Florida lacrosse has achieved more in the last two years than any previous Gator team could.
Last season, the Gators made history by securing their second consecutive Final Four finish, the third in program history, with the first being in 2012. This year, they are ready to go all the way.
“The Final Four has been awesome, but the goal is the national championship game, and we just want to get there,” junior defender Ashley Dyer said. “I believe that this is the team that we have to do it.”
Entering their 17th season as a program, Florida begins their season with three consecutive ranked games against No. 19 Michigan, No. 20 Loyola and No. 8 Clemson. The Gators will also face seven teams that also made the 2025 NCAA tournament, including No. 10 Navy, No. 11 Pennsylvania and Mercer.
In the 2025 season, Florida went 20-3 overall and 5-0 in Big 12 Conference play. The Gators took home the Big 12 regular season championship for their undefeated season and clinched the Big 12 conference title by defeating Arizona State 21-10 May 3.
Florida finished the season ranked No. 4 after falling short to North Carolina in the NCAA semifinals.
With the impact Florida lacrosse has made, a sport that was once centered in the north has expanded. Now, northerners are putting some respect on Florida’s name.
“I remember growing up, everyone just looked at those northern schools, no one really mentioned Florida,” Dyer said. “Now everyone talks about Florida and just how much the program has grown and done so well.”
Despite the traction, the Gators were deemed underdogs at the beginning of last season after graduating 17 players, including eight starters. Seven of the eight senior starters accounted for 74% of Florida’s output.
However, the losses were no match for the team’s determination, and the doubt that surrounded the Gators only made them work harder.
“I honestly didn’t mind having the chip on your shoulder,” junior midfielder Gabbi Koury said. “Being an underdog, I don’t see anything wrong with that most of the time. I feel like we are pretty well respected, but now we have to hold that standard.”
If Florida could make it back to the Final Four despite the disadvantages that were thrown at them last season, a national championship at the end of this season doesn’t seem too out of reach.
And the team certainly doesn’t lack confidence.
“We have a ton of returners, and we’ve so much talent that came with our freshman class and our transfers, so there really is no excuse,” Koury said.
To prepare for what they hope to be a long run, the Gators have been focusing on their team chemistry in the offseason.
“Bonding on and off the field,” Koury said. “We are a really close-knit group this season, we work really well together. Things are looking really positive.”
Florida will host its season opener against Michigan on Friday at noon at Donald R. Dizney Stadium as it looks to start the season right.
“[Fans] should be really excited because Michigan’s a good team, and we’re obviously a good team too, so it should be a really good matchup going in,” Dyer said.
Contact Coral Uzgiden at cuzgiden@alligator.org. Follow her on X @coraluzgiden.
Coral is a sophomore Sports Journalism student in her first semester with the Alligator covering Lacrosse. She also has experience writing for WRUF and covering beats such as high school football and Gators swim and dive. She is an intern for the Women of the Lowcountry and in her free time enjoys playing waterpolo, going to the gym and being outside.
