GAINESVILLE, Fla. – For the third time in the Florida-Syracuse short seven-game series history, overtime was needed to determine a winner. On Tuesday night at Donald R. Dizney Stadium, that winner was No. 6 Syracuse (6-2), as the visiting Orange scored with 2:13 remaining in the second half of overtime to defeat the No. 5 Gators (6-2), 14-13.
After sophomore Carli Marsh won the opening draw of the first half of overtime, Syracuse forced a Gator turnover with 1:06 remaining in the half after Marsh received a yellow card. Syracuse was able to fire off a shot with seconds left in the half, but the shot sailed wide and the two teams entered the final three minutes of overtime deadlocked at 13-13.
Syracuse then won the draw and gained possession, firing a shot that junior goalkeeper Mary-Sean Wilcox deflected, but an Orange attacker scooped up the loose ball and drew a foul, earning a free-position opportunity. On the ensuing free-position chance, Syracuse's Riley Donahue attacked the net and dished to an open Kelly Cross, who fired a shot past Wilcox for the game-winning score.
After the score, the Orange won the draw and ran out the clock, holding onto the ball for the final two minutes and 13 seconds of overtime.
The Gators battled back from a 10-7 halftime deficit in the second half, and grabbed their first lead of the game at the 18:15 mark in the second after senior Shannon Gilroy netted her fourth goal of night to cap a 4-0 run.
Trailing 11-10, Syracuse ripped off two goals to regain a 12-11 lead with 13:46 left in regulation. The Gators, however, answered the Orange as junior Carly Ross and redshirt junior Nicole Graziano scored back-to-back goals to give Florida a 13-12 advantage.
After Graziano's go-ahead score, Florida gained possession of the draw and held onto the ball for nearly eight minutes, but turned the ball over after yellow card with just under two minutes remaining in the game.
Playing with a man-up advantage, Syracuse tallied the game-tying goal with one minute and 14 seconds left in the game to carry the game into overtime where it eventually won the game.
Gilroy lead the Gators with four goals, while senior Nora Barry, freshman Shayna Pirreca and Ross chipped in with two goals apiece. Wilcox came up with seven saves, including a number of crucial stops.
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Sam Darcangelo held All-American Kayla Treanor (right) scorless on Tuesday night. (Photo: Jim Burgess)
Record
- Florida – 6-2
- Syracuse – 6-2
Series Update
- Florida fell to 2-5 all-time vs. Syracuse and 1-2 at home vs. the Orange
- This marked the third game in series' seven-game history that went into overtime; Syracuse has won all three
Numbers of Note
- The loss ended Florida's six-game winning streak
- Before tonight's loss, Florida had a 22-game nighttime home winning streak. The Gators hadn't lost a night game at home since Georgetown won 13-11 on March 9, 2010, a five-year stretch of time
- Florida outshot Syracuse, 27-24, and held the advantage in groundballs, 19-14
- Junior Sam Darcangelo held Syracuse All-American Kayla Treanor to no goals and zero shots. Treanor entered the game ranked with the third-most goals in the country (25)
- Senior Shannon Gilroy scored a game-high four goals
- Junior Carly Ross scored two goals and a scooped up a season-high four ground balls
- Senior Nora Barry tallied two scores and a season-best five draw controls
Mandee's Minute
Head coach Amanda O'Leary
On handling tonight's loss:
"I credit Syracuse tonight, they played really, really hard. I thought our first half defensively we just didn't step up as we should've. I thought we did a better job in the second half. I think things that we need to take away from this is the fact that we can compete with the top teams in the country."
On Sam Darcangelo and the defensive performance:
"I thought Sam did a great job and I think our defense did a really good job behind her. I thought when she got the ball we had a backer out there to help. I thought we did a good job transitioning from defenses."
Up Next
Florida travels to take on No. 1 Maryland in College Park, Maryland, at noon on Saturday (March 14).
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