When Florida was down 7-2 at halftime against Maryland on February 24, players made it clear to each other: the game was still up for grabs.
They were right. The Gators outscored the then-top five Terrapins 10-5 in the second half en route to a 13-12 overtime victory — a turning point for Florida, which started the season 0-2 and has now won 12 straight games entering Saturday’s 11:30 a.m. matchup with AAC rival James Madison.
“Going into Maryland, we were like, ‘Here we are: we’ve grown, we’re learning every day, we’re getting better every day,’” coach Amanda O’Leary said. “It paid off, those two good learning opportunities against Loyola and North Carolina — enough to come out with a win against a really good Maryland team.”
Matters could have continued to worsen after Florida started 0-2. Instead, the No. 15 Gators dug in their heels, fought their way to a 12-2 record and are now tied with No. 13 James Madison atop the conference.
Florida’s offense has emerged as a powerhouse during this stretch, leading the country with 18.57 goals and 9.43 assists per game. Weaknesses discovered during the first two contests have helped power this run.
Senior attacker Maggi Hall said they noticed they had few assists versus Loyola and North Carolina. Entering their game against Maryland, the Gators focused on ball movement and looking for feeds. They tallied five assists against the Terps — a step in the right direction after recording just three through the first two games.
Gators assistants Nicole Levy and Christina Esposito also went back to the drawing board after starting 0-2, coming up with new, movement-heavy schemes. The adjustments were geared toward the personnel they had, O’Leary said, and went well because of player buy-in.
Veteran leadership has also proved key for Florida’s offense. The Gators’ top five scorers are all upperclassmen, many of whom are in tune with each other’s tendencies.