Gator Lacrosse Hosts UNC For Top-5 Matchup

No. 5 Florida Gator Lacrosse will host No. 3 University of North Carolina on Saturday at noon for the first top-5 matchup of the season.

Florida is 2-0 this season, having defeated No. 11 John Hopkins in a close 12-11 match on Friday. UF was down 11-9 with 5:59 to go in the fourth quarter, but was able to come back and earn its first win of the season.

“Love to see the adversity. It’s really good to have that adversity early on to see how your team responds and  actually really happy with how they responded,” head coach Amanda O’Leary said.

The Gator lacrosse team then dominated in an 18-5 win against Kennesaw State University on Sunday. Junior defender Theresa Bragg and graduate student goalkeeper Georgia Hoey earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors last week for their efforts.

“I think Georgia just stands tall in that goal cage. She’s a presence. She just does a good job leadership-wise of running the defense as well, so we feel so confident with her in the goal cage, not only just making saves, but just her leadership ability,” coach O’Leary said. “I think with Teresa — she’s probably one of the best defenders in the country. It’s what we expect from her day in and day out and she certainly delivered the last two games.”

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Matchup History

UF and UNC lacrosse have faced off 18 times since 2010, with North Carolina defeating the Gators 13 times. Florida won the most recent match 17-8 in 2024.

“UNC is a different beast. I think they returned like 10 All-Americans. From top to bottom, they’re some of the best players in the country. So for us, I think we just need to manage possession time,” coach O’Leary said. “We need to eliminate mistakes and then obviously we need to put the ball in the back of the net… and I’m excited to see where we are because it’s a good gauge.”

Where To Watch

The match will be held at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium and aired on ESPN+.