Florida Wins BIG EAST WLAX Championship
May 2, 2015
BOX: Florida 20, UConn 6
STORRS, Conn. -- No. 1 Florida used an explosive second half to claim a 20-6 victory over third-seeded Connecticut to claim the BIG EAST Women's Lacrosse Championship in its tournament debut. The Gators set BIG EAST Championship records for total goals, assists and scoring margin thanks to the efforts of Most Outstanding Player Shannon Gilroy, who tallied eight goals over two games.
Both teams were making their BIG EAST Final debuts on what was a sunny Saturday afternoon at UConn's George J. Sherman Family-Sports Complex. The Gators broke out to a 5-1 lead early, with senior Nora Barry scoring a pair of goals less than one minute into the contest and reaching the hat trick mark less than four minutes in. Stretching its lead to 8-2 with just over six minutes left in the first half, Florida was then challenged by UConn, which scored the final two goals of the first half to get within 8-4 at the break. The first half was aggressively contested as eight yellow cards were issued.
The Huskies came out of the break firing as Alyson Fazio scored with 27:28 remaining in regulation to get UConn within three for the first time since midway through the first half. It was all Florida after that, however, scoring 12-straight goals, one shy of the single-half BIG EAST Championship record. Gilroy scored four times during that stretch, as did Devon Schneider, while Lauren Lea and Nicole Graziano added two apiece.
Alexandra Crofts capped the scoring for the day, becoming the sixth different Husky to record a goal, and leading the team with two points after being credited with the assist Katherine Finkleston's first-half goal. Shannon Nee made 11 saves in net for the Huskies as she joined Finkleston and Lauren Kwasnowski on the All-Tournament Team.
Five Florida players were named to the All-Tournament Team, including Gilroy, Barry, Mollie Stevens, Taylor Bresnahan and Caroline Fitzgerald. Bresnahan and Fitzgerald anchored a Gator defense which held the Huskies to just two second-half goals, matching the record for fewest allowed in a single half in the BIG EAST Championship. UConn's six total goals also matched the fewest in a tournament game.
Following an 18-8 win over No. 4 Villanova in the Semifinals, Florida finished with 38 total goals and 17 total assists, besting the previous records of 34 goals by Syracuse in 2008 and 16 dishes by Notre Dame in 2009. The 14-goal victory is the most in a BIG EAST Final game, doubling the previous mark owned by Syracuse, while Florida's tournament scoring margin of +24 is three greater than the previous standard set by the Orange in 2008.
Florida, which joined the BIG EAST as an affiliate member prior to the 2015 season, earns the automatic bid into the NCAA Championship. The Tournament Selection Show is set for Sunday evening at 9 p.m., with a live stream on NCAA.com. Florida is the sixth different team to win a BIG EAST Championship and fourth different in a row. The Gators are led by sixth-year head coach Amanda Leary, who has guided Florida to NCAA berths in five consecutive seasons.
BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player
Shannon Gilroy, Florida, Sr., M
BIG EAST All-Tournament Team
Shannon Gilroy, Florida, Sr., M
Mollie Stevens, Florida, So., A
Taylor Bresnahan, Florida, So., D
Caroline Fitzgerald, Florida, So., D
Nora Barry, Florida, Sr., M
Shannon Nee, Connecticut, Jr., GK
Lauren Kwasnowski, Connecticut, Jr., D
Katherine Finkleston, Connecticut, Jr., A
Jess Mucci, Villanova, Sr., A
Jackie Froccaro, Villanova, Sr., A
Colleen Lovett, Georgetown, So., A
Adrianne Devine, Georgetown, Sr., D