The Gators lacrosse team opens the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at home against Southern Cal. (Photo: Matt Stamey/For UAA Communications)
Gators Yearn for deep run in NCAA Tournament
Friday, May 12, 2017 | Lacrosse, Scott Carter
Florida, after getting knocked out in first round last year, faces Southern Cal on Sunday.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – What once was uncharted territory for the program located on Hull Road is now as commonplace as 90-degree days in mid-May.
The Florida lacrosse team, in its eighth year of competition, is in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive season. When former UF Athletic Director Jeremy Foley hired head coach Amanda O'Leary to build a program from scratch, expectations were high.
O'Leary was an All-American player at Temple and that success followed her into coaching, where in 14 seasons at Yale, the Bulldogs never finished ranked out of the top 20 and finished in the top 10 six times.
Winning didn't take long at Florida.
The Gators finished above .500 in their inaugural season, made the NCAA Tournament in their second, and advanced all the way to the Final Four in 2012 in only the program's third season.
"It was imperative that we put a great product on the field in those beginning years,'' O'Leary said this week. "It has helped our recruiting. I think we set the bar pretty high for programs just starting out."
If not for a late second-half downfall in the national semifinal against Syracuse and subsequent loss in overtime, the Gators would have faced eventual national champion Northwestern, a team Florida defeated three weeks earlier in the American Lacrosse Conference Tournament championship game, for the national title.
Five years later, the events of that weekend in Stony Brook, N.Y., rank as the greatest what-if scenario in the program's short history.
Still, the residual impact of the Gators' quick rise to prominence is paying dividends.
"Absolutely,'' senior attacker Sammi Burgess, the team's leading scorer (77 points), responded when asked if Florida's run to the 2012 Final Four impacted her decision to come to UF. "Seeing them so quickly in the Final Four was obviously amazing because not a lot of programs can say they've grown so quickly. It definitely played into it. I hope we can get there again."
Posed the same question, senior defender Taylor Bresnahan offered a similar answer. Burgess and Bresnahan were wrapping up their junior years of high school at the time.
"It had an impact on what I wanted to be a part of,'' Bresnahan said. "It is crazy, a program being so new and getting so far."
The challenge for UF's seniors is to help the Gators make another postseason run, something they have been unable to do. Florida lost in the second round in 2014 and '15 and was knocked out in the first round a year ago with an overtime loss to Penn State.
The No. 3 overall seed Gators face Southern Cal, a 13-10 winner against Jacksonville on Friday, in their NCAA Tournament opener on Sunday at Dizney Stadium. The Gators feature a well-rounded roster that enters USC matchup with a nine-game win streak and only two losses in 19 games.
The Gators dominated opponents all season, outscoring the opposition 324-164, the only blemishes on their record a season-opening 13-10 loss to No. 2-seed North Carolina and an 18-8 loss at No. 1-ranked Maryland on March 29. A pair of seniors – Burgess (77 points) and Mollie Stevens (73) – leads them in scoring. Goaltender Haley Hicklen allows just 8.45 goals per game.
"The program has been good regardless of whether we went to the Final Four or not," Bresnahan said. "Last year we lost this game. We don't have another chance. If we lose, we're done. It's important to go out there and play the way we can play."
Unlike a year ago when the Gators also entered the NCAA Tournament on a nine-game win streak, they are facing a team they played during the regular season. Florida defeated the Trojans at home, 15-10, Feb. 24.
The familiarity factor is one O'Leary said can only help her team.
"I think it's a huge bonus,'' she said. "At least on film we have something to go by. We have a sense of what they like to do. It's not like we are just going off film. We have actually stepped out against them."
The Gators, who received a first-round bye, need to win twice to reach the Final Four, which is at Gillette Stadium, home of the reigning Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, on May 26-28. They must win four to win it all.
The program is still young, but the expectations are the same as those who have been around much longer.
"They want to win championships. That's what they're here for," O'Leary said. "That is a tradition that has continued. There is only one goal at this point."
The Gators appear to have the pieces to make it happen. And perhaps more importantly, the chemistry. O'Leary said the chemistry in the locker room is as much a part of their success as the X's and O's.
They have experience, too. What they're after is a different experience in the postseason. A trip to the Final Four.
"I think we're the underdog at this point,'' Burgess said. "We haven't been able to get back there the past few years. I don't think people have faith in us. I think that is going to work in our favor. I think we're going to prove a lot of people wrong. I really do thing we can get there."
The Florida lacrosse team, in its eighth year of competition, is in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive season. When former UF Athletic Director Jeremy Foley hired head coach Amanda O'Leary to build a program from scratch, expectations were high.
O'Leary was an All-American player at Temple and that success followed her into coaching, where in 14 seasons at Yale, the Bulldogs never finished ranked out of the top 20 and finished in the top 10 six times.
Winning didn't take long at Florida.
The Gators finished above .500 in their inaugural season, made the NCAA Tournament in their second, and advanced all the way to the Final Four in 2012 in only the program's third season.
"It was imperative that we put a great product on the field in those beginning years,'' O'Leary said this week. "It has helped our recruiting. I think we set the bar pretty high for programs just starting out."
If not for a late second-half downfall in the national semifinal against Syracuse and subsequent loss in overtime, the Gators would have faced eventual national champion Northwestern, a team Florida defeated three weeks earlier in the American Lacrosse Conference Tournament championship game, for the national title.
Five years later, the events of that weekend in Stony Brook, N.Y., rank as the greatest what-if scenario in the program's short history.
Still, the residual impact of the Gators' quick rise to prominence is paying dividends.
It's on! ??????
— Gators Lacrosse (@GatorsLAX) May 12, 2017
We'll see you Sunday as #FLax takes on the USC Trojans in Gainesville. pic.twitter.com/18wYHQTGjT
"Absolutely,'' senior attacker Sammi Burgess, the team's leading scorer (77 points), responded when asked if Florida's run to the 2012 Final Four impacted her decision to come to UF. "Seeing them so quickly in the Final Four was obviously amazing because not a lot of programs can say they've grown so quickly. It definitely played into it. I hope we can get there again."
Posed the same question, senior defender Taylor Bresnahan offered a similar answer. Burgess and Bresnahan were wrapping up their junior years of high school at the time.
"It had an impact on what I wanted to be a part of,'' Bresnahan said. "It is crazy, a program being so new and getting so far."
The challenge for UF's seniors is to help the Gators make another postseason run, something they have been unable to do. Florida lost in the second round in 2014 and '15 and was knocked out in the first round a year ago with an overtime loss to Penn State.
The No. 3 overall seed Gators face Southern Cal, a 13-10 winner against Jacksonville on Friday, in their NCAA Tournament opener on Sunday at Dizney Stadium. The Gators feature a well-rounded roster that enters USC matchup with a nine-game win streak and only two losses in 19 games.
The Gators dominated opponents all season, outscoring the opposition 324-164, the only blemishes on their record a season-opening 13-10 loss to No. 2-seed North Carolina and an 18-8 loss at No. 1-ranked Maryland on March 29. A pair of seniors – Burgess (77 points) and Mollie Stevens (73) – leads them in scoring. Goaltender Haley Hicklen allows just 8.45 goals per game.
"The program has been good regardless of whether we went to the Final Four or not," Bresnahan said. "Last year we lost this game. We don't have another chance. If we lose, we're done. It's important to go out there and play the way we can play."
Unlike a year ago when the Gators also entered the NCAA Tournament on a nine-game win streak, they are facing a team they played during the regular season. Florida defeated the Trojans at home, 15-10, Feb. 24.
The familiarity factor is one O'Leary said can only help her team.
"I think it's a huge bonus,'' she said. "At least on film we have something to go by. We have a sense of what they like to do. It's not like we are just going off film. We have actually stepped out against them."
The Gators, who received a first-round bye, need to win twice to reach the Final Four, which is at Gillette Stadium, home of the reigning Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, on May 26-28. They must win four to win it all.
The program is still young, but the expectations are the same as those who have been around much longer.
"They want to win championships. That's what they're here for," O'Leary said. "That is a tradition that has continued. There is only one goal at this point."
The Gators appear to have the pieces to make it happen. And perhaps more importantly, the chemistry. O'Leary said the chemistry in the locker room is as much a part of their success as the X's and O's.
They have experience, too. What they're after is a different experience in the postseason. A trip to the Final Four.
"I think we're the underdog at this point,'' Burgess said. "We haven't been able to get back there the past few years. I don't think people have faith in us. I think that is going to work in our favor. I think we're going to prove a lot of people wrong. I really do thing we can get there."
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