GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The fourth-seeded Florida lacrosse team (18-2, 5-0 Big 12) earned its sixth-consecutive double-digit victory, defeating Mercer (12-8, 7-1 Big South) 18-6 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon.
UF improves to 7-0 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, as the team used an 8-0 run in the second quarter to turn a 3-2 lead into a 12-2 lead and 12-3 advantage at halftime.
The Gators never trailed and led by as many as 14 with nine different players finding the back of the net, led by Gianna Monaco who tallied career highs with seven goals and eight points.
Kaitlyn Davies, Gabby Greene and Gabbie Koury each scored two goals in the game along with Jordan Basso, Josie Hahn, Celeste Forte, Clark Hamilton and Ava Tighe contributing a goal.
Frannie Hahn logged two assists, as she captured the all-time season assist record in UF history with 55 on the year. Basso tied a season high four assists, along with one from Greene, Jenny Markey and Monaco.
Elyse Finnelle recorded five saves, to improve to 12-0 on the season. She was relieved by Georgia Hoey who recorded two saves and Susan Radebaugh closed out the game to give a combined .538 save percentage.
How it Happened
First Quarter
* Monaco scored the first goal of the game with an assist from Basso at the 9:33 mark and was quickly followed by Koury who scored an unassisted goal at the 8:11 point to go up 2-0.
* Sofia D’Angelo scored the Bears first goal at the 6:38 mark.
* Josie Hahn responded with an assisted goal from Monaco at the 3:46 point.
* Ansley Walters for Mercer kept the Bears within two with a goal at the 2:25 mark getting an assist from Caroline Glus, but Koury came back with her second goal and Basso’s second assist at the 1:39 point of the game to make it a 4-2 game.
Second Quarter
* Monaco attacked early earning her 14th hat-trick of the season by scoring two back-to-back goals at the 13:24 and 12:40 mark.
* Davies scored an unassisted goal at the 12:29 mark followed by Greene who scored with an assist from Frannie Hahn at the 11:42 point of the game.
* Davies came in with her second goal of the game at the 9:25 mark.
* Monaco continued to produce goals for the Gators with a shot at the 5:01 and the 3:51 marks.
* Clark Hamilton scored her first goal of the game with an assist from Greene at the 2:46 point to conclude an 8-0 Gators run to go up 12-2.
* The Bears connected on a goal with 37 seconds left to give UF a 12-3 lead at the half.
Third Quarter
* Forte scored her first goal of the season with an assist from Basso at the 12:51 mark of the quarter. Basso then scored a goal of her own at the 8:05 point.
* Mercer’s Abby Vane came in with a goal at the 5:42 to cut the lead to 13-4.
* Greene scored her second goal of the game at the 4:40 point with an assist from Frannie Hahn who earned her 55th assist of season to break the all-time season record. Florida was in front 15-4 after three.
Fourth Quarter
* Gianna Monaco scored back-to-back goals at the 13:54 and 10:30 marks, with an assist on the second goal from Markey to go up 17-4, before Tighe scored her first of the game to put the Gators ahead 18-4 with 8:17 to play.
* Mercer scored two late goals as the Gators cruised to an 18-6 win.
Key Notes
* The Gators improve their all-time record to 7-0 against Mercer.
* UF extends their win streak to 15, giving them a 18-2 record.
* This is the second time in program history that the Gators won in the first round by 10 or more goals.
* Frannie Hahn broke Maggie Hall’s single season assists record with 55 for the season.
* Defender Celeste Forte scored her first goal since the 2022 season.
* Monaco has earned 17 goals in her last three games, getting three straight hattricks. She is the second player in Florida’s program to score seven goals in a single NCAA Tournament game, last done by Grace Haus in the 2021.
* Florida recorded two out of three free position shots and defeated the Bears in 18-9 in draw controls.
Active Streaks
* Jordan Basso<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/roster/jordan-basso/17271>: points (94), assists (5)
* Kaitlyn Davies: points (6); goals (6); goal blocks (5)
* Gabby Greene: points (6); goals (6)
* Gianna Monaco<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/roster/gianna-monaco/17291>: points (37), goals (22); goal blocks (5)
* Gabbi Koury: points (6); goals (6); draw control (6)
* Frannie Hahn<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/roster/frannie-hahn/17280>: points (20) assists (20)
* Clark Hamilton: points (6); goals (6)
* Jenny Markey<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/roster/jenny-markey/17299>: draw controls (14), points (7)
* Elyse Finnelle<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/roster/elyse-finnelle/17295>: saves (9)
Coach O’Leary After the Game
Following the win and on the continued success so far this season…
“It’s been a goal of ours from August, and we don’t talk about it because we always have to be where our feet are. I think this team has done a phenomenal job of doing that. It is one game at a time, wherever we are, that’s the moment and I’m really proud of this group.”
On Gianna Monaco’s 17 goals over the last three few games…
“I mean honestly, when you have someone putting up those numbers, it’s just super impressive, but for us it’s the norm. We see that every day at practice, we see the hard work that goes into it. It’s just not something that, you know, you flip the switch and all of a sudden you’re scoring those kinds of goals. There’s a lot of work that goes into that. We expect it, we set our bar really high for her and she’s exceeded those expectations thus far.”
Next Up
The fourth-seeded Gators will take on Stanford in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament at 11 a.m. Coverage can be found on ESPN+ and the game will take place at Donald R. Dizney Stadium