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.
