The sun shined on the No. 12/10 Gators (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) as they traveled back home to Donald R. Disney Stadium to host an exhibition match against Scotland on Wednesday.
Florida topped Scotland (1-1) 19-8, with elite performances by senior attacker Ava Tighe and sophomore midfielder Ryann Frechette each logging a team-leading four-goal haul.
The game also posed an opportunity for the slew of young Gators on the roster to make their debut and have an early impact on the season. The underclassmen dominated the game, punching in their first minutes.
Multiple freshmen also tallied their first career goals. The first-time goal scorers included freshman midfielders Kennedy Richardson and Alexa Stone, who each recorded two goals. Redshirt freshman midfielder Sophia Cardella, freshman midfielder Jameson Sword and freshman Molly Doran also all recorded their first goals at Florida.
“It was a great audition,” head coach Amanda O’Leary said. “We saw a lot of great things from them. I thought their fight, their getting up and down the field, was great offensively.”
The Gators played thoughtful and strategic offense, drawing fouls on Scotland on multiple possessions. The differentiator was Florida’s ability to capitalize on them, with 11 of its 19 goals on power plays or free-position goals.
Unlike in their past two matches, Florida showed dominance in the draw circle and came out with 22 out of the 29 total draw controls for the game. Attackers, graduate student Ava Kristynik and freshman Allison Fling, tied for the most draw controls on Florida’s squad with five each.
“Our true draw takers were taking our draws today,” O’Leary said. “The more reps we can get, the better. Hopefully that will translate in our game against Clemson on Saturday.”
All three goalies got their opportunity in the cage. Starting was freshman Maya Soskin. She played the entire first half, allowing four goals and logging two saves. To start and end the third quarter, graduate student Paige Crowther had an impressive performance with four saves and allowed only two goals. In the final quarter, sophomore Susan Radebaugh saw some action, saving two shots and allowing two in.
Evening the field was the turnovers. Both teams struggled, with Florida committing 12, of which Scotland caused only four, while Scotland committed 19, of which the Gator caused five.
Florida will take to the road again as it looks to face its toughest competition yet. The Gators will travel to Milton, Georgia, to play against No. 7/8 Clemson on Saturday at 1 p.m. at a neutral site.
“They’re a fantastic team, and we’re gonna really need to bring our best game,” 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.
