GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Junior attacker Caroline Wannen broke out for four goals and three assists as the No. 1 Maryland women's lacrosse took over No. 2 Florida, 14-4, Saturday afternoon.
 
“This was a huge win for us today, to come down here and play down here, this is a tough place to play and Florida's a really good team,” head coach Cathy Reese said. “We knew we had our hands full coming into the game. First half we struggled quite a bit and we just needed to kind of settle in. Our offense just needed to do a better job in the second half, and thankfully they did that.”
 
Wannen's four goals are a new career high while her three assists tie her personal best. Junior midfielder Zoe Stukenberg, sophomore attacker Megan Whittle, sophomore midfielder Kacie Longo and freshman midfielder Jen Giles each scored twice against the Gators while senior midfielder Taylor Cummings and freshman midfielder Caroline Steele each scored once.
 
Steele and Whittle gave Maryland an early 2-0 lead in the game off assists from Wannen. Florida's Lindsey Ronbeck scored twice to tie at 10:10. Wannen scored at 5:31 and Longo tallied a goal at 1:20 as the Terps took a 4-2 lead into halftime.
 
After Florida pulled within one to start the second half, Maryland put up eight consecutive goals to pull away, 12-3. The Gators scored once more at 8:50 before Wannen and Longo scored again to give Maryland a dominant 14-4 win.
 
The Maryland defense stymied the Gator offense, holding the team to its lowest offensive output of the season. Junior defender Nadine Hadnagy caused two turnovers and had a career-high five ground balls against the Gators. Hadnagy defender Florida's leading scorer, Sammi Burgess, who came into the game with 19 goals, scoreless.
 
Cummings led the game with six draw controls while Stukenberg had four. Cummings took every draw in the circle as the Terps held a 15-5 advantage in draw controls.
 
Freshman goalie Megan Taylor made four saves and picked up two ground balls in the win.
 
The Terps took advantage of free positions, converting on 4-of-7 chances while holding Florida to just one 8-meter opportunity and no goals.
 
Maryland finishes its three-game road stint at No. 17 Penn next Wednesday, March 23 at 7 p.m. in Philadelphia.

– Maryland –