Florida moves to 13-1 in the all-time series against the in-state rival
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/4/26/Box_Score.pdf>
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The eighth-ranked Florida lacrosse team used a second half surge to defeat the Jacksonville Dolphins 16-11 on Wednesday night at Rock Stadium.
The Gators move to 13-3 on the season, collecting their eighth-straight victory, while Jacksonville drops to 9-7 on the year.
Maggi Hall led the offensive charge for Florida on Wednesday night, finishing the game with five goals. Madison Waters and Emily Heller each registered a hat trick of the their own, posting three goals apiece in the win.
Ashley Gonzalez and Danielle Pavinelli both found the back of the cage twice on the night and Emma LoPinto rounded out the goal scorers with one.
LoPinto dished out a team-high two assists on the night, while Hall and Gonzalez each added a helper.
The Gators won 15 draw controls on the night, with Emily Diaz and Paisley Eagan leading the way with three apiece. Kaitlyn Davies, Liz Harrison and Emily Heller each registered two draw controls on the night.
Florida held Jacksonville to 11-of-27 shooting on the night and both Pavinelli and Catherine Flaherty registered a caused turnover in the win.
Flaherty posted a team-high three groundballs on the night, followed by two from Heller.
In the cage, Sarah Reznick saw 54+ minutes in cage, coming up with five saves and a .417 save percentage. Elyse Finnelle finished out the game between the posts for UF, finishing with four saves and a .500 save percentage.
The Gators finish out their regular season in Norfolk, Va. against the Old Dominion Monarchs on Saturday. Opening draw is slated for 12 p.m.
Records
No. 8 Florida (13-3, 4-1 AAC)
RV Jacksonville (9-7, 5-1 ASUN)
How It Happened
* The Gators got on the board first, striking within the first minute of the game, with Emily Heller driving to cage for the score.
* After three minutes of game time passed, Florida once again found the back of the cage, with Maggi Hall dishing out the pass to Madison Waters to put UF up 2-0.
* Hall followed that up with a quick goal of her own exactly one minute later to give the Gators the three-goal advantage.
* Emma LoPinto picked up the loose groundball and snuck it past the JU goalie for her first of the day, giving Florida the 4-0 lead with 5:14 left to play in the first frame.
* Jacksonville got on the board with just under three minutes left in the opening quarter, but then Hall converted on her free-position attempt to give Florida the 5-1 advantage.
* Florida kept the momentum going to start the second quarter, with Ashley Gonzalez finding Madison Waters in front of the cage for her second of the night.
* The Dolphins went on a 2-0 run to pull within three at 6-3, but Gonzalez dodged her defender for the score to once again put the Gators ahead four.
* With just over four minutes left to play in the half, Jacksonville went on another two-goal spurt to cut Florida’s lead to 7-5, but Hall drove to cage and scored on a woman-up opportunity with just 33 seconds to play in the second frame, tallying her fifth hat trick of the year.
* Jacksonville got on the board first to start the second half, but Heller’s free-position goal gave the Gators the 9-6 lead.
* Madison Waters collected a hat trick of her own on a fast-break opportunity to give Florida the four-goal lead and just eight seconds later, LoPinto found Hall for her fourth score of the day to put the Gators ahead 11-6.
* Florida kept it rolling, with Heller rocketing a shot past the keeper to double the score at 12-6 and Danielle Pavinelli converted her 8-meter shot to put the Gators up seven.
* Just over two minutes later, Gonzalez scored a free-position goal of her own to give Florida the 14-6 lead heading into the final 15.
* Florida took the nine-goal lead with just under three minutes gone in the fourth, with LoPinto finding Pavinelli for her second of the day.
* JU got one back with just over 10 minutes to play in the game, but Hall scored her fifth goal of the game to once again put Florida up nine at 16-7.
* The Dolphins went on a 4-0 run to close out the game, but the Gators secured the 16-11 victory and move to 13-3 on the year.
Notables
* Hat Trick Counter
* Maggi Hall: 5
* Madison Waters: 2
* Emily Heller: 6
* Emily Heller inched closer to 100 career points on Wednesday night, moving to 97
* With her five saves on the night, Sarah Reznick now sits just 22 away from tying Haley Hicklen for the most saves in program history at 566
* UF improves to 13-1 in the all-time series against JU, including a 6-1 record in Jacksonville, Fla.
* The Gators improve to 9-2 against non-conference opponents in the 2023 campaign
* When scoring at least 14 goals, the Gators are 177-2 (.989) in the history of the program
* Florida is now 4-2 in road games this season
* The Gators are now a perfect 6-0 in the month of April and are the winners of eight-straight games
* Streaking: Sarah Reznick has recorded a save in 67-straight games, a new program record
* Streaking: Danielle Pavinelli has registered a point in 41-straight games (tied for fifth-longest streak) and a goal in 39-straight games (third-longest streak)
* Streaking: Emily Heller has recorded a draw control in 39-straight games, the second-longest streak in program history
* Streaking: Maggi Hall has dished out an assist in nine-straight games, tied for the fifth-longest streak in program history
Career-Highs
* Kaitlyn Davies
* Tied career-high in draw controls (2)
* Emma LoPinto
* Tied career-high in draw controls (1)
* Catherine Flaherty
* Career-high in groundballs (3)
Insight from O’Leary
* “It is always tough to win on the road, but proud of the effort this team showed against a very talented Jacksonville squad.”
Up Next
* The Gators finish out their regular season in Norfolk, Va. against the Old Dominion Monarchs on Saturday
* Opening draw is slated for 12 p.m.
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