After defeating East Carolina in the last regular season game of the year, Florida once again matched up against the Pirates for the American Conference semifinals. The first match was a dominating 16-4 victory for the Gators and Thursday was no different.
Florida defeated East Carolina 18-7 to advance to the final round of the AAC tournament. The Gators have yet to lose against any conference opponent this season and based on their play Saturday, that streak of dominance looks like it will be upheld through the rest of the conference postseason.
UF took less than a minute to get on the board. Redshirt junior midfielder Paisley Eagan scored Florida’s first points with 14:16 left in the first period on a solo goal. The Gators scored six unanswered goals before ECU could respond.
The Pirates defense mostly sat back and watched, never scoring back-to-back goals until late in the third period when the score was already 15-2 in favor of UF. Florida keepers Sarah Reznick and reserve Julia Hammerschlag held ECU to a .318 goal conversion rate on 22 shots. The two combined for a .500 save rate.
Florida was on the opposite end of the spectrum offensively. Freshman Emma LoPinto and defender Catherine Moriarty both notched four goals on the afternoon. Eight other Gators found the back of the net for 18 goals on just 34 shots taken.
Up next, UF will advance to the final round against the winner of the other semifinals match between Vanderbilt and Temple. The Gators defeated both teams in double-digit margins similar to their performance on Thursday.
First draw is set for Saturday with the time to be announced at a later date.