Final Game Always Hurts When Not a Win
Monday, May 15, 2017 | Lacrosse, Scott Carter
The UF lacrosse team endured that lesson again on Sunday in its early exit from the NCAA Tournament.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Coach Amanda O'Leary sat at a table, mind adrift behind a blank stare. Senior defender Caroline Fitzgerald soon joined her at the postgame press conference with wet eyes and a cracked voice. Nearby, cries echoed across the lobby of the UF lacrosse team's headquarters.
If you want to know what a painful loss looks and sounds like, this was it. Championship dreams faded into a gut-punch defeat Sunday for the Gators. The game lasted a little more than two hours, but the final 7 minutes told the story of Southern Cal's 15-12 victory.
A victory was within grasp, and then it was gone for the No. 2-ranked Gators. In the final game of her college career, Fitzgerald, a senior from Mount Sanai, N.Y., and one of Florida's most dependable players, composed herself enough to explain the pain in words.
"I hope that people look at this moment and know how badly it hurts to end your four years this way," Fitzgerald said. "I hope that sparks something even in just one person's mind, 'maybe work a little bit harder or don't take that play off.' You can't go back now."
If you are around athletics long enough, from the peewees to the pros, you will witness it all eventually if you are curious enough to pay close attention. The agony and the ecstasy. The fabulous and the frauds. The unique and the unexceptional. The realm of possibility is what makes showing up half the fun. You never know what you might see for the first time -- and the last.
When I arrived at Dizney Stadium on Sunday for the second-round NCAA Tournament game between Florida and Southern Cal, a couple of thoughts stood out in my mind: 1. Florida defeated the Trojans in February and owned a nine-game win streak; 2. USC entered on an 11-game win streak, including a first-round win over Jacksonville on Friday.
Based on those facts, you didn't need to be a genius to figure this was likely going to be a good game and despite the Gators playing at home, nothing was certain because the Trojans featured goaltender Gussie Johns, not just one of the elite goalies in women's Division I lacrosse, but in the world.
Her coach, USC associate head coach Devon Willis, has been a goalie for the U.S. National Team since 2007 and starred in several international events for the Americans. Willis and Johns are on the U.S. National Team that is competing in the 2017 Women's World Cup in July in Guildford, England.
In the seesaw battle that unfolded Sunday, the Gators took a 12-11 lead with 7:07 left when Linsey Ronbeck delivered a pass from behind the net to a cutting Caroline Benitez, whose quick shot beat a scrambling Johns. However, over the next three-plus minutes, USC reclaimed the magical elixir known as momentum.
A pair of goals by Drew Jackson – the second with the Trojans up a player after UF's Allie Pavinelli was issued a yellow card with 4:47 left – gave USC a 13-12 lead. The Trojans scored again with 3:19 left after a Gators turnover gave them possession, which ended on Gabby McMahon's goal for a 14-12 lead.
It felt over at that point, a stunning turn of events. Two distinctive scenes played out on the field at the final buzzer. The Gators slowly trickled to the center of the field to form a handshake line as the Trojans raced to the far end of the field to embrace Johns, whose 14 saves played a huge role.
"She played lights out,'' O'Leary said. "She was seeing the ball really well. She has really quick hands. She was in perfect positioning on a lot of those. There were some great saves she made out there."
Trojans coach Lindsay Munday offered similar praise.
"She's a phenomenal leader,'' Munday said. "She came up huge for us."
Munday said UF surprised the Trojans with its physicality, speed and level of skill in the first meeting. USC came out physical from the start Sunday and it took the Gators a while to adjust, and when they did, O'Leary said they didn't execute at the level they needed to, both offensively and defensively.
Florida's season ended to a tougher opponent than it would have preferred playing at home as the NCAA Tournament's No. 3 overall seed. Meanwhile, USC advanced to play at Boston College, a surprise winner over Syracuse, in the national quarterfinals. If the Gators had won, they would be at home against Boston College.
Every season ends in what-ifs for all but one team. Some viewed the Gators as possibly that team, but USC and Johns had their own plans.
"Not the way we had hoped to end the season,'' O'Leary said.
The Gators finished 17-3. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in eight years. Their stay ended quickly for the second consecutive season.
In a few days, the sad images and despair from Sunday will lift and start to let the sunshine back in. That is when O'Leary and the returning players begin to fuel for next season. In time, the good memories will bubble up to replace the worst from their final game for the eight seniors.
It's never easy when your last game doesn't go the way you imagined.
"It's been a great four years here,'' Fitzgerald said. "Unfortunately we weren't able to get it done in those four years."
