GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Down one goal with 29 seconds remaining Saturday afternoon, Colorado attackers frantically looked for an open shot before Florida midfielder Emily Heller, watching attentively on defense, had enough.
The freshman laid out, tipped a lazy pass and came up with the game-sealing ground ball in her collegiate debut. The home crowd in Gainsville erupted. The Gators, No. 17 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women's Top 20, held on to defeat No. 18 Colorado, 11-10.
Tied at 10 with just under four minutes remaining, Florida midfielder Shannon Kavanagh gave the Gators the lead on a free position goal. A defender appeared to have gotten a piece of Kavanagh’s stick as she shot, lessening the power behind it. It was still enough to get it past Julia Lisella in the cage. Colorado never saw the back of the net again.
Colorado needed just 1:17 to strike first, as Chloe Willard kicked off the scoring. Brianna Harris scored off of an assist from attacker Kaala Puglisi to answer for Florida six minutes later. The Buffaloes opened the largest lead of the game at 5-2 with 14:19 minutes left in the first half on Zoe Lawless’ tally.
In what was expected to be a back-and-forth affair, Florida hit back. The Gators scored four unanswered — capped by a free position from Heller — to take a 6-5 lead. Lawless didn’t want to go into the half with a deficit, though. The junior tied the score with 43 seconds left before the break and left Florida goalkeeper Sarah Reznick in the dirt after an impressive move.
The Buffs went ahead 8-6 but yielded the lead on back-to-back goals from Harris, who gave Florida a 9-8 lead with 16:24 to play. Audrey Kingdom tied it at 9 not long after, before Harris — again — gave the Gators the lead. Lawless tied the score at 10, setting up the winning opportunity from Kavanagh five minutes later.
Although there wasn’t a cloud in the sky on a beautiful day in Gainesville, the contest was anything but pretty.
Colorado committed 26 fouls to Florida’s 13, setting the tone early. Florida coach Amanda O’Leary was proud of how the Gators were able to handle the physical punishment.
“I was really proud of our team,” O’Leary said. “We only had one defensive yellow card. We tend to be a little aggressive, so I’m really proud we were able to maintain ourselves and play through those hard hits.”
Colorado midfielder Sadie Grozier had four goals on six shots, and Harris scored a career-high five goals to the lead Florida. Harris said it was about more than just her performance.
“I don’t think it was really one person,” she said.
O’Leary, in her 11th season with Florida, spoke highly of Harris.
“I thought she played with a lot of confidence; she has passion for the game,” O’Leary said. “She dictated the defense. She did what we asked her to do.”
Her biggest impact, perhaps, came on the draw. Florida dominated that aspect of the game, winning 17 of 23 draws. Harris totaled seven herself.
“Bri is just one of those dominant players,” O’Leary said. “She was just dominant on the draw circle today.”