The Gators allowed just one second-half goal and scored five after the break as Florida beat Cornell 10-5 on Wednesday night at Donald R. Dizney Stadium in Gainesville.

Florida (6-3, 0-1 ALC) led 5-4 at halftime, but clamped down on the defensive end in the second half, allowing just four shots and one goal. Cornell (2-5, 1-1 Ivy) finished 3-of-4 free position shots in the first half, but the Gators didn’t give up any 8-meter attempts after the break.

“I was pleased with our defense in the fact that we played as a team, and that’s something that we’ve been teaching day-in and day-out,” said head coach Amanda O’Leary.

The game was tightly contested early on. Cornell got on the board first as Jessi Steinberg scored her 18^th goal of the season. Ashley Bruns (Ellicott City, Md.) scored two goals to give Florida a 2-1 lead, but the Big Red tied it when Libby Johnson scored on a free position shot.

Caroline Chesterman (South Nyack, N.Y.) regained the lead for the Gators at the 22:13 mark before Johnson tied it at 3-3 on another free position shot. With 13:18 remaining in the first half, Bruns gave UF the lead for good with her third goal of the night and 15^th in the last three games.

Freshman midfielder Kitty Cullen (Rockville, Md.) scored to give Florida a two-goal advantage. Cornell’s Katie Kirk cut the lead to one with just under three minutes left in the first half.

 “They have had a really, really good attack in the games they’ve played,” said O’Leary. “They played Loyola to two goals, and Hofstra, they’re great teams. They have some prolific attackers, like Jessi Steinberg. They’re good, they’re really good.”

After some halftime adjustments, the Florida defense was able to shut down the Big Red. Led by the quartet of freshmen defenders Katie Ciaci (Northport, N.Y.), Emily Dohony (Parkton, Md.), Jamie Reeg (Atlantis, Fla.) and Kayla Stolins (Glen Arm, Md.), UF allowed just one goal and four shots in the second half. Goalie Cara Canington (Bel Air, Md.) also came up big, making two saves in the final period.

“Cara came up with some big saves,” said O’Leary. “I was just really pleased with the defensive effort, certainly in the second half for sure.”

Following the defense’s lead, the offense put the final touches on the game. After trading goals in the first ten minutes of the second half, the Gators scored four unanswered goals to pull away.

Sophomore Caroline Cochran (Annapolis, Md.) scored her sixth goal of the past three games, then Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) netted her 16^th goal of the year. Chesterman and Janine Hillier (Farmingdale, N.Y.) capped the scoring.

Bruns’ three goals led the team, while Chesterman and Cullen each finished with two. Dashiell recorded a season-high five ground balls and caused three turnovers.

Florida held Cornell to just 15 shots in the game, nearly 10 below their season average. The Gators won 11 draw controls to the Big Red’s six and UF had 17 ground balls.

In their next outing, Florida will travel to No. 17 Ohio State for their second American Lacrosse Conference game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Live video and audio will be available online through GatorZone.com.

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