After jumping out to a quick lead Saturday, the Gators were not the same.
In the 11-9 season-opening loss, Florida struggled to keep up with North Carolina after an early 2-0 advantage.
“We definitely came out strong in the first two minutes,” Gators junior attacker Kitty Cullen said. “And then we just didn’t play like ourselves for the rest of the game. We just didn’t play a full 60 minutes like the team that we are, and it resulted in a loss.”
Florida led by two 2:02 into the game but gave up three straight goals before tying the score on a man-up goal from junior attacker Caroline Chesterman.
After Chesterman’s score, the Gators went more than 25 minutes without finding the back of the net. Cullen said the drought was the result of the Gators not playing with proper focus.
UNC took the lead for good with four unanswered goals to end the first half, including a score with just one second remaining.
Eight minutes into the second half, the Tar Heels extended their lead to 8-3 on a goal from junior midfielder Emily Garrity.
“I don’t think there was a sense of urgency once we got down by four goals,” Gators coach Amanda O’Leary said. “I think there needed to be more of a sense of urgency on ground balls, making sure we were possessing the ball and getting good opportunities.”
The Gators climbed back in the second half as they cut the deficit to 8-5 on two goals from junior attacker Ashley Bruns. The Tar Heels responded with two goals, but the Gators stuck around, as Cullen scored two straight and junior midfielder Gabi Wiegand scored on a free-position shot to make it 10-8.
Cullen said that while the Gators were able to make a late push, it was the result of effort that should have been present earlier in the game.
“Even though we did end up getting a couple, it just wasn’t enough,” Cullen said. “We needed to have the intensity we ended up having in that last 10 minutes the whole game.”
In order to rebound from the loss to North Carolina, O’Leary said Florida must show a higher level of intensity the entire game. Last year, after a season-opening loss to the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, the Gators responded by winning 14 games in a row.
“Our team is certainly dedicated to working hard,” O’Leary said. “They’re going to try their best to rebound back from this.”
Florida junior attacker Kitty Cullen (left), who scored three goals in UF’s season-opening loss to North Carolina on Saturday, said the Gators did not play with enough intensity throughout the game after opening up an early two-goal lead.
