After struggling on their home turf so far this season, Gators lacrosse was itching to leave Donald R. Dizney Stadium with their first win Saturday afternoon.
Florida came out of the gate strong, leading with eight goals by the end of the first quarter. Then, halfway into the second frame, junior midfielder Gabbi Koury had achieved a hat trick.
The No. 8 Gators (4-2) commanded the game from start to finish en route to a 23-9 victory over Mercer (2-4).
Mercer executed an aggressive defense that double-teamed, and sometimes triple-teamed, perimeter players on the 8-meter arc. This forced Florida to adapt and either drive through heavy coverage or floss the ball to the open player and shoot through it.
And the Gators were quick to adapt. Early, sophomore attacker Clark Hamilton led the attack when she blew through four-on-one coverage and took it to the net to complete her own hat trick.
By the end of the match, Hamilton had tallied four goals, which tied for the game-high. Alongside her, graduate student midfielder Boo DeWitt had four tallies on her birthday. Joining Koury with a hat trick was Florida senior midfielder Kaitlyn Davies.
The Gators also had a massive edge in the draw circle; Florida won 25 draw controls to Mercer’s seven. Leading the Gators with five draw controls each were Koury and senior defender Jenny Woodings.
The difference the draw controls made in the game was evident when the Gators had scored 10 goals in the first quarter and won 10 draw controls.
However, Mercer got the best of the Gators in ground ball controls, recovering 11 to the Gators’ 10.
“I wasn’t particularly thrilled with those [ground balls] today,” coach Amanda O’Leary said. “It’s been a constant low point.”
Florida also had a good day in the cage. All three goalies received playing time. Freshman Maya Soskin and sophomore Susan Radebaugh both ended the game with four saves.
The Gators face No. 25 Penn on Wednesday at noon, and look to use every game as an opportunity to improve with No. 1 North Carolina on the horizon in slightly over a week.
“I think it’s [match up against Mercer] a great lead into a very good Penn team, given that Penn kinda runs the same offense,” O’Leary said.
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.
