No. 6 Florida Lacrosse Hosts No. 23 Navy On Military Appreciation Day

The No. 6 Florida lacrosse team hosts No. 23 Navy on Military Appreciation Day.

UF’s ROTC will be honored on the field Wednesday before the game begins at 1 p.m. at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium.

The Gators (4-2) carry momentum into this matchup after a 15-9 victory against No. 15 Loyola on Saturday. Four different UF players recorded hat tricks in their win against the Greyhounds, with freshman attacker Clark Hamilton leading with four goals.

Hamilton earned her second Big 12 Freshman of the Week honor this season Tuesday. She has notched three straight hat tricks to tie  for the team lead (four) alongside junior attacker Gianna Monaco. The Georgia native also leads the Gators in goals with 18 and recorded her first two collegiate assists against Loyola.

Junior midfielder Kaitlyn Davies, redshirt freshman attacker Frannie Hahn and Monaco each tallied three goals, while graduate student attacker Jordan Basso added a season-high four assists.

Basso now follows Hahn (12) in assists, ranking second with 11.

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Series History: Gators Hold Edge

Wednesday’s game marks the fourth all-time meeting between the programs, with the Gators leading the series 2-1. The teams last met when Florida defeated the Navy 17-9 on March 10, 2020.

The Gators have a 2-0 all-time home record against the Midshipmen. Two of three all-time meetings were settled by three goals or less. UF also averaged 16.3 goals per game in the three meetings against the Navy and 18 goals per game in two games at home.

Scouting Midshipmen

The Navy (5-2) is coming off a 10-9 loss against Jacksonville on Saturday.

The Midshipmen’s offense contains five players with 10 or more goals this season. Senior attacker Emily Messinese leads the team with 19 goals and nine assists.

Meanwhile, senior defender Alyssa Daley ranks 23rd in the nation in draw controls per game, leading the Navy with an average of 7.14 per game.

Premier Coaching Clash

UF’s Amanda O’Leary and Navy’s Cindy Timchal are two of the most accomplished coaches in Division I.

Both coaches rank in the top 3 among Division I active coaches in career wins. Timchal holds the record for most wins in NCAA history with 583, while O’Leary ranks third with 406.

In fact, their connection runs deep. O’Leary won a national championship in 1992 at the University of Maryland as an assistant coach under Timchal from 1992 to 1993.

Now, the two coaches meet on opposite sidelines in an intense matchup.