The Florida
lacrosse team became just the 14th team in poll history to be ranked No. 1 in
the IWLCA coaches’ poll, receiving all 20 first-place votes in this week’s
poll. Additionally, UF is ranked No. 1 in the Inside Lacrosse/deBeer
Media poll and received the No 1 overall seed for the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The
Gators unseated defending National Champion Northwestern, who had been ranked
No. 1 in every poll of 2012, after defeating the Wildcats for the second time
this season in the ALC Championship game on Saturday afternoon.
The lacrosse
team is the fastest Florida program to reach No. 1 in the polls, surpassing the
soccer team’s top ranking in the final poll of 1998, its fourth season, after
the Gators won the ’98 NCAA Championship.
Florida is
the first new women’s lacrosse team to be ranked No. 1 since Northwestern first
achieved the top spot in the poll on Mar. 21, 2005, during NU’s fourth season
as a reinstated program. The Gators, who became the highest-ranked second-year
program in poll history last season, rising to No. 2 in the nation after
defeating the Wildcats for the first time, join North Carolina as the only
third-year programs ever to achieve No. 1 status. UNC, established in 1996,
first earned the No. 1 ranking on Mar. 9, 1998, staying at the top spot for six
weeks before finishing the season at No. 2.
The Tar
Heels received the No. 2 seed in the 1998 NCAA Tournament, then a field of 12,
and advanced the furthest to date of a third-year program, falling to the
eventual National Champion Terrapins, 14-9, in the National Semifinals. The
Gators became the youngest program in history to capture the top seed for the
NCAA Tournament on Sunday night, and hope to top UNC’s ’98 Final Four
appearance in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
The Gators
will start their NCAA Tournament journey on Saturday, May 12, when they host
the Albany Great Danes in the NCAA First Round. Opening draw at Dizney Stadium
is set for 1 p.m.
