Florida seniors Cara Canington and Krista Grabher wrapped up their home careers at Donald R. Dizney Stadium on Sunday afternoon as the No. 4/5 Gators held off ALC foe Vanderbilt, 14-9. Sammi Burgess led all scorers with a career-high four goals.

The Commodores scored first, but the Gators answered with three straight goals to go up 3-1 with 22:50 left in the first half. Florida continued to surge ahead, eventually leading 8-2 midway through the half before Vanderbilt gained momentum and cut the lead to three, 9-6, before entering the locker room.

Vanderbilt’s momentum carried over into the second stanza, as Florida’s lead was cut to 9-8 with 23:28 left in the contest. The teams traded a few more goals before the Gator offense took over once again and Florida scored the final four goals of the game, stretching its advantage to 14-9.

NUMBERS OF NOTE

·         Sammi Burgess scored a career-high four goals and added an assist for a team-high five points. She also picked up three ground balls and a draw control.

·         Mollie Stevens grabbed a career-high three ground balls and also scored three goals.

• Shannon Gilroy scored two goals and added two assists to score four points, making her the UF single-season points leader with 84 points. Gilroy also tallied five draw controls, a ground ball and a team-high three caused turnovers.

·         Devon Schneider scored two goals and dished out a career-high two assists to score a career-high-tying four points. She also picked up two ground balls.

·         Sam Darcangelo grabbed a career-high-tying seven draw controls. She also recorded a goal, a ground ball and a caused turnover.

·         Nora Barry picked up five ground balls to move up to No. 4 on the career ground balls leaderboard with 112. She also notched a goal, two caused turnovers and a draw control against Vanderbilt.

·         Lauren Lea scored a goal for Florida and added four ground balls and a draw control.

·         The Gators conclude the regular season undefeated at home and stretch the win streak to 28 consecutive games.

·         With the win, Florida is guaranteed a share of the 2014 ALC regular season title.

RECORDS

Florida improves to 14-2 on the season and 5-0 in the ALC, while Vanderbilt falls to 4-10 for the year and 1-4 in the conference.

SERIES UPDATE

Florida now owns a 4-2 advantage in the series, including a 2-1 record in Gainesville.

MANDEE’S MINUTE

“I thought that Vanderbilt did a tremendous job of competing hard; I think the score isn’t really indicative of how tight the game was. I’m excited for Cara (Canington) and Krista (Grabher) to send them off with a victory on Senior Day. Sammi (Burgess) put it all together today. She played a solid game from top to bottom. She was driving hard to the goal cage and distributing the ball on the back side. I thought Sammi had a fantastic game and I hope this is indicative of things to come with her.”

The Gators will conclude regular season play on Saturday, April 19 at No. 6/7 Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., at 2 p.m. eastern time.