Florida had Stetson locked down since the first two minutes of the match.
The Gators opened the match with three quick, unanswered points from midfielders senior Kaitlyn Davies and sophomore Gabby Greene, along with redshirt sophomore attacker Frannie Hahn, and they were off and running.
By the end of the first half, the Gators had a 12-point advantage on the Hatters, and once the clock began to run, there was no catching up for Stetson.
No. 10 Florida (3-1, 0-0 SEC) topped Stetson (0-3, 0-0 ASC) 24-8 in DeLand, Florida, Wednesday night to clinch its third win of the season. The Gators came out firing and refused to let up with even more firepower coming off the bench in the second half.
Florida’s bench came out strong to add eight points to the match in the second half, and contributed 12 total points to the game. A large part of that impact was freshman midfielder Kennedy Richardson, who recorded a career-high four goals on five shots in the second half alone. Richardson tied with sophomore attacker Clark Hamilton for the most goals scored in the game.
Not far behind the leaders was Hahn, who ended the game with three goals, along with Davies and freshman attacker Autumn Blair, who each tallied two.
While it was Florida that took charge offensively, Stetson did manage to get a few by the Gators’ goalies. Freshman attacker Ryley Heilmann led Stetson in scoring with three goals, followed by junior midfielder Alexa Vega with two.
Contributing to that defense were all three Gator goalies, who each had their chance in the cage. Graduate student Paige Crowther started the game and had three saves. Freshman Maya Soskin went in to take her place in the second quarter but struggled, allowing three goals. To finish off the game in the second half, sophomore Susan Radebaugh blocked four shots for an impressive performance.
Beyond just the performance in net, Florida’s defense was also relentless Wednesday night, causing five of Stetson's nine turnovers and consistently running out their shot clock.
The Gators also continue to improve in the draw circle, taking 21 draw controls to Stetson's 12. Florida’s junior midfielder Gabbi Koury and freshman attacker Allison Fling tied for a team-leading four draw controls each.
The Gators will have tougher competition to face Saturday, as they travel to Annapolis to face No. 10 Navy at 9:30 a.m., looking to keep their winning streak alive.
Contact Coral Uzgiden at cuzgiden@alligator.org. Follow her on X @coraluzgiden.
Coral is a sophomore Sports Journalism student in her first semester with the Alligator covering Lacrosse. She also has experience writing for WRUF and covering beats such as high school football and Gators swim and dive. She is an intern for the Women of the Lowcountry and in her free time enjoys playing waterpolo, going to the gym and being outside.
