Going into Saturday's match against Colorado, everything signaled Big 12 Tournament glory for Florida.
The Buffaloes had not attended a conference championship game since 2014 and had never won.
Meanwhile, the Gators had secured 11 consecutive conference championships, including their first Big 12 tournament title last year, and had topped Colorado less than a month prior, 9-7. Furthermore, UF was named outright Big 12 Champions, was nationally ranked No. 5 and had the privilege of home-field advantage in the championship.
After a weather delay that spanned more than 3 hours, the No. 1-seed Gators fell to No. 2-seed Colorado in upset fashion, 8-6, as the Buffaloes stormed to their first Big 12 Tournament championship in program history on Saturday at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
Heading into Saturday, Florida had to prioritize defence and clean ball movement.
In Thursday’s match against UC Davis, the Gators could afford poor passes and turnovers due to their large lead. This was not the case Saturday, and Florida began to show glimpses of bad habits.
UF senior Kaitlyn Davies sank the first goal of the day, but Colorado recovered four ground balls to the Gators’ one in the entire first frame. In fact, Colorado won the ground-ball game in every quarter except the last. It ultimately finished with 17 recovered ground balls to the Gators’ 12, with senior defender Jess Peluso and junior Lola Flynn leading the Buffaloes with three apiece. For Florida, Davies, freshman attacker Autumn Blair, redshirt sophomore attacker Frannie Hahn, Hamilton and Radebaugh all finished with two.
This disparity in the ground-ball game defined the match and put the Gators in an unfavorable position they ultimately couldn’t recover from.
In the second quarter, the Gators committed seven turnovers, of which Colorado caused six and were able to capitalize on three.
By the end of the frame, UF’s inability to protect the ball from Colorado’s tight defence produced four goals and held the Gators to just one.
From that point on, Colorado had Florida figured out. It began to press hard and force bad passes early in the field before the Gators could get into offensive positioning. UF continued to commit turnovers and scored just one goal in the third quarter and two more in the fourth.
By the end of the match, UF had committed 17 turnovers to Colorado’s 10. Of Florida’s turnovers, the Buffaloes forced 12, while the Gators forced just four of CU’s.
UF junior midfielder Gabbi Koury struggled with her stick on Saturday and committed five turnovers.
Though Florida boasts the No. 3 scoring offense in the nation, averaging around 16 points per game, it didn’t look the part on Saturday.
Hamilton went 2 for 12 in the match, and two of graduate Boo DeWitt’s five shots found the net. The pair led the Gators in goals, but couldn’t manufacture enough offensive momentum to hold a lead.
As for the Buffaloes, senior attacker Maddie Shoup debilitated the Gators with four goals, followed closely behind by freshman attacker Rowan Edson, who tallied two.
The goalies were evenly matched, handling the same amount of heat with 27 shots coming from each team. UF’s Radebaugh played the entire game, allowed eight goals and had eight saves, while Colorado’s Elena Oh allowed six goals and had seven saves through the entirety of the match.
The Gators have made it to the postseason the last 17 seasons, and now set their sights on the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Selection Shows begin on Sunday at 9 p.m., where Florida will find out who it will face in the first round of the NCAA Tournament that begins Friday.
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.
