GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The seventh-ranked Florida lacrosse team defeated the Furman Paladins 20-9 on Tuesday afternoon at Donald R. Dizney Stadium behind a strong effort on each end of the field.
The Gators improve to 2-2 on the year, while Furman falls to 0-2 in the 2023 campaign.
Florida’s offensive effort was led by two four-goal performances from Emma LoPinto and Danielle Pavinelli, while Emily Heller added an additional two goals on the afternoon.
Madison Rielly, Gianna Monaco, Jenny Woodings, Emerson Cabrera, Maggi Hall, Madison Waters, Whitney Albert, Jackie Norsworthy, Bella Palagonia and Kaala Puglisi each found the back of the cage once for the Gators.
Ashley Gonzalez dished a team-high three assists on the afternoon, while LoPinto and Rielly each recorded two. Monaco, Pavinelli and Woodings all registered one helper in the game as well.
Florida won 18-of-32 draw controls, with Liz Harrison posting a team-high six in the victory.
The Gators held the Paladins to 9-of-22 (.409) shooting on the afternoon, while causing 12 turnovers. Four Gators led the way with two caused turnovers apiece: Heller, Pavinelli, Cabrera and Shelton Sawers.
Theresa Bragg, Josie Hahn and Gonzalez each tallied a team-high two groundballs in Tuesday’s victory.
All three goalies saw time in the cage, with Sarah Reznick notching three saves with a .429 save percentage in the start. Elyse Finnelle followed with 27+ minutes of action, coming up with a career-high three saves, while Sara Grove saw her first action between the pipes in the final 2:40 of the game.
Florida returns to The Diz on Sunday for a matchup against Arizona State. Opening draw is slated for 12 p.m. on ESPN+.
Records
No. 7 Florida (2-2)
Furman (0-2)
How It Happened
* Florida scored the first five goals of the day within the first 10:20 of the opening frame. Danielle Pavinelli registered back-to-back scores to start the game, giving the Gators the 2-0 advantage.
* Emily Heller added her third goal of the season to put Florida up 3-0, then Madison Waters followed with her first of the day less than a minute later.
* Pavinelli netted her third of the day for a hat trick in the first quarter to round of the first five scores.
* Furman got on the board with 3:55 remaining in the frame, but then LoPinto and Pavinelli went back-to-back to once again put Florida up six goals at the 7-1 mark.
* The Paladins netted the final goal of the first frame with 57 seconds left to cut UF’s lead to five.
* The first three scores of the second quarter belonged to Florida, specifically from the stick of LoPinto, who posted three-straight goals within the span of four minutes to give the Gators the 10-2 lead.
* Furman took one back, but Heller’s second goal of the game put Florida up eight at 11-3. The Paladins found the back of the cage for the final goal of the half with 3:41 remaining, but the Gators took the 11-4 lead into the locker room.
* Coming out of the half, UF scored four-straight to give itself the 15-4 lead and running clock. The first of the four scores belonged to Emerson Cabrera, who netted her first goal of the year just 86 seconds into the frame.
* Maggi Hall and Gianna Monaco were the next two Gators to find the back of the cage, giving Florida running clock at the 14-4 mark. The Gators added an insurance goal from the stick of Palagonia with 9:20 left in the third to pull ahead 11.
* The Paladins scored the final two goals of the third frame, cutting the deficit back to nine heading into the fourth quarter.
* Jenny Woodings kicked off the fourth quarter with the first goal of her Gator career to put Florida up 16-6 with 11:41 remaining. Furman once again cut UF’s lead to nine at 16-7, but Whitney Albert and Jackie Norsworthy went back-to-back with their first goals of the year, giving Florida the 18-7 advantage with 7:30 left in the game.
* Both Florida and Furman would score twice more over the last 6:30 of the game, with Kaala Puglisi and Madison Rielly netting their first goals of the day to secure the 20-9 victory.
Notables
* With her one point today, Maggi Hall inched closer to becoming Florida’s 21st 100-point scorer, currently sitting at 98
* The Gators move to 1-0 against Furman in the all-time series
* Florida owns an impressive 118-22 (.843) record in the confines of Donald R. Dizney Stadium
* When scoring at least 14 goals, the Gators are 168-2 (.988) in program history
* Streaking: Sarah Reznick has recorded a save in 55-straight games, the longest streak in program history
* Streaking: Danielle Pavinelli has registered a point in 29-straight games and a goal in 27-straight games (fifth-longest streak)
* Streaking: Emma LoPinto has tallied a point in 23-straight games
* Streaking: Emily Heller had recorded a draw control in 7-straight games, tied for the third-longest streak in program history
* Streaking: Liz Harrison has recorded a draw control in 23-straight games
Career-Highs
* The following Gators recorded or tied their career-highs against the Paladins
* Sarah Mackey
* Tied career-high in draw controls (1)
* Brie Catts
* Career-high in groundballs (1)
* Kaitlyn Davies
* Career-high in shots (2) and groundballs (1)
* Madison Rielly
* Career-high in assists (2) and tied career-high in points (3)
* Whitney Albert
* Tied career-high in goals (1) and points (1)
* Sydney Wilson
* Career-high in shots (1)
* Macy Zaban
* Career-high in shots (1)
* Josie Hahn
* Tied career-high in groundballs (2)
* Ashley Gonzalez
* Tied career-high in groundballs (2)
* Emerson Cabrera
* Tied career-high in caused turnovers (2)
* Theresa Bragg
* Career-high in groundballs (2) and tied career-high in caused turnovers (1)
* Gianna Monaco
* Career-highs in goals (1), assists (1), points (2) and groundballs (1)
* Jenny Woodings
* Career-highs in goals (1), assists (1), points (2) and shots (1)
* Carly Wilson
* Career-highs in groundballs (1), draw controls (1) and shots (1)
* Ava Tighe
* Career-high in draw controls (1) and tied her career-high in shots (1)
* Elyse Finnelle
* Career-highs in minutes played (27:20), saves (3) and groundballs (1)
* Kylee Hubiak
* Tied career-high in groundballs (1)
* Tayler Warehime
* Tied career-high in caused turnovers (1)
* Emily Lortz
* Tied career-high in caused turnovers (1)
* Jackie Norsworthy
* Tied career-highs in goals (1) and points (1)
* Bella Palagonia
* Tied career-highs in goals (1) and points (1)
Insight from O’Leary
* “We bounced back well today after a short turnaround from Saturday’s game. We were able to see great production from both our starters and our bench in today’s win.”
Up Next
* Florida returns to The Diz on Sunday for a matchup against Arizona State
* Opening draw is slated for 12 p.m. on ESPN+
* Taryn VanThof – former Gator assistant coach – is in her first season as the Sun Devils’ head coach
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