Oregon scouted Florida well. It double-teamed Ashley Bruns and kept UF’s leading scorer scoreless for most of the first half, but it had no answer for midfielder Kitty Cullen.
Cullen led an efficient offense for the Gators (7-4, 0-2 American Lacrosse Conference) in a 16-6 win over the Ducks (4-7) on Tuesday night.
She scored five of UF’s 16 goals while Bruns added three scores and three assists. Attacker Caroline Cochran and midfielders Colby Rhea and Brittany Dashiell each added two goals on the night.
After a disappointing road loss to Ohio State, Florida returned home hoping to put the loss behind it with a win Tuesday over the Ducks, and it came away with one of its most complete games of the season.
The Gators played a nearly flawless offensive game, completing routine passes and making the more challenging ones look easy. Long forgotten were the 17 turnovers it had against Ohio State, as UF made only six on the night.
The team was determined to dominate the Ducks as it fought for and kept possession of the ball most of the night. Florida picked up 16 of the 20 ground balls and took 31 shots to the Ducks’ 18.
Cullen said she and her teammates knew the importance of getting the win after the draining defeat it suffered last weekend, and when Oregon doubled Bruns, they knew what they had to do.
“We knew that if they were going to shut her off that everyone else needed to step up in her place,” Cullen said.
UF’s offensive play was the improvement coach Amanda O’Leary needed to see coming off the loss, especially when Oregon contained Bruns.
“When [Bruns] has the opportunity to go to goal, she has the green light, but she was really smart tonight,” O’Leary said. “They were doubling her on the crease, and she just made really good decisions.”
Defensively, the Gators successfully cleared 16 of their 17 opportunities, did not allow their opponent to go on runs and were able to contain the Ducks’ two leading scorers, Jana Drummond and Alex Breiner.
The duo, which has scored 57 of the Ducks’ 138 goals this season, was limited to just three Tuesday.
UF goalkeeper Cara Canington gave up just two second-half scores and recorded seven saves in the net.
“The defense got the momentum going on the offensive side, shut down their big players, and they weren’t able to score,” Canington said.
“Our big goal today was, ‘If they’re going to score, let’s make sure they don’t score for another five or ten minutes; don’t let them get the momentum.’”
UF did a solid job of avoiding the run and a slump when the Ducks put a quick score on the board to start the second half.
Instead it responded with six straight scores to seal the victory.
“When you set goals and you put things forth to this group, they’ve been able to achieve them,” O’Leary said. “We definitely have struggled on the road, and that’s been a problem, but here at home, they are pretty darn good.”
