Cullen Scores Six as Florida Beats Denver
from press release
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The No. 17 Florida lacrosse
team, led by the school-record tying six goals by sophomore Kitty
Cullen (Rockville, Md.), defeated the No. 20 (Inside
Lacrosse/deBeer Media Poll) Denver Pioneers, 15-7, on Sunday
afternoon in front of a crowd of 687 at Donald R. Dizney
Stadium.
Cullen notched eight points overall on Sunday, good for third in
program history, while recording a .600 shooting percentage.
National Rookie of the Year Ashley Bruns (Ellicott City, Md.) had
seven points on the afternoon, scoring a hat trick while also
notching a career-high tying four assists. Sophomores Colby Rhea
(Abington, Md.) and Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) had two goals
apiece while junior Caroline Cochran (Annapolis, Md.) and sophomore
Janine Hillier (Farmingdale, N.Y.) each added one.
The Gator defense had its best performance of the season, as
Florida caused eight turnovers to Denver’s two, while
grabbing 15 ground balls. The Orange and Blue won the game on the
draw, notching 13 draw controls.
“This was certainly our best defensive performance of the
season,” Florida Head Coach Amanda O’Leary said.
“Especially in the first half, we were really reading their
offense and not allowing them to get shots off.”
Denver only had three shots in the first half. Florida’s
defensive prowess allowed the offense to shine, as Florida scored
seven goals on 15 shots in the first half.
Cullen got her first score less than a minute into Sunday’s
action, finding the back of the net only 42 seconds into the game.
Bruns scored less than a minute later to give the Gators an early
lead, 2-0. Bruns and Cullen met up for the next score, as Cullen
fed Bruns the ball on the lefthand side of the goal to put the
Gators ahead, 3-0, before the teams held each other scoreless for
nearly 10 minutes.
In the 15th minute, Bruns found Dashiell at the top of the crease
for the Gators’ fourth goal of the afternoon. The
momentum continued the Gators’ way as Cochran found
Rhea 90 seconds later to give the Gators a 5-0 lead. Bruns then
found the back of the net on her own to put the Gators ahead, 6-0.
Denver was able to stop Florida’s run with a goal of their
own by Kara Secora, but Cullen found the back of the net 10 seconds
later thanks to a feed by Cochran. Heading into halftime, Florida
was ahead, 7-1.
Cochran and Cullen matched up again coming out of intermission,
with Cullen finding Cochran at the edge of the crease for a score
that came 17 seconds into the action. Bruns and Dashiell then
connected for their second score of the game to put the Gators
ahead, 9-1.
Denver found the back of the net but Hillier’s goal at the
10:45 mark sparked a 5-0 Florida run, which included half of
Cullen’s goals as well as a Rhea score from Bruns.
Cullen’s goal to give the Gators their first double-digit
lead of the afternoon was assisted by redshirt freshman Hayley
Katzenberger (Damascus, Md.), who scored her first point in the
Orange and Blue. Florida allowed another Denver goal before Cullen
got her final score of the afternoon, a driving shot as Cullen cut
through the Pioneers’ defense.
Denver rattled off four straight goals in the final five minutes of
the contest but it wasn’t enough as the Gators came away with
the victory and improved to 2-1 on the season.
Florida returns to the friendly confines of Dizney Stadium on
Wednesday night as the Gators take on the UMBC Retrievers at 6:30
p.m.
