Florida falls to the sixth-ranked Terrapins 14-13 after a goal in the final minute of play
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/2/25/UF03_Box.pdf>
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In a battle of two Top-10 teams, the seventh-ranked Florida lacrosse team fell to the sixth-ranked Maryland Terrapins 14-13 in the final minute at Donald R. Dizney Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
After being down four goals at the 8-4 mark in the second quarter, Florida fought back to knot the game at 8-8. From that point on, it was a back-and-forth battle, with Maryland scoring the game-winner with 17 seconds left in the game.
Emma LoPinto and Maggi Hall led Florida’s offensive effort, each tallying four goals on the afternoon. For LoPinto, it was her third hat trick in as many games.
Danielle Pavinelli added two goals of her own, while Tayler Warehime, Ashley Gonzalez and Madison Waters each found the back of the cage once.
Warehime dished out a team-high three helpers on the afternoon, while LoPinto and Paisley Eagan each added one assist.
In the draw circle, Florida won 14-of-30 draws, with Emily Heller (5) and Liz Harrison (4) combining for nine.
Florida’s defense held Maryland scoreless for the middle 33:14 of the game, including a scoreless third quarter. The squad tallied five caused turnovers from five different Gators: Heller, Flaherty, Becky Browndorf, Theresa Bragg, Eagan.
Sarah Reznick recorded a team-high three groundballs, followed by two apiece from Heller and Flaherty.
In the cage, Reznick recorded eight saves to go along with her three groundballs.
The Gators are right back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 28 against the Furman Paladins. Opening draw is set for 12 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium and the game can also be streamed on ESPN+.
Records
No. 7 Florida (1-2)
No. 6 Maryland (3-1)
How It Happened
* Maryland struck first on Saturday afternoon, just 27 seconds into the game, but Hall answered with an 8-meter conversion to knot up the game at 1.
* Maryland scored their second of the day with 12:27 left in the first frame, but Madison Waters found the back of the cage on a pass from Tayler Warehime to once again even the game.
* The Terrapins notched back-to-back scores, but Danielle Pavinelli responded with a free-position conversion of her own to pull back within one at 4-3. The Terps added another in their column, but Warehime netted her first goal in a Gator uniform to once again pull Florida within one at 5-4.
* The final two goals of the first frame belonged to Maryland, with the Terrapins taking the 7-4 lead into the second quarter.
* Maryland scored the first goal of the second frame to pull ahead 8-4, but the next four scores belonged to the Gators. Emma LoPinto scored back-to-back goals within the span of three minutes to cut the deficit to two.
* Maggi Hall then found of the back of the cage twice within the span of a minute to tie the game at 8-all with 4:19 left to play in the half.
* The two squads were scoreless for the final 4+ minutes of play, taking the 8-8 tie into the locker room.
* The Gators held the Terrapins scoreless throughout the entire third quarter and Florida tacked on two more goals with Ashley Gonzalez netting her first of the day just 1:15 into the quarter. LoPinto tallied her third hat trick in as many games with her score, giving the Gators the 10-8 advantage.
* Maryland scored the first two goals of the final frame, knotting the game at 10-10 with 12 minutes left to play. The Gators once again took the lead after LoPinto’s fourth score, but the next three goals belonged to the Terrapins.
* Hall’s fourth goal of the day came with 4:54 left in the game, bringing the Gators back to within one at 13-12.
* Danielle Pavinelli scored the game-tying goal with just 79 seconds remaining, her second goal of the afternoon.
* The Terps scored the game-winning goal with 17 seconds remaining to take the 14-13 victory.
Notables
* The crowd of 1,083 was the sixth-highest program total for The Diz and the highest since the 2015 season
* With her four points on the afternoon, Maggi Hall moved closer to the 100-point mark as she currently sits at 97
* With her one goal on the afternoon, Ashley Gonzalez moved closer to the 100-point mark as she currently sits at 87
* Streaking: Sarah Reznick has recorded a save in 54-straight games, setting a new program record for consecutive games with a save
* Streaking: Danielle Pavinelli has registered a point in 28-straight games and a goal in 26-straight games
* Streaking: Emma LoPinto has tallied a point in 22-straight games
* Streaking: Emily Heller had recorded a draw control in 26-straight games, the fourth-longest streak in program history
* Streaking: Liz Harrison has recorded a draw control in 22-straight games
Career-Highs
* Tayler Warehime posted a career-high three assists
* Catherine Flaherty tied her career-high with two groundballs
* Emma LoPinto set a new career-high with one draw control
* Theresa Bragg tied her career-high in caused turnovers with one
Insights from O’Leary
* “We have a good opportunity to grow after playing a tight game against a Top-10 opponent. Proud of the fight the team showed to come back after being down four goals in the first half. We now have the chance to evaluate what we saw today and adjust before Tuesday.”
Up Next
* The Gators are right back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 28 against the Furman Paladins
* Opening draw is set for 12 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium
* The game can also be streamed on ESPN+
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