The Florida lacrosse team, coming off a redemption victory over Colgate and a statement win over No. 11 Syracuse, has been ranked No. 9, the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) announced today. This is the highest ranking for the Gators in program history.
The Orange and Blue have won eight games in a row and have seen at least six different Gators score in six-straight games. Florida has outscored opponents, 134-63, since the Gators’ overtime loss to No. 3 North Carolina, its only defeat of the season.
Sophomore attacker Ashley Bruns (Ellicott City, Md.) was named Offensive Player of the Week for the ALC for her performances against Colgate and No. 11 Syracuse. She currently ranks 12th in the country in points overall and 13th in goals scored overall.
Florida is ranked fourth in the nation in overall points scored, sixth in scoring offense and scoring margin, 14th in scoring defense and is ninth in draw controls. Individually, sophomore midfielder Kitty Cullen (Rockville, Md.) leads the nation in goals scored overall, while coming in second in goals per game and sixth in points overall. Sophomore goalkeeper Mikey Meagher (Liverpool, N.Y.) is eighth in the country in goals-against average.
For a fourth consecutive week, the Maryland Terrapins and the Northwestern Wildcats both collected all 20 first-place and 20 second-place votes, respectively, as the two schools remain 1-2 in the polls. The same 20 teams remain in the polls from the previous two weeks and shuffling was minimal as the same top-10 schools remained in the upper half of the poll. Princeton and Albany both improved three spots from last week’s rankings.
The ACC continues to lead all conferences with five schools, starting with top-ranked Maryland. Duke (No. 3), North Carolina (No. 5), and Virginia (No. 8) remain steady from last week while Boston College moves up to.No. 19.
The Big East claims four schools, starting with Loyola, who leads the conference in the top-10 at No. 6. Syracuse (No. 11) and Georgetown (No. 13) also held their ground, while Notre Dame fell to No. 17.
The American Lacrosse Conference and the Ivy Group are both represented by three schools. The ALC’s Northwestern remained at No. 2 with all 20 second-place votes, while Florida continued its ascent in the rankings to a program-high No. 9 and Vanderbilt moved to No. 15. The Ivy Group’s Penn remains in the top-four at No. 4, while Princeton is one of the fastest risers this week, climbing to No. 12. Dartmouth remained at No. 18.
The CAA has two schools, with James Madison rounding out the top-10 at No. 10 and William & Mary remaining at No. 16.
Stanford from the MPSF holds at No. 7. Albany from the America East continued to rise, moving up to No. 17, while Massachusetts from the Atlantic 10 moved to No. 20.
On Wednesday the No. 2 Wildcats host No. 11 Syracuse while the No. 10 Dukes welcome the No. 8 Cavaliers. On Saturday top-ranked Maryland hosts No. 10 JMU and No. 2 Northwestern travels to face No. 20 Massachusetts. Two ACC games between ranked opponents will take place as No. 8 Virginia hosts No. 3 Duke and No. 19 Boston College goes on the road to take on No. 5 UNC. On Sunday, No. 13 Georgetown travels north to face No. 12 Princeton and No. 7 Stanford flies east to draw against No. 15 Vanderbilt.
The next weekly poll will be released on March 28.