The No. 10 Florida Gators (0-1) lacrosse team lost to the No. 8 Loyola Greyhounds (1-0) home opener 18-10 after being outscored 10-2 in the second half, turning a cloudy day in Baltimore into a sunny one for the Greyhounds.
The first half ended in a 8-8 tie, but the Greyhounds dominated the field after the intermission.
The Gators held a neck-and-neck battle for the first half of the game, but couldn’t keep up with their own fouls and turnovers in the final two quarters. Florida fouled a total of 11 times and had 11 turnovers in the second half. Loyola committed just two fouls and seven turnovers.
Loyola outscored the Gators 8-2 in the third quarter and had 10 shots on goal, while Florida only had three. Three of the Greyhounds’ goals were scored off of power plays.
Florida lost its grip on the game in the beginning of the third quarter after three straight Loyola goals. Two came by graduate student attacker Anna Ruby, increasing the Greyhounds' lead to 11-8.
Senior attacker Maggi Hall and sophomore attacker Gianna Monaco each found the net for Florida, but the Greyhounds quickly responded and went ahead 16-10 by the end of the quarter.
A slow fourth quarter produced two goals for Loyola and none for the Gators. UF’s 14 combined turnovers and fouls in the final 15 minutes proved beneficial for the Greyhounds. Loyola junior attacker Georgia Latch scored twice to ice the game and secure a win for Loyola.
A fast-paced first quarter showed a total of seven goals. Hall had three of them. Loyola took its first lead in the second quarter after a goal by graduate student midfielder Catie Corolla to make the score 7-6.
However, the advantage ended quickly after a free position shot from Florida graduate student midfielder Emily Heller.
The battle for the rest of the first half stayed tight with goals on both sides. It ended with three fouls from Florida’s senior midfielder Madison Waters, senior attack Danielle Pavinelli and freshman defender Ashley Dyer.
Greyhounds junior midfielder Chase Boyle missed her free position shot to leave the score tied at 8-8. Loyola tallied up 12 fouls in the first half but cleaned them up for the last two quarters.
Hall had a hot first two periods in her home state with four goals but only scored once in the second half.
The referees made it clear during the two-and-a-half hour game that unnecessary contact is not tolerated, with Florida racking up a total of 18 fouls while Loyola had 14.
Next, the Gators return home and face the Scotland National Team for an exhibition match on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Contact Lacey Rogers at lrogers@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @laceyyrog.
Lacey Rogers is a third-year journalism major and sports reporter for The Alligator. She is a huge Washington Capitals fan and hopes to work for them after she finishes school.
