Last week, Florida seemingly did everything well in its first two games – it played team defense, led in shot attempts, controlled time of possession and executed the fundamentals.
However, against North Carolina on Sunday, the Gators’ lack of composure was the team’s Achilles’ heel.
UF lost its first game 18-5 to No. 4 UNC in Chapel Hill on Sunday.
The Gators totaled 23 turnovers to the Tar Heels’ 13.
Midfielder Brittany Dashiell led Florida with two goals, and midfielder Julie Schindel dished out the team’s only two assists. Goalkeeper Cara Canington tallied 10 saves for UF on the day.
After UNC got off to a quick 3-0 start, UF began to show signs of life, and it played a closer first half.
Attacker Ashley Bruns scored the Gators’ first goal with 15:10 left in the first period, but North Carolina did not allow Florida to build any momentum. The Tar Heels responded with three unanswered scores to take a 6-1 lead with 6:18 left.
The Gators then seemed to have gained fresh wind as they closed the half with three unanswered goals in the final two and a half minutes. At halftime, UF trailed UNC 6-4.
“We started off a little rough; it took us a couple minutes to get into the swing of things and get a feel for the game,” Canington said. “Towards the second half of the first half, we caused some turnovers in the midfield, and defense came up with some big stops.”
In the locker room, Canington said the team talked about the changes it needed to make in the second half, especially capitalizing on the Tar Heels’ mistakes, but UF was unable to make the adjustments on the field.
North Carolina scored six-straight goals before UF midfielder Colby Rhea shot the team’s only second-half goal with 12:35 remaining. UNC kept the Gators scoreless for the rest of the match and tacked on six more goals of its own to seal the victory.
“In the second half, we kind of got away from our game plan,” UF coach Amanda O’Leary said. “When that happened, we weren’t successful offensively or defensively. We really struggled.”
She said the game plan was to look for quality shots.
On defense, she expected the team to maintain body position, avoid fouls and giving UNC advantages on the 8-meter arc near the goal.
However, the Gators struggled to stick to the plan throughout the entire game Sunday. They were outmatched and outhustled by North Carolina in all facets of the game.
The squad took only 17 shots on the day while the Tar Heels attempted 36. UF could only convert on one of its three free possession shots. UNC converted nine of its 13.
On the ground, Florida scooped up 13 balls to the Tar Heels’ 29.
“We had careless turnovers, and against a top-ranked team like Carolina, you just can’t have those turnovers,” O’Leary said. “Carolina executed, they took us out of our game plan in the second half, so I give all the credit in the world to Carolina. They did a great job.”
Internet reports contributed to this story.
