With the victory, Florida has secured a spot in the American Athletic Conference Tournament
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/4/22/UF_Vandy_Box.pdf>
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The eighth-ranked Florida lacrosse team capped off the home portion of its schedule with a 22-6 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, the Gators move to 12-3 overall and 4-1 in AAC play, extending their win streak to seven-straight games. Vanderbilt falls to 3-11 on the year and 1-4 in league play. Florida clinched a spot in the American Athletic Conference Tournament with the win over the Commodores.
Following the game, the Gators honored their 17-person senior class: Whitney Albert, Tori Bates, Becky Browndorf, Emerson Cabrera, Georgia Ceanfaglione, Emily Diaz, Paisley Eagan, Emily Heller, Kylee Hubiak, Sarah Mackey, Kaala Puglisi, Jill Quigley, Sarah Reznick, Madison Rielly, Shelton Sawers, Janine Suris, Tayler Warehime.
The offense was on fire for Florida, with the Gators scoring a season-high 22 goals against the Commodores. Emily Heller and Danielle Pavinelli paced the offensive-effort, each scoring a team-high four goals. Emma LoPinto followed with three, while Paisley Eagan and Madison Waters each posted two scores in the victory.
Seven Gators each found the back of the cage once: Maggi Hall, Jill Quigley, Ashley Gonzalez, Sarah Mackey, Madison Rielly, Tayler Warehime, Emily Diaz.
Hall dished out a team-high four assists on the day, tying her career-best mark, while Eagan and LoPinto each added three helpers.
Pavinelli posted two assists on the afternoon, followed by one apiece from Kaitlyn Davies, Kelly Schluederberg, Janine Suris and Quigley.
Florida won 18-of-30 draw controls in the game, led by six from Emily Diaz. Liz Harrison (4) and Shelton Sawers (3) combined for seven in the victory.
The Gators held the Commodores to 6-of-23 shooting on the day, tallying 10 caused turnovers. Becky Browndorf, Catherine Flaherty and Madison Waters each posted a team-high two caused turnovers in the win.
Sarah Reznick finished the day with five saves and .556 save percentage in her 43+ minutes of play, while Elyse Finnelle posted three saves and a .600 save percentage in the victory.
The Gators begin the final week of the regular season with a game against the Jacksonville Dolphins on Wednesday. Opening draw is slated for 7 p.m. at Rock Stadium.
Records
No. 8 Florida (12-3, 4-1 AAC)
Vanderbilt (3-11, 1-4 AAC)
How It Happened
* The Gators got on the board first after Catherine Flaherty forced a turnover on the defensive side of the field, leading to a fast-break opportunity for Florida. Maggi Hall found Emily Heller in front of the cage for the first score of the game with just 1:25 gone.
* On the very next play, Paisley Eagan found a cutting Heller who scored her second goal of the day to put Florida up 2-0 early.
* Vanderbilt found itself in the scoring column after converting on a free-position attempt to cut UF’s lead to one with 10:09 left to play.
* In an almost identical play to the first of the game, Madison Waters caused a turnover on the defensive end of the field, leading to Pavinelli finding M. Waters for the score.
* Emma LoPinto’s first goal of the day put the Gators up 4-1 after the sophomore juked out her defender on the wraparound goal.
* The final four goals of the quarter came from the sticks of Florida players, giving UF the 8-1 advantage going into the second quarter. LoPinto kept the Gators on the scoring roll, posting her second of the day with 7:11 left in the frame.
* Eagan scored her second of the day just under four minutes later to put Florida up 6-1, then LoPinto found Pavinelli for the score with 2:39 left in the first quarter.
* The final score of the quarter came after Hall found Tayler Warehime on her Senior Day, putting UF up 8-1 after 15 minutes of play.
* The first two goals of the second quarter belonged to Vanderbilt, cutting Florida’s lead to 8-3, but LoPinto, Waters and Eagan each found the back of the cage to once again give the Gators the eight-goal advantage.
* Vanderbilt got one back with 4:24 left to play in the half, but Heller’s third goal of the half put Florida up 12-4. Pavinelli scored the final two goals of the frame to secure running clock for Florida and put her at three for the day.
* The third quarter was all Gators, with Florida being the only team to find the back of the net. Ashley Gonzalez scored on a pass from Eagan to give UF an insurance goal at 15-4, then Pavinelli posted her fourth of the game just over two minutes later.
* Hall and Heller scored the final two goals of the third – both unassisted scores – to put Florida up 18-4 heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
* Vanderbilt started the scoring in the final frame, but Janine Suris found Madison Waters for her second of the day to put Florida up 19-5. The Commodores would score one final time to pull back within 13, but the final three goals of the game belonged to Florida.
* Jill Quigley led the scoring run off on a pass from Kelly Schluederberg with five minutes left to play, then Emily Diaz drove to the cage to score her second goal of the season.
* With just 38 seconds remaining, Quigley dished a pass to Sarah Mackey for her first of the day to secure the 22-6 victory for Florida.
Notables
* Hat Trick Counter
* Emma LoPinto: 10
* Emily Heller: 5
* Danielle Pavinelli: 3
* Florida clinched its spot in the American Athletic Conference Tournament and now await the final week of play for the seeding
* Paisley Eagan inched closer to 100 career points against Vanderbilt, moving to 98
* Emily Heller inched closer to 100 career points against Vanderbilt, moving to 94
* Sarah Reznick currently sits second in program history in career saves with 539 after her five-save performance today. She is just 27 away from tying Haley Hicklen for the program record
* Florida owns an impressive 125-22 (.850) record in the confines of Donald R. Dizney Stadium
* The Gators improve to 15-2 against the Commodores in the all-time series, including a 8-1 record in Gainesville
* When scoring at least 14 goals, the Gators are 176-2 (.989) in program history
* The Gators have now won 49 of their last 50 regular season conference games
* Florida moves to 9-0 against unranked opponents during the 2023 campaign
* UF extends its win streak to seven-straight games, having gone a perfect 5-0 in the month of April
* Streaking: Sarah Reznick has recorded a save in 66-straight games, a new program record
* Streaking: Danielle Pavinelli has registered a point in 40-straight games (sixth-longest streak) and a goal in 38-straight games (third-longest streak)
* Streaking: Emily Heller has recorded a draw control in 38-straight games, tied for the second-longest streak in program history
* Streaking: Maggi Hall has dished out an assist in eight-straight games, tied for the sixth-longest streak in program history
Career-Highs
* Kaitlyn Davies
* Tied career-high in groundballs (1)
* Catherine Flaherty
* Tied career-high in groundballs (2), caused turnovers (2) and draw controls (1)
* Maggi Hall
* Tied career-high in assists (4)
* Jill Quigley
* Tied career-high in goals (1)
* Kylee Hubiak
* Tied career-high in groundballs (1)
* Emily Lortz
* Tied career-high in groundballs (1)
* Kelly Schluederberg
* Tied career-high in assists (1)
Insight from O’Leary
* “What a day to be able to honor this Senior Class. I was so proud of the performances we saw on the field and although we still have a lot of the season to go, it was great to celebrate these seniors and their accomplishments thus far.”
Up Next
* The Gators begin the final week of the regular season with a game against the Jacksonville Dolphins on Wednesday
* Opening draw is slated for 7 p.m. at Rock Stadium
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