Molly Brock Leads Sunshine State Upset as Jacksonville Tops Florida
Sat Mar 13 2021 | Kenny DeJohn | College
College Women
PHOTO BY DUNCAN BOONE
While you might have been paying attention to ranked ACC matchups between North Carolina and Virginia Tech or Boston College and Virginia, there was a wild one going down at D.B. Milne Field in Jacksonville.
Saturday afternoon’s contest between No. 6 Florida and unranked Jacksonville started like each of the previous nine in the series’ history between these two teams. The Gators jumped out to a three-goal lead in less than five minutes and appeared well on their way to another win.
Not so fast.
The Dolphins leaned on a stingy defense to support an offense that did just enough to upset Florida 12-11.
Top-notch celly from @JAX_WLAX pic.twitter.com/cFb2rX6LJj
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) March 13, 2021
After Florida (3-2) went ahead 3-0, Jacksonville (3-0) scored six of the next seven goals to take a 6-4 lead.
After Shannon Kavanagh tied the score at 6 for Florida, Jacksonville again scored six of the next seven tallies. Molly Brock’s goal that started the run put Jacksonville ahead for good at 7-6 just before halftime.
Taking the lead into the half! #TheBestPlaceToPlayLacrosse #JUPhinsUp pic.twitter.com/V8gn0Il63w
— Jacksonville Women’s Lacrosse (@JAX_WLAX) March 13, 2021
The Dolphins, who were in the “also considered” in the last update to the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Top 20, led by as much as five goals when Mackenzie Boyle fed Grace Hobson for a 12-7 lead with 13:51 remaining.
“Credit Jacksonville — they came out and competed the whole game,” Florida coach Amanda O’Leary said in a postgame release. “They won the 50/50 balls and dominated the draw. We will go back, regroup and prepare for a very tough conference opponent in Temple.”
Florida ended the game on a four-goal run, though the Gators’ comeback ultimately fell short. In a mad rush to get the ball back in the final four minutes, Cara Trombetta was given two yellow cards and Grace Haus was given one.
Sarah Elms and Alyssa Arnold each scored three times for Jacksonville, while Jenny Kinsey and Brock each scored twice. Brock also controlled 13 draws, leading Jacksonville to a one-sided 19-6 advantage on draws.
Addy Tysdal and Dayna Martinetto split halves in the cage, with Tysdal making four stops in the first half before yielding to Martinetto, who closed the game with three saves in the second half. In front of them, Emma Wightman was the defensive leader with six ground balls and two caused turnovers.
UPSET COMPLETE @JAX_WLAX leads throughout and holds on for the 12-11 upset win over @GatorsLAX. pic.twitter.com/mg2FfLgu0m
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) March 13, 2021
