No. 5 Florida Lacrosse Celebrates O’Leary’s 250th Career Win

With Florida’s spring sun beaming and an early bird crowd of fans at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium, the No. 5 Florida Gators secured their seventh consecutive win fueled by a powerful offensive effort by 12 different scorers.

Florida (10-2, 2-0 Big 12) defeated San Diego State (5-8, 0-2) 21-9 on Saturday morning, bringing its all-time record in conference home openers to 15-0 and marking coach Amanda O’Leary’s 250th career win.

“These wins are the girls’ wins,” O’Leary said. “They do the dirty work every single day to prepare for these games. I’m just along for the ride.”

In just the first quarter, eight different players recorded goals to achieve 10, marking UF’s season-best goals scored in a single quarter. Freshman midfielder Gabby Greene and graduate student midfielder Jenny Markey led with two goals in the first.  

By the end of the game, 12 Gators contributed to the scoring column, compared to SDSU’s seven. Junior attacker Gianna Monaco, graduate student attacker Jordan Basso and Markey each notched a hat-trick to lead Florida. Monaco and Basso also had a team-high four assists each. 

“I thought we came out and executed the game plan really, really well,” O’Leary said. “I thought that offensively, we did what we needed to do … [and] defensively we held strong. We shared the ball. We saw a lot of different scorers, so [I’m] really proud of them.”

Meanwhile, SDSU sophomore attacker Frankie Garcia led with three goals off her four total shots. 

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Florida dominated offensively, outshooting San Diego State 43-19. UF also forced 16 turnovers on the Aztecs and dominated the draw circle with 19 draw controls, compared to SDSU’s 14. 

Overall, it was an all-around team effort for the Gators with 28 different players appearing on the field. Senior midfielder Josie Hahn and junior attacker Ava Tighe also had multi-goal performances with two each.

“We got to clear the bench today, and I think that’s really important, these players work,” O’Leary said. “Every single day, they do a lot of work for us and in prep every week for these games, and it’s nice to see them get out on the field and have their opportunities.”

Freshman attacker Clark Hamilton got the Gators rolling with her first goal off a free-position shot four minutes into the game.

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Elyse Finnelle held San Diego to only three goals during her 30 minutes in the net. SDSU’s redshirt freshman attacker Bella Tan (1) and Garcia were the only players who scored goals in the first half. 

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The Gators entered halftime with a steady 16-3 lead.

And Florida remained relentless in scoring for the rest of the match. Monaco scored less than a minute into the second half, demonstrating UF’s nonstop offensive prowess. 

Although the Gators had a slower start with only three goals in the third quarter, they kept control of the game.

UF freshman goalkeeper Susan Radebaugh substituted Finnelle in the third period, conceding six goals and making three saves. 

“[She] did great in the goal cage, came up with some big saves,” O’Leary said. “I was really, really proud of her.” 

The Aztecs had a spurt at the end of the fourth quarter with three consecutive goals in the last five minutes, but it was short-lived. SDSU redshirt freshman Macie Buell secured her first goal of the season at 3:58.

However, UF ended the match on a strong note with Tighe notching her second goal in the last seconds. 

The Gators handed San Diego its fifth-straight loss, acquiring a 3-0 record against the Aztecs.

Next Up

Florida travels to face Jacksonville University (6-4, 2-0 ASUN) on Wednesday at 4 p.m.