Florida Lacrosse vs. Clemson: Early-Season Ranked Showdown in Line
Florida lacrosse is gearing up for a ranked a showdown against No. 7/8 Clemson in Milton, Georgia, on Saturday afternoon.
The Gators are looking for their second ranked win of the season, after earning their first in their latest matchup against Loyola Maryland on Tuesday. They’re 1-1, though, after losing their first game of the season in a tight battle against No. 17/ 19 Michigan by two points. No. 12 Florida struck early, scoring the first three goals, but was ultimately overpowered by the Wolverines offense in a 12-10 loss.
Clemson, similarly, is 3-1, though 0-1 in ACC play losing to No. 4/5 Stanford. The Tigers started their season 2-0, feasting on Vanderbilt and Furman in back-to-back dominant victories.
Both Clemson and Florida are coming off a win going into this neutral site game, hoping the momentum will project them forward. Clemson drowned Queens in a 24-5 blowout and Florida grabbed a convincing 17-13 win against Loyola this week.
The Gators, though, are still navigating life without their star player Gianna Monaco from last season. Florida announced on Feb. 2 that Monaco would be leaving the Gators program for personal reasons, the move coming mere weeks before the season’s start. Monaco was awarded USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason First-Team All-American honors entering 2026 after leading the team in scoring with 73 goals during its Final 4 campaign last year.
Instead, the Gators will rely on star sophomore attacker Clark Hamilton. She’s no stranger to the spotlight, coming off of her stellar freshman year with 55 goals, 15 assists and an impressive 11 hat tricks. In an outstanding game on Tuesday against the Greyhounds, Hamilton matched a program single-game record with 11 points, tying Sydney Pirreca and Ashley Bruns. Hamilton also set a new class record, surpassing Danielle Pavinelli’s previous sophomore high of nine points.
On the other side, the Tigers roster is nothing short of stacked, having the No. 1 recruiting class in 2025, which included five 5-star commits and the No. 1 and 2 recruits in the nation, attacker Alexa Spallina and midfielder Emma Penczek. So the Tigers are freshman heavy, but they will count on returning veterans, defender Paris Masaracchia, attacker Kayla Macleod and midfielder Natalie Shurtleff, to be the backbone of the team.
The Gators and the Tigers both made appearances in the NCAA tournament last season, with Clemson’s being the first in program history. After winning in the first round against No. 15/16 Navy, the Tigers moved onto a second round matchup with No. 1 North Carolina, which eventually won the national championship. The Gators made it all the way to the Final 4, where their chances of advancing to the National Championship were equally snapped short by UNC.
With the season just starting, a ranked win for either team would allow it to begin to build up its postseason resume. Florida will start conference play on April 4 against No. 15/18 Colorado, so grabbing another early-season ranked win could prove crucial.
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Lacrosse, Lacrosse
