Mollie Stevens entered the final five regulation minutes of Florida’s match at Syracuse Tuesday with her 29-game program-record scoring streak in jeopardy.
She left the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York as a hero.
With just under two minutes to play in the first overtime period, Stevens delivered a free-position pass from teammate Sammi Burgess into an open Syracuse net to extend her streak to 30 games and give No. 3 Florida (5-0) the 11-10 win over No. 2 Syracuse (5-1). It was Florida’s first road win over Syracuse in program history.
Stevens scored her first goal with 4:11 remaining in the second half to give UF a 10-9 short-lived lead. SU’s Halle Majorana scored less than two minutes later to give the match its sixth and final tie.
After Majorana’s goal, Stevens gave the Gators their second win this season over a No. 2 ranked team, the other being North Carolina.
The victory came in a fashion very familiar to the Syracuse-Florida rivalry. Of the eight games between the two schools, four — including each of the last two — have been decided in overtime.
“It wasn't easy, but what a game,” UF coach Amanda O’Leary said in a release. “This team works so hard and these wins are a result of the hard work they put in every day in practice.”
Freshman Lindsey Ronbeck led the Gators in the goal-scoring column against the Orange, scoring her first collegiate hat trick. Fellow freshman Sydney Pirreca tacked on two goals to make it three straight game with a goal from both freshmen players.
On the defensive end, junior Taylor Bresnahan led a backline that allowed the second-fewest goals the Orange have scored in a game this season. She finished the game with the most groundball pickups (4) and caused turnovers (3) for Florida.
The Gators will head back to Gainesville to play Niagara on Friday at 6:30 p.m. before heading back to New York to play No. 8 Stony Brook Sunday afternoon at 1.
Contact Kyle Brutman at kbrutman@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @KBrut13.
UF's Mollie Stevens attempts to make a play on the ball during Florida's 12-11 win over Michigan on Feb. 13, 2016, at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
