Gator Country

Florida goalkeeper Mikey Meagher passes the ball during the Gators' 13-11 win against Northwestern on Thursday at Donald R. Dizney Stadium. / Gator Country photo by Tim Casey

The Florida Gators lacrosse team, coming off ranked victories over then-No. 2 Northwestern and No. 17 Vanderbilt, has entered the top-three of the IWLCA poll for the first time in program history, being ranked No. 3 by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA).

Tewaaraton nominee Kitty Cullen leads the nation in goals scored with 67 and has 73 points so far this season. She has 17 free position goals on the year and owns a .568 shooting percentage. Florida is ranked fourth in the nation in win percentage (.933), seventh in scoring margin (6.2), eighth in scoring defense (8.2) and 10th in scoring offense (14.4). Individually, sophomore goalkeeper Mikey Meagher is fifth in the country in goals-against average with 7.77. Additionally, Cullen ranks fourth in points overall (73) and fifth in points per game (4.87).

The Gators went undefeated at home (11-0) and in the ALC (5-0) en route to their first ALC regular season title. Florida has two weeks off before facing Cornell on Sunday, May 1st. The ALC Tournament follows soon after from May 5th-7th, where the Gators hold the No. 1 seed after clinching with their upset over then-No. 2 Northwestern on Thursday night.

The American Lacrosse Conference made history with all six schools ranked in this week’s poll, marking not only the first time that every school in a conference sits in the top-20 bust also the highest number of schools from one league ranked in the same poll, breaking the record of five held by both the ALC and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Johns Hopkins’ addition to the top-20 gives the ALC six schools, including two in the top-five and four in the second half of the rankings.

Florida leads the ALC, sitting in the No. 3 spot in the poll, while Northwestern moves to No. 5. Penn State rises two spots to land at No. 13, while Vanderbilt holds at No. 17. Johns Hopkins moves in to the No. 18 spot while Ohio State moves to No. 20.

The ACC holds a block at No. 1-2, led by Maryland and new No. 2 Duke, and with North Carolina holding at No. 4 and Virginia’s move to No. 10, the ACC has four of the top-10 places in the poll.  Boston College sits right outside the top-10 at No. 11.

The Ivy Group and the Big East both claim three schools each and both have one institution in the top half of the poll. The Ivy’s Penn holds steady at No. 8 while Dartmouth moves ahead of Princeton to land at No. 14 while Princeton moves to No. 15. Loyola from the Big East moves to No. 6; Georgetown rises to No. 16 and Syracuse falls to No. 19.

Three leagues each boast one school; Stanford from the MPSF remains at No. 7, and Albany from the America East moves up one spot to sit at No. 9. James Madison from the CAA moves to No. 12.

On Tuesday April 19, a Big East matchup between No. 6 Loyola and No. 16 Georgetown takes place in Baltimore. On Wednesday, the Ivies feature No. 8 Penn hosting No. 15 Princeton. Thursday marks the opening of the ACC tournament; one of the quarterfinal games pits No. 10 Virginia against No. 4 North Carolina. The winner of this game will face No. 2 Duke in the semifinal on Friday. Friday also features an ALC meeting between No. 5 Northwestern and No. 20 Ohio State in Evanston. Two key conference contests take place on Saturday as No. 14 Dartmouth hosts the No. 15 Tigers in Ivy action, while No. 18 Johns Hopkins welcomes No. 13 Penn State. On Sunday, the No. 5 Wildcats play a second consecutive ranked opponent when they host No. 7 Stanford.

The next weekly poll will be released on April 25.

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