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The fourth ranked Florida lacrosse team will face Stetson on Wednesday night. The Gators are coming off a nail biting win against number 20 Ohio State with a final score of 10-9. Florida’s Shannon Gilroy led all scorers with four goals, which puts her at 53 for the season, the most in a single season for the junior. Gator coach Amanda O’Leary explains why Gilroy is one of the top players in the country.
“I think it’s a mentality, and Shannon has that mentality, that there is nobody that’s going to stand in her way, and it’s why she’s one of the top players in the country. You can throw two or three players at her, but she’s still going to find her opportunities and take advantage of it,” O’Leary said.
Florida trailed 7-4 at one point in the game, but came back to beat the Buckeyes. O’Leary says she has great confidence in her team.
“I think it’s great for us, that’s something we’ve always worried about, which is putting ourselves in a hole. I think against Ohio State we were down 7-4 at one point and I’m looking at the players on the field and I’m confident that they can come back. As a coach it’s nice to have that feeling.”
Florida moves to 10-2 on the season and to 2-0 in the ALC. Meanwhile Ohio State fell to a 6-4 record. Florida continues to practice hard and keep it fresh on the field as O’Leary likes to put it.
“You know we’re always trying to keep it fresh out there. We want people to compete day in and day out in practice. We want them to earn those positions because it is a coveted position to start on this team. We want to keep that going, and that’s kind of that inner competition. Each and every day of practice I think has improved our program tremendously.”
Florida is prepared to take on 0-11 Stetson on Wednesday night at 7 pm in DeLand. You can watch the game live on GatorVision.
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