Florida Lacrosse Ranked No. 4 in IWLCA Preseason Poll
Friday, February 3, 2012 | Lacrosse
The University of Florida Lacrosse team earns its first-ever top-5 preseason ranking, earning the No. 4 spot in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Preseason Poll. The Gators finished 2011 ranked No. 5 in the IWLCA Final Poll. Florida is a consensus top-5 team, ranking No. 3 in the Inside Lacrosse/deBeers Media Preseason Poll and No. 5 in the Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Poll.
Defending NCAA Champion Northwestern comes in at No. 1 across the board, with NCAA runner-up Maryland taking the No. 2 spot. North Carolina, Florida's first opponent of 2012, comes in at No. 3, and No. 5 Duke rounds out the top five.
The American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) fared the best in the IWLCA, each with five of their six members finding themselves in the top 20 including all five teams at the top of the list. Outside the top five, ACC members Virginia and Boston College rank No. 10 and No. 13, respectively, while the ALC's Penn State, Ohio State and Vanderbilt come in at No. 17, 18 and 19, and Johns Hopkins received votes but narrowly missed the top 20.
The BIG EAST is next, with four of its nine teams ranked in the opening poll: No. 7 Loyola, No. 12 Syracuse, No. 15 Georgetown and No. 20 Notre Dame; followed by the Ivy League, with three: No. 8 Princeton, No. 11 Penn and No. 14 Dartmouth. No. 6 Stanford, No. 9 James Madison and No. 16 Albany were each the lone representatives for their respective conferences to make the top 20.
Eight of Florida's 17 opponents are ranked in the IWLCA Preseason poll, with the Gators' season opener and season finale being road games at top-3 opponents; Florida will open 2012 at No. 3 North Carolina on Feb. 11, and will close the season at No. 1 Northwestern on Apr. 21. Additionally, the Gators will face No. 12 Syracuse, No. 14 Dartmouth and No. 15 Georgetown in non-conference play in March.
In addition to the team rankings, Inside Lacrosse magazine named three Gators as Preseason All-Americans. Kitty Cullen (Rockville, Md.) earned first-team honors, while Ashley Bruns (Ellicott City, Md.) and Sam Farrell (Millersville, Md.) were both named to the second team.
| IWLCA Preseason Poll Feb. 2, 2012 | Inside Lacrosse/deBeers Media Poll Jan. 30, 2011 | Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Poll January Issue | ||||||
| 1. | Northwestern (17) | 397 | 1. | Northwestern (6) | 120 | 1. | Northwestern | 21-2 |
| 2. | Maryland (3) | 376 | 2. | Maryland | 118 | 2. | Maryland | 21-2 |
| 3. | North Carolina | 355 | 3. | FLORIDA | 104 | 3. | North Carolina | 15-6 |
| 4. | FLORIDA | 339 | 4. | Duke | 102 | 4. | Duke | 15-5 |
| 5. | Duke | 331 | 5. | North Carolina | 101 | 5. | FLORIDA | 16-4 |
| 6. | Stanford | 254 | 6. | Princeton | 77 | 6. | Virginia | 9-9 |
| 7. | Loyola | 239 | T7. | Loyola | 73 | 7. | Princeton | 12-7 |
| 8. | Princeton | 218 | T7. | Penn | 73 | 8. | Boson College | 12-7 |
| 9. | James Madison | 201 | 9. | Dartmouth | 58 | 9. | Stanford | 16-3 |
| 10. | Virginia | 197 | 10. | Boston College | 57 | 10. | Loyola | 17-3 |
| 11. | Penn | 191 | 11. | Virginia | 56 | 11. | James Madison | 15-4 |
| 12. | Syracuse | 167 | 12. | Syracuse | 45 | 12. | Penn | 11-6 |
| 13. | Boson College | 163 | 13. | Georgetown | 41 | 13. | Dartmouth | 11-5 |
| 14. | Dartmouth | 143 | 14. | James Madison | 37 | 14. | Syracuse | 10-8 |
| 15. | Georgetown | 119 | 15. | Harvard | 36 | 15. | Penn State | 10-8 |
| 16. | Albany | 111 | 16. | Albany | 35 | 16. | Vanderbilt | 8-8 |
| 17. | Penn State | 97 | 17. | Stanford | 30 | 17. | Georgetown | 9-8 |
| 18. | Ohio State | 82 | 18. | Penn State | 24 | 18. | Notre Dame | 10-9 |
| 19. | Vanderbilt | 69 | 19. | UMass | 23 | 19. | Albany | 18-1 |
| 20. | Notre Dame | 57 | 20. | Ohio State | 22 | 20. | Harvard | 10-6 |
*Florida's 2012 opponents in bold
