The Gators came into the 2012 season with a big hole to fill in the midfield.
Thursday night, they might have found three ways to fill it.
Freshmen midfielders Nicole Graziano and Nora Barry made strong first impressions along with junior transfer attacker Gabi Wiegand in Florida’s 17-2 win against the England Women’s National Team on Thursday night at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
After UF’s fourth leading scorer from the 2011 season, Janine Hillier, transferred to Stony Brook in December, Gators head coach Amanda O’Leary was looking to her newcomers to replace the departed midfielder’s production.
“Our freshmen came out and did a good job,” O’Leary said. “Gabi did a great job scoring a lot of goals for us and has been a great addition to our program.”
Wiegand, who played at Richmond for two years prior to transferring to UF following the 2011 season, had no trouble fitting in with her new team, finishing with a game-high five goals and two assists.
Her intensity was evident in the 21st minute when she scored an unassisted goal for her first as a Gator. Wiegand wrapped around the left post and shot from 5 meters out while diving head first to make it 9-0.
“I wasn’t thinking anything,” Wiegand said. “I was just thinking, ‘Take the shot and hope for the best.’”
O’Leary said the biggest aspect of Wiegand’s game the staff has worked with her on is her aggressiveness, and the results showed Thursday night.
“She was very tentative in the beginning to go to goal,” O’Leary said. “With that kind of talent, she doesn’t need to be very tentative. She needs to go to goal as much as we can possibly get her to go to goal.”
Barry and Graziano were part of Florida’s 2011 recruiting class that was ranked third in the country by Inside Lacrosse magazine.
Graziano, a native of Mendham, N.J., finished the game with four goals, two of which were on free position shots. Despite her strong play, Graziano refused to take any credit and was effusive with praise for her teammates.
“I couldn’t have done it all by myself,” she said. “Whether it was the defense or (goalkeepers Mikey Meagher and Cara Canington) making a huge save … or my teammates assisting me, it was definitely a team effort.”
Barry, the 15th ranked recruit in 2011 according to Inside Lacrosse, scored both of her goals in the first half. Florida’s leading scorer from 2011, Kitty Cullen, assisted on one of Barry’s goals while also finishing the game with a hat trick.
