The same rain that caused Friday night’s men’s lacrosse game between Georgia and Florida to be moved from the Club Sports Complex to the football practice field by Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall also caused Saturday morning’s women’s lacrosse game between representatives of those same two schools to be moved to Alpharetta North Park, and there the ladies had the same objective as the gents: "Beat Florida." Unfortunately, unlike another Red and Black athletic squad whose achievements earlier this afternoon will be recounted here shortly, the Georgia women came up short against their Orange and Blue counterparts.
On a sunny Saturday in north Atlanta, the Lady Bulldogs won the draw, but the Gators took an early 1-0 lead. An ensuing defensive stand by Georgia capped off by goalie Emily Seidel’s save was followed by rookie defender Brooks Leavell’s tying goal. After another Seidel stop, a steal by midfielder Lindsay Brinker set up a shot on goal by midfielder Taylor "Kevin" Lugash which failed to find the back of the net.
Florida went back out in front by a 2-1 tally before rookie attack wing Jenna Dreyer knotted the score anew. Another Gator goal made it 3-2, and, although Seidel registered four more saves before the break, the Orange and Blue had taken a 5-2 lead by halftime, thanks to a score in the final two minutes of the half.
The Gators had extended their advantage to 7-2 before back-to-back goals by Dreyer and attack wing Murphy Ferguson narrowed the gap, but Florida scored to make it 8-4 with 19 minutes remaining. The lead was up to 10-4 before the Lady Bulldogs tacked on two more goals, the second of them from the stick of Ferguson. The Sunshine State Saurians continued their barrage, upping the ante to 11-6 with six minutes to play and adding another goal one minute later, so a pair of additional Georgia scores, the first of them by rookie midfielder Katie Ezell, did not change the outcome, as the Classic City Canines fell, 12-8.
Next weekend, the Lady Bulldogs will host the A-Town Throwdown Tournament in Athens, where the Georgia women’s lacrosse team will welcome an eight-team field featuring four top five clubs.
Go ‘Dawgs!