The Gators downed the William & Mary Tribe 5-2 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night. The win set second-seed Florida up for a showdown against the third-seeded Duke Blue Devils on Sunday.
Duke set the tone Friday, overwhelming their non-seeded FGCU with a 2-0 victory at Donald R. Dizney Stadium just hours before the Gators hosted the Tribe on the same field.
William & Mary hung tough for a while, though. It took until 39 minutes and 45 seconds into the first half for Florida to manage a score. When Meggie Dougherty Howard’s shot hit the far corner and landed safely in the goal, it was a realization of all the other close efforts they had had over the first 40 minutes.