Officers for the 2009 Season:

Excellent article on what Sport Clubs are all about

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/sports/02club.html?_r=2&emc=eta1

After the road trip to Atlanta, GA was complete, the lady gators headed off to bed to rest up for what was to be a long day of lacrosse. SWLL (Southeastern Women’s Lacrosse League) Playday set Florida up to play six, 25 minute running clock games against the University of Central Florida, University of South Carolina, University of Georgia, Alabama, Emory, and Georgia Tech.

It was a slow start to the morning as the ladies stepped out into below freezing temperatures. Florida ended the first game with a 3-3 tie versus UCF. Marissa Higgins started in goal with defensive players Michelle Straite, Tori Tomiczek, Lara Miller, Jade Cognetti, Lauren Lapp, and Casey Kriebel in rotations. Kaley Pendley led the gators with two goals and Kate O’Linn added the other goal. Midfielders and attackmen Casey Francis, Jesse Hogan, Nicole Nadeau, Brittini Peck, Aubrey Siegel, and Justine Harris were there to help in the transition and assists.

The ladies worked hard to defeat USC 5-3 and Florida’s all-time rivals, UGA 4-3 in the second and third games. Higgins came through with four saves in both games and Kaley Pendley scored the winning goal against UGA in the last seconds with the assist from Jesse Hogan. The girls were fired up and determined to finish off the second half of their games after the UGA victory. “The girls heated up like the day did,” said coach Winters.

Florida’s second goalie, Adrianna Paidas stepped in for the last three games with a new defensive line consisting of Bianca Orfanos, Chloe Mun, Colleen Thomas, Jacki Keating, Kim DeVitt, Taylor Leffler and Merry Beard. Defense only allowed two goals against Alabama, while the offense led the gators to a 9-2 win. Sophia Yang came through with two goals and two assists, while Zareen Farooqui scored one to contribute to the lead. The following game against Emory ended with a 7-4 victory for Florida with goals by Kaley Pendly, Elana Plotkin, Jesse Hogan and Bekki Frank. Players, Donna Gurric, Stacy Eichner, Elizabeth Milligan, Chelsea Hutchinson, and Caroline Lewis all contributed to the success of the gators wins throughout the day.

The final game versus Georgia Tech ended with another win for the Gators 7-2. Kaley Pendly worked with midfielder, Jesse Hogan to achieve a hat trick, and additional points were added by Holly Greimann, Dana Sutherland, and Christine Wagner. At the end of the day, Florida was deemed undefeated with a 5-0-1 record and was pleased to end the fall season on a positive note. The gators hope to carry their determination into the spring season and work their way up to win the SWLL Championships in April.