Dashiell's Last-Minute Goal Helps Florida Avoid Letdown, Clinch Undefeated ALC Season
from press release
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Sophomore midfielder
Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) scored the game-winning goal from
free position with 30 seconds remaining in the second half to give
the No. 6 Gators their first American Lacrosse Conference regular
season championship outright, defeating the No. 17 Vanderbilt
Commodores, 8-7. Dashiell’s goal secured Florida’s
first undefeated conference season and it was the first true
game-winner in Florida history.
The Gators were led by sophomore attacker Ashley Bruns (Ellicott
City, Md.) with five points on the afternoon, contributing a hat
trick and two assists. Dashiell and sophomore midfielder Caroline
Chesterman each contributed two goals while redshirt freshman
midfielder Hayley Katzenberger (Damascus, Md.) added her fifth goal
of the season. Dashiell, sophomore midfielder Kitty Cullen
(Rockville, Md.) and sophomore attacker Janine Hillier
(Farmingdale, N.Y.) each had an assist for the Gators. Sophomore
goalkeeper Mikey Meagher (Liverpool, N.Y.) had seven saves in goal
for Florida.
“Vanderbilt came out hard and stymied our attackers,”
Florida head coach Amanda O’Leary said. “Their
attackers did a great job. Chelsea Pasfield, their goalie, was
fantastic. Vanderbilt fought for every possession.”
The Gators fell behind early, courtesy of All-American Ally Carey
and the Commodores’ leading scorer Courtney Kirk, who teamed
up for a Vanderbilt goal just 12 seconds into the contest. VU found
the back of the net again on a Katherine Denkler goal less than two
minutes later. Florida, who hadn’t fell behind by two goals
since their only loss of the season against then-No. 3 North
Carolina, wasn’t going to be held scoreless for long, as
Bruns scored unassisted to bring the tally to 1-2 4:29 into the
contest.
Denkler put Vanderbilt back on the board with the first of the
Commodores’ three free position goals but Bruns answered once
again, scoring back-to-back goals in just 1:03. The Ellicott City,
Md. Native scored her second goal of the afternoon unassisted, as
she came from the right side of the goal and shook off two
Vanderbilt defenders. Her third goal came from a great pass from
Cullen, knotting the score at 3-3. The teams continued to trade
goals, as Kendall Pittinger scored from Carey.
Katzenberger then found the back of the net from Dashiell, as she
was able to weave her way through the Commodore defense and score
to even the game at four goals apiece. Both teams were held
scoreless for 5:30 before Chesterman scored from a behind the goal
pass from Bruns to give the Gators their first lead of the
afternoon, 5-4. Vanderbilt’s Alex Priddy scored from free
position to tie things up again at 5-5. Dashiell scored her first
goal of the afternoon from Bruns with a little over two minutes
remaining in the half to put Florida ahead by one, but the lead was
short-lived. Carey scored from Emily Franke to put the Gators and
the Commodores even at 6-6 heading into halftime.
The second half was a tale of two defenses, as the defense for both
teams combined to produce 12 turnovers in the second stanza. The
Commodores caused five turnovers on the afternoon while the Gators
caused six. Ground balls were even for the teams, tied at 14 apiece
for the contest. The Gator defense played as a unit on Saturday
afternoon, holding Florida’s seventh opponent this season to
seven goals or less. After Franke scored from free position less
than three minutes into the second half, both teams were held
scoreless for 18 minutes as the defenses put on a show.
The stalemate was finally broken by Chesterman as she scored the
tying goal with 9:51 remaining in the contest. She scored from the
left side of the crease from Hillier to keep the teams even at 7-7.
Both the Gators and the Commodores had their chances to regain the
lead, but it wasn’t until Dashiell got fouled in the
eight-meter with 30 seconds remaining that the Gators got their
final chance for the victory. As Dashiell lined up on the hash
mark, the majority of the Vanderbilt defense found themselves on
the opposite side, having been placed there from the spot of the
foul. Dashiell scored her 28th goal of the season and sealed the
victory for the Gators, 8-7.
“I think having played three conference games in a week was
difficult for us,” O’Leary said. “I have to give
all the credit to our trainer, Anna Hale. We had girls who were
banged up from our victory over Northwestern on Thursday night. If
not for her tireless work in getting our girls healthy, we
wouldn’t have been able to fight through to win. She worked
constantly to get the girls treatment while we were at home and
here in Nashville and it was her dedication that got all of our
starters back on the field today.”
The Gators are now off for the next two weeks before heading to
face Cornell on Sunday, May 1 in Ithaca, N.Y. The matchup between
the Gators and the Big Red is set for 12:00 p.m. and will be
broadcast live on www.GatorZone.com.
