Junior midfielder Madison Waters scored Florida’s eighth goal in the second half. The Gators got out to a 14-3 lead before Colgate was able to score again.
The No. 8 Florida Gators (5-2) dominated against the Colgate Raiders (1-5) and won 18-5 in the first and only night game of the season Tuesday. The Gators faced moments of frustration in their last game before heading to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to play their current biggest threat — No. 7 James Madison.
Colgate caught UF off guard at the start and scored its first and only leading point of the game. The Gators responded quickly in order to gain the lead.
Sophomore attacker Emma LoPinto intercepted a Raider pass and found junior attacker Danielle Pavinelli to put Florida’s first goal in the net to tie the game at one.
Florida redshirt senior goalkeeper Sarah Reznick made two saves before freshman attacker Ava Tighe scored a second goal for the Gators to break the tie. UF took a 2-1 lead.
Florida freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Davies received a yellow card and gave Colgate a man-up opportunity.
With a five-second difference between the shot clock and the countdown on Davies’ yellow card, LoPinto fumbled two shots on goal.
The sophomore attacker recovered when she saw junior attacker Ashley Gonzalez cut across the 8-meter line and passed her the ball for a shot into the back of the net.
Senior defender Becky Browndorf forced the Raiders into a bad pass, and Pavinelli picked the ground ball up. The junior found fellow junior attacker Maggi Hall, who bounced the ball into the net to maintain Florida’s lead.
Redshirt senior midfielder Paisley Eagan gained control during the draw and passed the ball behind the goal to Hall. She whipped around the crease and shoveled the ball into the net.
The Raiders shot shortly after; Reznick blocked the effort and sent the ball back. Colgate’s cutters couldn’t find the ball and possession went back to UF’s offense.
LoPinto received a penalty shot and scored the sixth goal for the Gators in the last 15 seconds of the first quarter.
Both teams fought hard during the beginning of the second quarter.
Freshman defender Theresa Bragg picked up a ground ball and handed it to Browndorf. The senior sent it to Waters, who found senior midfielder Emily Heller for a goal.
The Gators’ defense got too aggressive for the referee’s liking.
Browndorf gave up a free position shot to Colgate sophomore midfielder Devon Malliet, who scored the second goal for the Raiders. Colgate followed with a third goal.
Tighe gained possession and passed the ball in the middle of the eight to Waters. She blew past the defense and scored. Waters continued with her luck and drew a shooting space call; she then scored off the penalty.
Another shooting space call was drawn on Davies. She buried the free-position shot and put a 10-3 lead on the scoreboard.
Fifth-year attacker Tayler Warehime assisted freshman attacker Gianna Monaco for the 11th goal of the game. The duo scored again shortly after, however, roles were reversed and Warehime put up another point.
Warehime came back after halftime to set Heller up for the first goal of the third quarter.
After Eagan’s goal, Colgate called its second timeout. The timeout was effective, and the Raiders scored their first goal of the second half against Florida’s second-string goalkeeper, redshirt freshman Elyse Finnelle.
Junior midfielder Kelly Schluderberg answered with another goal for UF — her first of the season.
The Gators’ reserves scored all remaining goals for Florida in the fourth quarter.
Senior midfielder Whitney Albert assisted fellow senior midfielder Sarah Mackey for her first goal of the season. Senior attacker Janine Suris followed with a successful free-position shot — her first goal of the season as well.
Sophomore midfielder Macey Zaban assisted Monaco in scoring the last point of the game. Monaco received the ball and rebounded it into the net.
The Gators ended the game with an 18-5 victory over the Raiders.
Contact Kate Wiggins at kwiggins@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @katewigginz.
Kate Wiggins is a second-year advertising major and women's lacrosse reporter for The Alligator. Catch her pumping iron at Southwest Rec, double-scooting her friends to class, or dancing around at the nearest EDM concert.
