Lacrosse team to play inaugural home game against Jacksonville

Posted Feb 18, 2010 by Aaron Oberlin

Updated Mar 12, 2010 at 04:00 PM

It’s quite simple: Top-tier coaches plus first-class facilities plus elite athletes and a school with storied sports programs usually equals championships. The Florida Gators understand this.

They’ll be betting on that formula as their women’s lacrosse team commences its inaugural season this spring. But it won’t be that easy. In fact, the Gators might have chomped off more than they can swallow.

Question marks will circle one part of the equation this Saturday when the Gators play host to Jacksonville at their first home game. Florida will field a 29-player roster flooded with freshmen – 24 actually – with two sophomores and three club players rounding it out. The game might be one of the easiest for the young squad all season. Florida joined the American Lacrosse Conference, the toughest in the country, and its out-of-conference schedule appears daunting, with matchups against No. 4 North Carolina, No. 7 Georgetown and perennial powerhouse Johns Hopkins. Although the girls started the season off with a tie at Rutgers and a 10-8 win at Princeton, a possible disaster looms in the season’s results, and head coach Amanda O’Leary will have her hands full trying to keep the girls’ spirits lifted if losing becomes common.

But that’s the way O’Leary and UF Athletic Director Jeremy Foley want it.

“That was important for us when we were building this program. We wanted a competitive schedule, and we wanted to go out and compete against the best,” said O’Leary. “It will be quite a task with 24 freshmen.”

“To be the best, you got to play the best,” said Foley, who noted that he expects the lacrosse team to be a major contender in the future.

At least the Gators got the elite-athlete part down, recruiting the nation’s No. 1 class last summer, which is quite a feat for a sport predominantly played in the northeastern region of the United States. The class has many excited about the future of lacrosse in the Swamp.

“Gator Nation likes to see the scorers. They like to see winners. They like to see excitement. They like to see athletics,” said Foley. “You’re going to see that in women’s lacrosse.”

Yeah, but from which teams this year? Do the Gators really think they can come into the ALC and put up large scores and beat some of the best schools in the country?

I love the competitive spirit, but this season should be about gauging where the team stands in heading toward a championship. To be the best, you don’t have to take a pummeling as soon as you get in the ring. Sure, I understand joining the most competitive conference in America – with No. 1 Northwestern, No. 10 Vanderbilt, No. 18 Ohio State and No. 19 Penn State – it helps with recruiting, but Foley and O’Leary should’ve given the girls a breather when playing outside the conference. When something sustains too much stress, it cracks.

I do give the university props, though. Foley hired O’Leary, who won a national championship with Temple and two IFWLA World Cup Championships with the United States team. She also coached Yale for nine years, winning Coach of the Year in 1996.

The school also built the Florida Lacrosse Facility, which is one of the best in the nation.

“The lacrosse facility is one of the premier women’s lacrosse facilities in the country,” said O’Leary. “This facility will allow us to recruit the top players in the country. Every player wants to play in a first-class facility and one they will be proud of, and certainly this facility far exceeds all those expectations.”

Superior facilities: check. Top-tier coach: check. Elite athletes: check. To get the team ready to be and play the best, O’Leary even scheduled a preseason game against Team U.S.A. on Jan. 30. The Gators lost 17-8.

“At this point, we should be able to compete with anyone in the country,” said O’Leary.

The Gators won’t play the best Saturday, but the game should show how the team has progressed. We’ll see if they can run with anyone Feb. 28 against No. 4 UNC.

The game will be televised on Sun Sports at 6 p.m. on Feb. 20.