Not even the Oregon rain could faze the No. 2 Florida Gators, who beat the Ducks 13-5 today at Papé Field.
From the get-go Florida came ready to play. The Gators scored quickly with two back-to-back goals from Brittany Dashiell within the first five minutes of play.
With about eight minutes into the half, the Ducks got on the board with a goal from Casey Brogan. Brogan’s goal was assisted by freshman Carly O’Connell, who won Rookie of the Week for MPSF last week with huge performances in games against High Point and Vermont.
However, Florida was able to answer back by scoring four straight goals from four different players. Throughout the half, the Gators were able to excel on offense with quick and efficient passes, setting up many shooting opportunities on Oregon’s goalie Salliebeth Finnegan. Florida outshot the Ducks 18-7 in the first half.
With 15 minutes left in the half, head coach Jen Larsen Beck called a timeout as the Gators led the Ducks 6-1.
Coming out of the timeout, the Ducks finally found the offensive spark they needed. Oregon maintained possession and were patient on offense, which resulted in a goal from Shannon Propst. With the momentum, the Ducks were able to score again with a goal from Nikki Puszcz.
But the Gators were able to control possession for the rest of the half and capitalize with goals from Dashiell, Gabi Wiegand, and Ashley Bruns.
With seconds left in the half, Finnegan had a huge save, and both teams went to the locker room with Florida up 9-3. Finnegan had six saves for the half.
Turning point. Although Oregon entered the second half with a big deficit, the Ducks came out of the locker room with intensity. Oregon was more successful on defense, keeping up with Florida’s fast-paced offense and crashing in on defense to stop the Gators from getting easy goals.
The Ducks were more poised on offense. In the second half, Oregon had a goal from Propst again, as well as their leading scorer Kate Cathell. Although the Ducks fought hard in the second half, it still wasn’t enough to contain the explosive Florida offense, which went on to score four more goals in the second half.
“I think that we were definitely up against a great team, but I am a little disappointed we weren’t able to come out with just a little more fire,” said Beck. “We definitely learned from playing on the field with the number two team in the country. You are going to definitely take some things away.”
On the horizon. Oregon will start conference play this Friday when they face San Diego State at Papé Field.
“I think right now we are left with a little bit of fire in our gut. Going into practice the next couple days to fix the things we need to going into conference,” said Beck.