For the first time in about a month, the No. 2 Florida lacrosse team will play a game outside of Gainesville’s Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
Last weekend, the Gators finished their five-game homestand with a 10-9 win over Big East opponent Temple, giving them a 4-1 record over the span. Their lone loss was to top-ranked Maryland, 14-4, on March 19.
Now, UF (11-1, 2-0 Big East) will play Georgetown (3-7, 1-0 Big East) in Washington, D.C., Saturday, culminating in a season-ending stretch that will see the Gators play three of five games away from home.
“It always adds something,” senior attacker Lauren Lea said. “The travel — we have a two-hour drive just to the airport. The travel and the flight, it messes with your legs, obviously.”
Georgetown's campus sits less than 50 miles from Annapolis, Maryland, the capital of the state where 16 players on the Florida roster grew up. The trip will serve as a homecoming for some.
“It’ll be a nice change of scenery,” sophomore Shayna Pirreca said. “A bunch of the girls are from Maryland, so they’ll get to see their families.”
Florida has been successful on the road this season — it won games against top-five opponents North Carolina and Syracuse on Feb. 20 and March 1, respectively.
But while Georgetown’s record doesn’t reflect that of a threatening team on the surface, it has played with some of the nation’s top teams this season. The Hoyas have lost by one goal on the road to both No. 11 Princeton and No. 18 Towson.
On defense, the Hoyas present a zone that forces opposing offenses to slow down their game and find holes within the backline.
Defenses like Georgetown’s have caused the Gators trouble, such as Florida’s narrow 7-6 win at Stony Brook March 6, UF’s most recent road game.
Against the Seawolves, the Gators’ offense was ineffective, allowing the opponent’s zone to swallow up potential scoring opportunities.
Luckily, redshirt senior Nicole Graziano was able to produce when the rest of her teammates couldn't, netting four goals in the win.
In last weekend’s 10-9 win over Temple, UF almost fell into the same trap.
But Lea and freshman midfielder Lindsey Ronbeck seemed to figure out the answer to the offensive stalwart. They were responsible for half of the the game’s goals.
Pirreca said the team learned it can’t adjust its game plan based on its opponent’s backline.
“We just need to stick to what we know,” she said. “Stick to what we practiced every day and just run our own offense and be patient and look for open looks."
Contact Kyle Brutman at kbrutman@alligator.org and you can follow him on Twitter @KBrut13.
Shayna Pirreca passes the ball during Florida's 12-11 win over Michigan on Feb. 13, 2016, at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
