Feb. 23, 2010

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PHILADELPHIA - La Salle dropped a 15-5 decision to visiting Florida on a cold and rainy Tuesday afternoon despite the scoring of senior Stefany McKee, who tallied two goals and an assist on the day. Junior Ashley Rutz, freshmen Lauren McDermott and Melanie Sarcinello all chipped in with a goal apiece in the loss.

Florida, who is in its inaugural season, carries the nation’s top recruiting class with 24 freshmen on its roster. La Salle quickly saw the talent the Gators possessed as they scored three goals on the Explorers in the opening three minutes. Freshman Brittany Dashiell scored two goals during that span to help get the Gators out to an early 3-0 lead.

Just before La Salle answered with Sarcinello scoring her second goal of the season, freshman Lauren McDermott was penalized with a yellow card for a shot to the head. McDermott’s yellow card was the first of three that the Explorers were handed over the course of the game.

Following Sarcinello’s goal, Dashiell continued to give sophomore goalkeeper Megan Corliss trouble in net, as she scored her third goal before the midpoint of the first half. Dashiell finished with four goals on the day to lead all Gator scorers.

Before La Salle could manufacture another goal, they were faced with another three-goal scoring run by the Gators. After adding an assist to Ashley Rutz’s goal, McKee added her own to help the Explorers go back-to-back in less than a minute to shrink Florida’s lead down to a 6-3 margin at that moment.

Alarmed that the Explorers cut the deficit nearly in half, Florida exploded offensively with five of its freshman players being part of an eight-goal scoring streak.

Finding itself down 14-3 after the midway point of the second half, freshman Lauren McDermott scored her second goal of the season.

Before Florida even had a chance to respond, it saw two of its players get rung up with yellow cards for dangerous play. Freshmen Haydon Judge and Rachel Zimmerman were penalized nine seconds apart. Seconds after the two players came back on the field, freshman Caroline Cochran scored her second goal of the afternoon.

On the goal, Bruns added her fourth assist of the day, making it the second consecutive game in which she totaled at least four assists and 6 total points.

McKee, who was fresh off A-10 Performer of the Week accolades, was able to land one last punch for the Explorers, scoring the game’s final goal with just over a minute to play. McKee has has totaled at least three points in two straight games.

The Explorers (0-2) return to action on Friday when they host Fresno State in McCarthy Stadium at 4 p.m.