Last week was huge for the No. 2 Florida lacrosse program.
Playing two of its three games on the road — both against top-10 teams in Syracuse and Stony Brook — coach Amanda O’Leary and her team had quite the challenge ahead.
The Gators prevailed, beating then-No. 2 Syracuse 11-10 in overtime on March 1 and No. 8 Stony Brook 7-6 on Sunday. They also won a lopsided matchup last Friday against visiting Niagara 19-3, a game in which all active players saw playing time.
Florida has seemingly followed the same script all season.
A new player has stepped up every game, and last week was no different.
Against Syracuse, it was freshman midfielder Lindsey Ronbeck, the No. 2 high school recruit in her class, according to floridagators.com. She earned her first career hat trick to lead the Gators in an overtime victory that ended on a walk-off goal from junior midfielder Mollie Stevens.
Ronbeck admitted that she did not see herself making that big of an impact in hindsight, but a conversation with her high school coach, who told Ronbeck that she would stream the game, gave the midfielder a confidence boost.
“Just talking to her … made me think of my old high school days,” Ronbeck said. “I just felt so energized before that game and I know I really wanted to beat them in the dome. So that just gave me a lot more confidence.”
Against Niagara, rather than one player, it was the entire team that stepped up — most notably the reserves.
On defense, the bench was responsible for six of the eight caused turnovers on the day.
Senior goalie Mary-Sean Wilcox said that the depth that lies throughout the team allows any player, starter or reserve, to come into her own at any time.
“You can tell that there wasn’t a drop-off,” Wilcox said.
Most recently, against Stony Brook, it was redshirt senior midfielder Nicole Graziano who carried the torch for UF. She scored four consecutive goals and assisted on another to help guide the Gators to their fourth victory over a ranked opponent this season, three of which have come on the road.
Florida (7-0) will hope to continue that momentum at home against No. 15 Boston College (4-2) Friday at 6:30 p.m.
The Gators and Eagles have never faced off against each other, but BC will arrive at Donald R. Dizney Stadium after a 7-6 overtime loss on Feb. 27 to then No. 17 Louisville under its belt — a sure sign that the visiting team has the ability to stick with some of the best the NCAA has to offer.
Wilcox said that the Gators have just started watching film on the Eagles this week, noting that they embrace a scrappy style of play and have a good attacking line.
The Eagles boast a freshman-senior midfielder duo of Sam Apuzzo and Sarah Mannelly that has scored 26 combined goals this season.
However, watching game tape and exploring stat books can only do so much with no prior experience against Boston College.
“We just have to be ready for anything,” Wilcox said.
Contact Kyle Brutman at kbrutman@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @KBrut13.
UF lacrosse midfielder Lindsey Ronbeck.
