No. 1 Florida defeated No. 4 Cincinnati 19-6 on Thursday evening in Donald R. Dizney Stadium
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The top-seeded Florida lacrosse team overpowered the fourth-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats 19-6 on Thursday evening in the American Athletic Conference semifinal at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
The Gators – winners of 12-straight games – are now 15-2 on the year, while Cincinnati finishes its season 7-10.
Paisley Eagan and Grace Haus led the way with four goals apiece, followed by two from both Shannon Kavanagh and Danielle Pavinelli. Kavanagh’s first goal of the day was her 200th career, making her just the fourth Gator to reach that milestone.
Seven Gators each tallied one goal on the afternoon: Brianna Harris, Kassidy Bresnahan, Ashley Gonzalez, Shelton Sawers, Emily Heller, Kaala Puglisi and Janine Suris.
Harris dished out five assists on the evening, tying her career-best mark. Bresnahan tallied two helpers of her own to tie her career-high, while Eagan and Gonzalez each registered one assist in the game.
Florida won 16-of-25 draw controls, led by eight from Kavanagh and two from Heller.
UF’s defense was locked in against the Bearcats, allowing only two goals through the first 47 minutes of the game and caused a total of eight turnovers.
Kaitlyn Dabkowski was lights out on defense, recording a career-high four caused turnovers and a personal-best four groundballs.
Sarah Reznick had a stellar game in the cage, recording seven saves and only allowing three goals for a .700 save percentage. She also posted a career-high five groundballs in the victory.
The Gators advance to the AAC Championship on Saturday, taking on the winner of Vanderbilt-Temple. Opening draw is slated for 12 p.m. on ESPN+.
Records
No. 8 Florida (15-2, 10-0 AAC)
Cincinnati (7-10, 3-7 AAC)
How It Happened
* Paisley Eagan kicked off the scoring for Florida, putting up back-to-back goals to give the Gators the 2-0 lead six minutes into the game.
* Cincinnati responded with a goal at the 21:12 mark, but Brianna Harris netted her first of the day to once again give the Gators the two-goal lead. The Bearcats scored once more with 19:26 remaining in the half, but Florida’s defense held them scoreless the rest of the way through the first frame.
* During the scoreless Cincinnati stretch, Florida went on a 11-0 run, taking a 14-2 lead into the locker room. Shelton Sawers kicked off the run with a free position goal and was followed by Grace Haus’ first goal of the day to put the Gators up 5-2.
* Danielle Pavinelli found the back of the cage on a dish from Kassidy Bresnahan less than 45 seconds after Haus’ goal.
* With 17:03 left in the first half, Haus went back-to-back, putting Florida up six at 8-2. Emily Heller converted on a free position attempt to put the Gators up seven.
* Eagan notched her third hat trick of the season with just under nine minutes to play, then Shannon Kavanagh fired two goals into the cage within 32 seconds of one another to put the Gators up 12-2 and start the running clock.
* Haus tallied her fourth goal of the afternoon on a pass from Harris, while Bresnahan scored with just 16 seconds left in the half to give UF the 12-goal lead going into the break.
* Coming out of the break, the Gators scored three-straight to extend their lead to 17-2. The goals came from the sticks of Ashley Gonzalez, Eagan and Pavinelli.
* Cincinnati tallied two goals over the course of 2.5 minutes to pull the Bearcats back to within 13 at 17-4, but Kaala Puglisi netted her first goal of the game to put the Gators back up 14 goals.
* The Bearcats would score two more goals over the final six minutes of the frame, but Janine Suris converted on a free position shot with 17 seconds remaining in the game to give Florida the 19-6 victory.
Insight from O’Leary
* “Cincinnati came out of the locker room really strong and dominated the draw circle early, but we responded well, making adjustments along the way. Shannon did a good job self-drawing to help us control the momentum.”
Notables
* Kaitlyn Dabkowski set a new career-high in caused turnovers with four and tied her career-best in groundballs (4)
* Paisley Eagan scored a career-high five points in the game
* Brianna Harris tied her career-best in assists with five
* Kassidy Bresnahan tied her career-best in assists with two
* Janine Suris tied her career-high in goals with one in the game
* Charlotte Harmon registered a career-high one draw control in the game
* Catherine Moriarty tied her career-best in groundballs (1)
* Shelton Sawers tied her career-best in goals with one
* Ashley Gonzalez tied her career-best in assists with one
* Shannon Kavanagh became just the fourth Gator to notch 200 career goals with her first goal of the day
* Brianna Harris became just the 14th Gator to score 100 career goals with her first of the day
* Florida is 119-5 (.960) when facing teams not ranked in the IWLCA Top-25 poll
* The Gators own an impressive 105-19 (.847) in the confines of Donald R. Dizney Stadium
* When scoring 14 goals, the Gators are 148-2 (.987)
* Streaking: Shannon Kavanagh’s streak of 44 consecutive games with a goal is the longest in program history
* Streaking: Kavanagh also has a streak of 44 consecutive games with a point – tied for the second-longest streak in program history
* Streaking: Brianna Harris has recorded a point in 37-straight games, the sixth-longest streak in program history
* Streaking: Harris has also registered an assist in 11-straight games, the second-longest streak in program history
* Streaking: Kaitlyn Dabkowski has tallied a groundball in 12 consecutive games, the sixth-longest streak in program history
Up Next
* The Gators advance to the AAC Championship game, taking on the winner of the Vanderbilt-Temple game
* Opening draw is slated for Saturday at 12 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium
* The game will stream on ESPN+ and can be heard on FloridaGators.com/watch
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