In
just their second year in existence, the Gators lacrosse team has
made the NCAA Tournament.
In
a field of 16, fourth-seeded Florida (15-3, 5-0 American Lacrosse
Conference) will host 13-seed Stanford (16-2, 6-0 Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation) in a 1 p.m., first round game on May 14 at
Dizney Stadium.
“It’s very exciting,” UF coach Amanda O’Leary said. “We knew this
team had great potential. How far we could go, we sort of didn’t
really know at the beginning of the season, but as those victories
started coming, it was just such an amazing season and this is a
great culmination.”
Despite losing two of its last three games, Florida built up an
impressive résumé for selection with victories over eight different
ranked teams this year, including a 13-11 win over second-seeded
Northwestern on April 14.
If
the Gators defeats the Cardinal, it will then host the winner of
five-seed Duke and 15-seeded Penn in the quarterfinals on May 21 or
22.
“It’s such an advantage, we love playing at home,” sophomore
Caroline Cochran said. “We’ve been really successful, and we have
such a great fan base so that’s really going to help.”
