Florida headed into the 2025 season with a mission: to get back to the Final Four, advance to the title game and bring home a national championship trophy.
Getting close in 2024 after the winningest season in program history left Florida with a desire to improve and return stronger than ever. While the Gators fell short of the final this year, they made a memorable run, reaching their third NCAA semifinal in program history.
"They are just a super special group," Florida head coach Amanda O’Leary said after Florida lacrosse advanced to its second consecutive semi-final in May.
In the 2025 season, UF went 20-4 overall, tying the program record at 20 wins and ending the season ranked No. 4 in the IWLCA coaches poll for the second consecutive year.
Florida defeated every Big 12 opponent it faced in its first year in the conference before fighting its way through the NCAA tournament to reach its second consecutive Final Four. Before the team’s season ended in a heartbreaking loss to top-seeded North Carolina, the Gators were on a 17-game winning streak, the second longest in program history.
Florida kicked off the season ranked No. 5 in the country and opened up the season with a narrow 12-11 win in its season opener against Johns Hopkins.
The Gators’ only two regular-season losses came in the first month. The first was a 14-9 loss to North Carolina on February 15th, where Florida trailed the entire game despite remaining competitive. In the team’s second loss, UF’s fourth-quarter comeback from a seven-goal deficit fell short against James Madison on March 1st 17-16.
After that, Florida quickly found its footing, securing several decisive victories to gain momentum. The Gators would go on to win 17 consecutive games, securing the inaugural Big 12 regular-season and tournament championships along the way.
"I think when we look at what this team brings to the table, it's that we have each other's backs,” O’Leary said. “It doesn't matter whether we're up by four, down by four, overtime. That's taken us really far.”
Leading the Gators offense was junior attacker Gianna Monaco. Monaco played every game this year and logged 73 goals, 22 assists, and 121 shots on-goal. She scored a career-high seven goals against Mercer in Florida’s 18-6 victory on May 9th. After putting up 11 goals, five assists and three ground balls throughout the tournament, Monaco was named to the 2025 NCAA All-Tournament team.
Behind Monaco, junior midfielder Kaitlyn Davies was a key player for the Gators. She started every game and scored 51 goals while adding eight assists. Davies was named the Big 12 Midfielder of the Year and was honored as part of the 2025 NCAA All-Tournament team.
Graduate student attacker Jordan Basso, who made the jump from Division III last year, was one of the most important offensive players as well, adding 37 goals and 38 assists.
“She quarterbacks our offense,” O’Leary said on May 19th. “She’s going to put the time and effort in to be the best that she can be. So nothing but pure love for Jordan and what she’s done this season.”
Freshman attacker Clark Hamilton also left her mark this year with 55 goals. Redshirt freshman attacker and Big 12 Freshman of the Year Frannie Hahn led UF assists with 59 and scored 33 goals.
Defensively, junior defender Theresa Bragg shined. She forced a team high 29 turnovers. Bragg was named Most Outstanding Player at the Big 12 tournament and earned IWLCA All-American first team honors, becoming only the second defender in program history to do so.
With the regular season done, the Gators turned to the NCAA Tournament. Florida hosted the opening rounds of its tournament play and started strong, with Monaco leading the Gators to an 18-6 over Mercer on May 9th.
The second round was far more competitive against Stanford May 11th. Florida led for most of the bout before Stanford clawed its way back to tie the game at 12-apiece to send the game to overtime. Davies was the hero for UF, scoring an overtime winner to advance to the Elite Eight.
Florida hosted Duke for the quarterfinal on May 15th. Despite the Gators grabbing an early lead, the Blue Devils fought back in the second half of the game. After a strong defensive performance, the Gators escaped with the 11-9 win, booking their ticket to Boston to play in the Final Four.
Heading into a rematch against the No. 1-seeded North Carolina, the Gators had a difficult task ahead of them.
“We’re going to have to play the best game that we’ve played thus far this season,” O’Leary said ahead of the matchup. “They are a tremendous team, top to bottom.”
The Gators came out strong, playing aggressively and taking a 4-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, Florida lost its momentum as North Carolina took control of the game. North Carolina shut out Florida for the rest of the game, scoring 18 unanswered goals to advance to the final.
“This team will be back,” said graduate student goalkeeper Georgia Hoey. “This is our standard now.”
Contact Nicole Lopez at nlopez@alligator.org. Follow her on X @lopeznicole715.
