No. 12 Gators Lacrosse Eases Back to Action

The No. 16 Florida Gators (0-2) lacrosse team has had a slow start to kick off the season. Florida fell 18-10 to 9th-ranked Loyola (3-0) in the season-opener. It was the Gators’ first loss to open a season since 2017.

After traveling to Baltimore, the Gators won at home 22-2 against the Scotland National team in an exhibition matchup. The team then traveled to Chapel Hill where they lost 19-10 to the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels (2-1).

Up Next for Florida

The Gators will travel to College Park on Saturday to take on the No. 5-ranked Maryland Terrapins on Big Ten Plus at Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse Complex.

Florida is coming off a road loss, and Maryland is 3-0 coming off a home win against Drexel on Wednesday night. UF has lost three straight matchups against Maryland and has a 1-8 record.

In the Gators’ last matchup, graduate student Emily Heller recorded a hat-trick. She currently sits six goals shy of the 100-goal mark for her career. Senior Danielle Pavinelli found the back of the net twice and scored her first two goals of the season. Senior Maggie Hall leads the Gators with 21 points and 10 goals.

Maryland features four Tewaaraton Award nominees senior Eloise Clevenger, graduate student’s Shay Ahearn, Meghan Ball and Emily Sterling. Clevenger currently leads the country with 15 assists. Graduate student Hannah Luebecker leads in goals with seven.

Locked in🔒#FLax | #GoGators pic.twitter.com/WC5SGQ66Vp

— Gators Lacrosse (@GatorsLAX) February 20, 2024

Florida looks to earn its first win of the season. The matchup is set to start at noon.

What’s to Come

Florida will take its talents to the Big 12 Conference in 2025.

The Gators will be accompanied in conference play by San Diego State, Arizona State, UC Davis, Colorado and Cincinnati.

UF holds an overall record of 77-7 in conference play, with a 25-1 record in the AAC, 31-1 record in the Big East and a 21-5 record in the ALC.

The Gators have had success in the American Athletic Conference play since their start in the 2019 season. In the last four seasons, they’ve only lost one conference play.

Florida will face Old Dominion March 23 to kickoff conference play for the 2024 season.

Coming 2025…

🗞️: https://t.co/vca2piZBir#FLax | #GoGators | @Big12Conference pic.twitter.com/ECA9353IcE

— Gators Lacrosse (@GatorsLAX) February 21, 2024