Gators beat Ohio State again! Way to go!
On Sat, May 5, 2012 at 12:12 PM, Shane Ford <[email protected]>wrote: > Gators advance to ALC Tournament finals > > <http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20120504/ARTICLES/120509751?p=all&tc=pgall> > > Florida midfielder Nora Barry runs past Ohio State defender Heather > Gravinese during the semifinal game of the American Lacrosse Conference > Tournament on Friday, May 4, 2012 in Gainesville, Fla. Florida defeated > Ohio State 5-4 and will play Northwestern in the championship game on > Saturday. > *Matt Stamey/Staff photographer* > By Kevin Brockway <http://www.gatorsports.com/personalia/brockwayk> > Gainesville Sun Staff writer > Published: Friday, May 4, 2012 at 10:29 p.m.Last Modified: Friday, May 4, > 2012 at 10:29 p.m. > > It was the lowest scoring game in the three-year history of Florida > women's lacrosse. > FactsToday's game > > *What:* ALC Tournament final > *Who:* Florida vs. Northwestern > *When:* 12:30 p.m. > *Where:* Donald R. Dizney Stadium > *Gainesville-area radio:* AM-850 > > But sparked by a pair of freshmen, host Florida advanced in the semifinals > of the American Lacrosse Conference Tournament with a 5-4 win over Ohio > State before 1,013 at Dizney Stadium. > > The Gators (16-2, 5-0 ALC) move on to face No. 1 Northwestern (17-1, 5-1 > ALC) in the tournament finals at 12:30 Saturday afternoon. Northwestern > advanced with a 13-9 win over Johns Hopkins. > > “We're going to have to play a solid 60 minutes against them,” Florida > coach Amanda O'Leary said. “They are number one in the country for a reason > so we're going to have to come out, play hard, play well. We need to clean > up some of our offensive mistakes. I think defensively, we have some key > things to focus on.” > > Florida upset Northwestern 8-7 on April 21, handing the No. 1 Wildcats > their lone loss of the season. > > “I think they are going to come out to get us, since we did just beat them > a few weeks ago,” Florida junior attacker Kitty Cullen said. “We've > completely looked past that game and we're refocused for them. … We're just > going to focus on ourselves and get back to the basics.” > > Against Ohio State, the Gators got off to a sluggish start. Florida led > just 2-1 at halftime. Ohio State came into the game with a strategy to > control the ball and limit Florida's possessions. It made sense against a > Florida team that came into the semifinal matchup averaging 16.71 goals per > game. > > “We wanted to limit Florida's opportunities,” Ohio State coach Alexis > Venechanos said. ‘We knew they had a couple of week break, and they were > going to be a little antsy getting back on that field. So we thought > limiting their possessions would give us the best opportunity to win.” > > Freshman Nora Barry scored both first-half goals for the Gators. In the > second half, Ohio State tied the score on two goals in the span of 17 > seconds from Alayna Markwordt. The senior attacker cut Florida's lead to > 3-2 with 16:46 remaining, then added an unassisted goal with 16:29 left to > tie the score at 3. > > That's when the Gators turned to freshman midfielder Nicole Graziano, who > provided a big lift off the bench. Graziano's unassisted goal with 12:21 > left put Florida ahead 4-3. Then, off a feed from Brittany Dashiell, > Graziano put the Gators up 5-3 with 10:30 left. > > “Our whole coaching staff does a great job, not just the starters being > ready for the game, but anyone off the bench,” Graziano said. “Anyone off > the bench is ready to go in at any time.” > > Said O'Leary: “I think it says a lot about our team in the fact that when > it wasn't falling, we were able to count on two freshmen to come in and > carry the load … Upperclassmen, freshmen, transfers, everybody is a vital > part this program. We're lucky enough to have the ability to count on a lot > of different people.” > > From that point, Florida held the lead. Ohio State's Gabby Capuzzi scored > an unassisted goal with 7.9 seconds left. But Florida midfielder Shannon > Gilroy controlled the draw, allowing the Gators to run out the clock and > clinch the win. > > The five goals for Florida tied the lowest scored in a game in team > history. In 2010, the Gators scored just five goals twice, falling 10-5 to > Cornell and 19-5 to Northwestern. > > Florida finished with 24 shots, but were thwarted by Ohio State goalkeeper > Tori DeScenza, who had 15 saves. > > “We generated a lot of shots, I mean, 24 shots, that's a good number of > shots for us,” O'Leary said. “They just weren't falling. So we certainly > had, I thought, prepared a really good gameplan offensively and > defensively. Sometimes it falls, sometimes it doesn't.” > > *Northwestern 13, Johns Hopkins 9:*Shannon Smith had four goals, lifting > Northwestern to the win. > > Erin Fitzgerald and Taylor Thornton added two goals apiece for the > Wildcats. > > “We really focused on everyone, when they touched the ball to be a > threat,” Smith said. “I think we did a good job from that from the attack > to the middies.” > > > > > Sent From Shane's iPhone > Go Gators! & Skol Vikes! > > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- Helen Huntley (727) 823-3801 www.helenhuntley.com -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
