but she is just a really amazing person. She is a great athlete, person and student. That trio of characteristics is what sets her apart. The accolades she has on the lacrosse field speak for themselves. The community service that she does is what people do not hear so much about. I can't say enough about her. I probably should have a really good answer, but from my heart, I can't imagine Florida lacrosse without her."
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