Gators Rise to No. 14 in IWLCA Rankings
Monday, February 28, 2011 | Lacrosse
The Florida Gators lacrosse team, coming off three straight wins, has been ranked No. 14, 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 faced two ranked opponents in their three weeks of competition thus far, winning by an average of nine goals per game. Sophomore midfielder Kitty Cullen (Rockville, Md.) leads the nation in goals scored with 19. She also ranks sixth in both points scored overall and goals per game. Sophomore attacker Ashley Bruns (Ellicott City, Md.) is 15th in points overall, while the Gators are ninth in the country in points overall, 11th in scoring margin, 13th in scoring defense and 16th in scoring offense.
The American Lacrosse Conference is led by Northwestern at No. 2, while Vanderbilt just edges out Florida at No. 13. The ALC also has these three representatives in the deBeer Women's Media Poll as well, as Northwestern is also No. 2, Vanderbilt ranks at No. 14 and Florida comes in at No. 16.
The Maryland Terrapins and the Northwestern Wildcats both faced top-four opponents this week and returned unscathed, and the two teams sit 1-2 in the first weekly poll of the 2011 season. Maryland took all 20 first place votes and Northwestern claimed all 20 second place votes, putting some distance between them and the rest of the rankings. Virginia moved up to No. 5, giving the ACC four of the top five slots.
The ACC leads all conferences with five schools for the second consecutive week, and this week the league has four of the top five spots with the Terrapins leading the way at No. 1 and UNC (No. 3), Duke (No. 4), and Virginia (No. 5) forming a block at the top. Boston College moved up three spots to sit at No. 16.
The Big East and the CAA both claim four schools. The Big East includes Loyola, who was the week's biggest mover with a five-spot jump to No. 7. The Greyhounds sit right behind preseason favorite Georgetown, who improved to No. 6. Syracuse starts the second half of the poll at No. 11, just in front of Notre Dame, who comes in at No. 12. In the CAA, James Madison closes out the top-10 at No. 10, while Towson moves to No. 17. William & Mary enters the rankings at No. 19, just in front of Hofstra, who holds steady at No. 20.
Penn leads the Ivy charge at No. 8, while Dartmouth moves to No. 15 and Princeton enters the poll at No. 18. Stanford is the lone representative of the MPSF; the Cardinal move up four notches to rank in the top-10 at No. 9.
The next weekly poll will be released on March 7.
IWLCA Division I Week 1 Poll (28 Feb 2011)
| Record | Votes | Previous | |
| 1. Maryland (20) | 4-0 | 400 | 1 |
| 2. Northwestern | 3-0 | 380 | 2 |
| 3. North Carolina | 3-1 | 359 | 3 |
| 4. Duke | 3-1 | 337 | 4 |
| 5. Virginia | 2-1 | 282 | 7t |
| 6. Georgetown | 0-0 | 273 | 7t |
| 7. Loyola | 1-0 | 268 | 12 |
| 8. Pennsylvania | 1-0 | 267 | 6 |
| 9. Stanford | 4-0 | 242 | 13 |
| 10. James Madison | 1-0 | 211 | 9 |
| 11. Syracuse | 1-2 | 189 | 5 |
| 12. Notre Dame | 2-2 | 186 | 10 |
| 13. Vanderbilt | 2-2 | 167 | 11 |
| 14. FLORIDA | 3-1 | 148 | 17 |
| 15. Dartmouth | 1-0 | 145 | 14 |
| 16. Boston College | 3-0 | 78 | 19 |
| 17. Towson | 0-0 | 73 | 15 |
| 18. Princeton | 1-0 | 43 | RV |
| 19. William & Mary | 1-1 | 28 | RV |
| 20. Hofstra | 2-1 | 25 | 20 |
Also receiving votes: Albany, Johns Hopkins, Louisville, Massachusetts, Navy, Penn State, Rutgers.
