Florida finally got the monkey off its back.
After two unsuccessful bouts to win a conference game, Florida (8-4, 1-2 American Lacrosse Conference) took down No. 14 Penn State (6-4, 0-2 ALC) 13-11 in Gainesville Saturday.
Freshman attacker Ashley Bruns led the team with four scores and two assists, while attacker Janine Hillier added two goals. Midfielders Caroline Chesterman and Brittany Dashiell each accounted for two scores.
The Gators played a complete game, but it was the defense that made the difference, shutting down the Nittany Lions’ top-points scorer, Molly Fernandez, and containing the other threats.
Florida frustrated Fernandez all day, limiting her match stat to a yellow card. It held PSU to just one of six free-position shot conversions, did not allow its opponent to take a shot the first 13 minutes of the game and allowed UF to possess the ball most of the match.
The Gators got off to a quick 4-0 start to the match, clogging the 12-meter arc whenever the Nittany Lions drove to goal, but at the half, the teams were tied at six. The game then came down to those final 30 minutes, and UF’s second-half stand sealed the win.
“The defense stepped up and gave me the chance to make the angle saves that I needed,” goalkeeper Cara Cannington said. “With this team, we didn’t want to put them on the eight-meter (arc), but if we had to, it was good that they were putting them on the side and giving me the angle to make the save a little easier.”
Cannington had eight saves on the day.
After the game, the Gators could not hide the excitement sprawled on their faces, and there was no doubt what was responsible for the emotion.
“It’s incredible, I can’t believe we just won,” Bruns said. “We really needed to win an ALC game, and our last two didn’t go as well as planned.”
