The tides had turned.

In 2016, the U.S. women’s national team handed Florida a lopsided 19-8 decision in the annual Team USA Spring Premiere, but this January, the Gators chomped at the bit with just a one-goal, 20-19 loss. They had Team USA playing on their heels as they scored first, led three times and tied the game six times.

“Being able to compete against the best players in the world – and that’s what Team USA is – and the fact that we were able to come out to compete I thought was fantastic,” Florida coach Amanda O’Leary said. “I’m really proud of our team. We’re a work in progress, but at this point I’m pretty pleased with where we’re at.”

Florida enters the 2017 season ranked fifth in the Nike/US Lacrosse rankings. Here are five key takeaways from their scrimmage against Team USA that could bode well for high tides this spring.

1. Gators attack.

The Gators’ goal was to improve significantly since their eight-goal performance in 2016, three of which were scored by seniors. Learning from Florida assistant Taryn VanThof, who was a part of the U.S. system in 2014-15, the offense was tasked to score within a 23-second window. If they did, they would be set up for success. If not, Team USA would crash with their high-intensity defense.

“They move so well and they double so quickly,” O’Leary said. “Our whole premise behind practice was how fast can we score? We went into a high risk, high reward, so if we were going to score quickly, we were going to do that, and if not, we were going to pay the price.”

While the stat sheet lists a loss for Florida, the game felt like it was in the Gators’ control, especially in the final 16:22 when they went on a 7-2 scoring run, featuring five straight goals to tie it 17-17 with under 10 minutes to play.

Senior attacker Sammi Burgess shined, scoring the opening goal just 59 seconds in, plus the Gators’ final two goals to put them ahead by one with 5:21 left on the clock.

Burgess finished with a team-high seven points on five goals and two assists, while junior Shayna Pirreca also tallied five goals. Sophomore Lindsey Ronbeck, a U.S. under-19 silver medalist who was the leading scorer as a freshman in last year’s Spring Premiere, recorded a hat trick and two assists, and Mollie Stevens, who has also tried out for Team USA, added two goals and four assists.

“Florida did an exceptional job of working to get what they wanted, meaning their dominant hand,” said Team USA coach Ricky Fried, who also coaches the Georgetown women’s lacrosse team, which competes against Florida in the Big East. “Ronbeck did a great job getting to the middle on the left side. On the right, people really fought. Burgess did a nice job of really fighting to get to where she wanted to go. I think they challenged us and fought a little bit harder to get what they want, as opposed to us dictating what we’re going to give them.”

2. The swamp is well defended.

The offense tends to get all the credit, but it’s time the Florida defense gets its due, especially with the leadership of Nike/US Lacrosse preseason All-American senior defenders Caroline Fitzgerald and Taylor Bresnahan.

If you watched the game live in Florida or at home on the live stream, you surely saw Fitzergald’s "SportsCenter" Top 10-worthy moment when she recovered the ball on defense, noticed the clock was ticking down, and flung it downfield on an open net (Team USA’s goalie was out of her crease to help with a full-field ride), scoring her first goal of the season.

Wow! @gatorlacrosse Caroline Fitzgerald @FitzyCentt_ scores a 60-yard goal at the 1st half buzzer vs #USAWLAX #SCtop10 #USLSpringPremiere pic.twitter.com/XO06yB1MsO

— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) January 14, 2017

But the Florida defense is ready for more Top 10 plays in front of its own net. It caused 19 turnovers, and two more than Team USA in the second half. While the Gators got adjusted to the U.S. ride in the first half, only successfully clearing 50 percent of the time, they improved in the second half, going 10-for-12 on clears.

That was a good sign for O’Leary. Florida’s regular-season opponents don’t play as intensely as Team USA, especially with that type of ride.

“Our defenders got more confident with the ball, bringing it up in the ride, finding open players,” she said. “Teams that we play don’t necessarily play this type of ride, so I think it’s great for us to be tested under this type of pressure.”

PHOTO BY SCOTT MCCALL

3. Hicklen’s ready.

Last spring, senior Mary-Sean Wilcox started all 20 games in net, while freshman Haley Hicklen and sophomore Olivia Cole primarily watched from the sidelines. Hicklen saw playing time in 18 games, while Cole suited up for five. Hicklen was the only goalie of the three to record a save percentage above 50 percent (.559).

Freshman goalie Kenzii Kittell joins the mix this season, but all eyes turn toward Hicklen as the leading candidate to start in goal. Hicklen played the full 60 minutes in an intense battle against Team USA, making 16 saves for a .444 saves percentage on 44 shots. Hicklen single-handedly outperformed the U.S. goalies in the first half, tallying eight saves compared to zero for Team USA.  

“[She was] more tested than she has ever been in her career!” O’Leary said with a laugh. “I can’t say enough about her. She played lights out. She played with confidence. She’s a fantastic goalie. Haley comes every day to practice with a great mindset. Nothing rattles her. She’s very copasetic, just kind of goes with it and I think it’s a great mindset for her. It works. She was phenomenal. I think that was a huge bright spot for us.”

4. Gators can fight.

As Florida’s saying goes, “It’s not the size of the Gator in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the Gator.” And the Gators sure had more fight than Team USA. It threw the Americans off-guard.

“You have to give Florida a tremendous amount a credit,” Fried said. “For a period of time, I thought they fought a lot harder than we did. … They kept fighting and we’re like, ‘Oh, we’re pretty good, so we’ll be OK,’ and Florida didn’t care and fought back.”

Team USA’s biggest lead of the game was a five-goal difference – twice – but allowed Florida to slowly crawl back. The U.S. led 11-6 at the 6:53 mark in the first half after a Taylor Cummings free position goal, but the period ended with two straight Gator goals.

Team USA again went up 15-10 at the 19:52 mark in the second half, but then three minutes later, allowed that 7-2 Florida run. For nearly every U.S. goal in the second half, Florida responded by either matching or going beyond Team USA’s output. After allowing five back-to-back U.S. goals in the first half, the Gators flipped the script and scored five straight of their own in the second. Florida won the second period 11-9.

“It’s kind of fun to see,” O’Leary said.

5. Florida is primed for success in 2017.

The 2016 season was impressive for the Gators, ranking 10^th in the Lacrosse Magazine preseason poll and then earning their highest seed in the NCAA tournament at No. 2 after sweeping both the Big East regular season and tournament titles. Florida had its best start in program history at 18-1. However, the year ended with disappointment. Penn State upset the Gators 14-13 after they had a well-rested, first-round bye.

Entering 2017, Florida is ranked fifth after losing 39 percent of its starts and 31 percent of its scoring, but appears ready to go.

“If we can compete with [Team USA], I think we’re where we need to be,” O’Leary said. “Ultimately, I thought we looked in good shape. We ran with them. I was pleased.”

The offense has strong leadership in Burgess, the Pirreca sisters (Sydney and Shayna) and Ronbeck. The defense is set with Bresnahan and Fitzgerald, who are backed up by a well-tested Hicklen. The midfield should also perform well behind Stevens and the defensive duo – all three finished in the top four in draw controls in 2016 (Bresnahan 34, Stevens 23 and Fitzgerald 21).

But how their performance against the U.S. translates to the college game remains to be seen. O’Leary is staying optimistic – and so are her players.

“Confidence, yes without a doubt,” she said. “How it will translate otherwise, I’m not quite sure just because teams just don’t play that high pressure defense. But I think it’s a great starting point for us only having eight practices.”

Such a successful run against Team USA will position the Gators well in their home-opener against the reigning national NCAA champion North Carolina on Feb. 11.