No. 7 Gators Overpower Stetson from Start to Finish in 24-8 Win

Wednesday, February 25

DeLand, FL

6 p.m.

Florida Gators

3-1

Stetson

0-3

Florida

Stetson

Gators celebrate after a goal (UAA Photo/Bella Rosa)

No. 7 Gators Overpower Stetson from Start to Finish in 24-8 Win

Wednesday, February 25, 2026 | Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

The Gators were led by Clark Hamilton and Kennedy Richardson who each had four goals.

By: Noah Trala

DELAND, Fla. – The No. 7 Florida Lacrosse team took the lead thirty seconds into the game off a Kaitlyn Davies goal and never looked back as they beat Stetson 24-8 on Wednesday night.

Against their first non-ranked opponent this season, the Gators were led Clark Hamilton (4 G), Kennedy Richardson (4 G) and Frannie Hahn (3 G/1 A) who each had four points on the night. On the defensive side of the ball, Kaitlyn Davies, Molly Doran, Alexa Stone, Caylin Luciano, and Ashley Dyer each caused one turnover as Ryann Frechette, Madison Carroll, and Paige Crowther each wrangled in two ground ball.

The Hatters were led by Ryley Heilmann who scored three goals and Lexi Bird (1 G/1 A) and Alexa Vega (2 G) who each had two points.

How it Happened
FIRST QUARTER (Gators 9, Hatters 1)

The Gators started off quick as they put three in the back of the net in the first 1:35 of the game. Kaitlyn Davies (14:30), Gabby Greene (14:12), and Frannie Hahn (13:25) would help the Orange and Blue get off to a 3-0 start.

Stetson would grab one back as Alexa Vega scored at 11:19 to make it 3-1 Gators.
In the final 9:03, Florida would score six as Clark Hamilton got a first quarter hat trick and Frannie Hahn, Caroline Hoskins, and Alexa Stone all added to the Gators total.

SECOND QUARTER (Gators 16, Hatters 4)

Florida and Stetson would trade a pair of goals to begin the second quarter as Ryley Heilmann and Lexi Bird scored for the Hatters, and Kaitlyn Davies and Autumn Blair scored for the Gators.
Frannie Hahn would score her third for a hat trick on the night and Autumn Blair added her second before Ryley Heilmann scored as the lead became 13-4 for Florida.
Gabbi Koury, Boo DeWitt and Clark Hamilton would make it 16-4 for the Gators going into the break.

THIRD QUARTER (Gators 23, Hatters 5)

Florida would start the second much like they started the game as Kennedy Richardson scored in the first 31 seconds of the third quarter before adding her second of the game less than two minutes later to make it 18-4 Gators.
Ryley Heilmann would score her third of the game before the Gators rattled off five goals from Jameson Swords, Caylin Luciano, Molly Doran, Kennedy Richardson, and Chiara Scichilone to end the third.

FOURTH QUARTER (Gators 24, Hatters 8)

Stetson would score two straight from Alexa Vega and Heidi Cross to cut into the Gators lead and make it 23-7.
Kennedy Richardson would add her fourth goal of the day with 3:45 left.
Stetson's Kathleen Nichols would score the final goal of the game with 1:56 left and the Gators would leave with a 24-8 win.

Key Notes

Molly Doran, Kennedy Richardson, Alexa Stone and Jameson Swords would each score their first goal of their career.
Seven Gators made their career debuts today: Sophia Cardella, Madison Carroll, Molly Doran, Blythe Noyes, Kennedy Richardson, Emma Sweeney and Jameson Swords.
Richardson would also score her first career hat trick as Clark Hamilton scored her fourth hat-trick of the season.
The Gators would add three successful clears in the first quarter before failing their first clear of the season. Florida was 53-53 before that failed clear, their best start to a season on clearing the ball.
This is a second straight game that the Gators won the draw control battle, as it was 21-12 in favor of Florida.

Up Next
The Gators will travel up to Annapolis, Md. to take on the Midshipman of No. 10 Navy on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. You can catch the action on CBS Sports Network.

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