Florida lacrosse comes up short in Final Four against Northwestern
Florida lacrosse finally ran out of gas on Friday afternoon, falling to the top-seeded Northwestern Wildcats, 15-11, in the Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament held in Cary, North Carolina.
The Gators close the season with a 20-3 mark overall — the 20 wins good for a new program best — along with a perfect 6-0 record in American Athletic Conference competition.
Maggi Hall and Danielle Pavinelli combined for 10 of the team’s 15 points, with the former accounting for five goals and the latter scoring three while dishing out two assists becoming just the third player in program history to reach 300 points. Ashley Gonzalez and Madison Waters each recorded one goal and one assist, while Gianna Monaco also chipped in on the final tally.
Defensively, Theresa Bragg (four), and Kaitlyn Davies (two) both totaled career highs in caused turnovers, combining for six on the day. Elyse Finnelle totaled eight saves, paired with two from Georgia Hoey.
The game featured five ties. Florida held the lead twice: 1-0, and 2-1.
Postgame quote
Head coach Amanda O’Leary was proud of the effort her team put in.
“Huge congratulations to Northwestern. Amazing team, they played extremely well today, so lots of luck to them moving forward… but very, very proud of this team. We have had a long journey to get here, and I’m just so proud of the effort they put forward into making this final four so I’m just really proud of them.”
The Gators fell to 6-5 all-time against the Wildcats and 16-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
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