Florida Gators
Lady Paladin Day Two
Gators lacrosse team savored win at No. 1 Northwestern and quickly moved on
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 | Women's Golf, Lacrosse, Scott Carter
The Gators lacrosse team's 8-7 win at No. 1-ranked Northwestern on Saturday featured numerous accomplishments:
--The win snapped Northwestern's 23-game win streak.
--Florida became the first team to knock off the Wildcats at Lakeside Field since 2004.
--The Gators held Northwestern without a goal for the final 22 minutes, 28 seconds of the first half and final 20:51 of the second.
--The victory marked the first time an opponent has beaten the Wildcats in back-to-back seasons since Vanderbilt turned the trick in 2003-04.
--And of course, the Gators (15-2, 5-0) captured their second straight American Lacrosse Conference regular-season title with the victory.
While the win takes over the top spot as the biggest in the program's three-year history, the Gators haven't spent all week celebrating.
Florida coach Amanda O'Leary said Monday that the celebration was over by sunrise on Sunday.
“I think we stopped [savoring the win] Saturday evening,'' O'Leary said. “Again, it was a tremendous win for us, very proud of our players and our staff, but at the same time we have to focus ahead. On the bus to the airport, we watched the film and tried to analyze what went well and what went wrong.”
The Gators experienced a very similar situation a year ago when they upset Northwestern in Gainesville. They expected to play the Wildcats again in the ALC Tournament – and they were right. The Wildcats turned the table and won the tournament title.
Florida hosts the ALC Tournament for the first time this season and seeks to avoid a repeat of last year.
With more than a week off to prepare and get healthy, O'Leary likes the way things are shaping up entering the postseason.
“The timeframe between Northwestern and the tournament is playing pretty nicely for us,'' she said. “We do have some time available to give kids a rest but we also can stay in good condition. I like the time off. It gives us more time to prepare, more time to watch film.
“They've sort of matured into taking on the role as being the hunted, and having the bull's-eye on their back. They understand that. For a lot of these teams, we're they're biggest competition.”
