The
University of Florida lacrosse team has been selected as the preseason No. 3 in
the first deBeer Media Poll, announced on Monday.
The
Gators received one first-place vote in the poll, which ranked Syracuse and
Northwestern ahead of the Gators. Northwestern returns as the reigning national
champions and Syracuse as the national runner-up. Of the Top 20, Florida is set
to play nine teams in the regular season including three of the remaining top
five. Four of the other five teams in the American Lacrosse Conference were
also ranked in the poll.
Florida
returns all but one starter from a year ago, where they went 19-3 overall and
5-0 in the ALC. UF won both the regular season and tournament conference
championships and advanced all the way to the NCAA national semifinals. They
became the fourth team in just their third year of existence to advance to the
Final Four.
The
Orange and Blue played in exhibition last Thursday in an 18-13 win over the
England National Team and will open the 2013 season at No. 5 North Carolina on
Feb. 9 at 12 p.m.
2013
Preseason deBeer Media Poll – January 28, 2013 (First Place Votes
1. Syracuse (5)
2. Northwestern (4)
3. Florida (1)
4. Maryland
5. North Carolina
6. Duke
7. Loyola
8. Notre Dame
9. Penn State
10. Penn
11. Virginia
12. Dartmouth
13. UMass
14. Georgetown
15. Harvard
16. Towson
17. Johns Hopkins
18. Boston College
19. Stony Brook
20. Ohio State
Receiving
votes: UAlbany, Cornell, Princeton, Navy, Oregon
Italics
denotes Florida opponent
