Florida Lacrosse Guts Out Win Against Dartmouth
It’s been six years since Gators lacrosse last faced Dartmouth, leaving Florida off on a sour note following its 13-9 loss. On Saturday, the No. 6 Gators got the result they wanted at Dizney Stadium.
Florida fought through a relentless Dartmouth offense to win 13-10. Coach Amanda O’Leary is glad the team got the win, but feels this game is a learning experience.
“We have to be better from the start of the game,” she said. “On a positive, I will say that we gutted it out.”
The matchup featured the top two offenses in the country, with Florida (7-2) leading at 17.38 goals per game and Dartmouth (5-6) close behind with 17.29 goals. The last time Florida was in a game with the top two scoring offenses in the country was the 2024 NCAA Final Four against Northwestern.
Florida’s top-ranked offense can be attributed to the girls’ talent, but also the addition of assistant coaches Lindsay Epstein and Jared Bernhardt. With Bernhardt’s professional lacrosse and football experience, plus Epstein’s expertise on the draw game, O’Leary could not be more pleased to have them on staff.
Despite this, Saturday’s matchup was Florida’s lowest-scoring win. Both teams started slow, though, only scoring three goals each in the first quarter. The Gators’ best quarter was the second, scoring seven goals and going on a 4-0 run toward the end. However, Florida also ended the game with three goals in the entire second half.
O’Leary called the team’s offense a “shotgun offense,” only giving up one shot and immediately getting back on defense. While the Gators survived, she feels they will need to be more patient with themselves as the season continues.
“We needed to be more composed on the offensive end and take better shots,” O’Leary said. “Bad things happen when you don’t work to get the best possible shot.”
Another learning lesson for Florida continues to be draw controls. Despite an overall upward trend, the Gators struggled to win possessions this game. Dartmouth won 15/25 draws, but fortunately for Florida, these possessions were not enough to top the Gators.
Senior Maya Kendall was a big reason why it became increasingly more difficult to win draws. She led the NCAA in draw controls last season, averaging 12.53, and broke the Ivy League single-season draw control record with 188.
O’Leary, early in the game, yelled before a draw for the girls to get off the line when the ball goes up. She told reporters the team knew how Kendall was going to treat the draw, yet the Gators could not come up with the ball.
With conference play approaching — and with draw specialists like Morgan Handzel and Anna Viglione on some of these teams — O’Leary stressed the importance of her team needing to be able to execute the draw effectively.
The physicality of the match also highlighted the game. The Gators ended up with seven green and yellow cards, and Dartmouth with six green and yellow. Ava Tighe took a fall in the second quarter and sat out the rest of the match while several players on both sides spent some time on the ground as well.
Fans on both sides were outraged by what they felt was a lack of calls, but O’Leary wants her team to be able to play through whatever the referees call and play bigger.
“We always expect to play a physical game, that’s just the nature of lacrosse,” she said. “We have to stand our ground. We have to stay up on our feet, and we need to match people’s physicalities.”
Defense played a major role in the game, and especially in the third quarter, to hold off the Big Green’s comeback. O’Leary decided to have the girls play in a high-pressure zone, hoping to force the Big Green to one side. However, she felt the girls did not execute the way she wanted, another stepping stone the Gators will need to conquer.
It was sophomore Susan Radebaugh’s saves in the third quarter that secured Florida’s lead and eventual win. Dartmouth began to put offensive pressure on the Gators, hoping to start a second-half comeback. Radebaugh, in her first career win, had two saves late in the third to prevent the Big Green from tying 11-11 in the third quarter. She had 11 saves in the game, to which O’Leary said was what Florida needed to get them back in the right direction.
“Talk about the spark, that was the spark,” she said about Radebaugh. “She came in and made some critical saves at big time. That’s what you need.”
Florida is once again on the road on March 28 to face its first conference opponent: Arizona State. The biggest thing O’Leary stressed for the Gators is their need to start the game strong, and they will need to do so to beat Big 12 teams.
“We found a way to win, and this team certainly has done that throughout the season,” she said. “But I think we’re putting ourselves in a bad position.”
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Lacrosse, Lacrosse
