No. 5 Florida lacrosse has dominated Cincinnati for nearly 12 years, not allowing the Bearcats a single win, but on Saturday, the Gators were playing for more.
No. 5 Florida (13-2, 4-0 Big 12) topped Cincinnati (8-8, 0-4 Big 12) 16-5 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to clinch its second straight Big 12 regular-season title.
With the first 3:40 going scoreless, Gator sophomore Chiara Scichilone broke out for the first goal of the afternoon.
From then on, four other Gator scorers followed her lead.
The Bearcats finally answered as senior Lexie Wolfe plugged the net with an easy dish in front of the cage. They concluded the first quarter with a last-minute Hailey Joy Simpson goal to cut the deficit to three.
But at the start of the second frame, graduate Boo DeWitt reestablished the three-goal lead with a sidearm slingshot. She was quickly matched as sophomore Paige Selhorn scored a free-position goal off a Florida foul.
A goalkeeping switch started effectively for the Bearcats as sophomore Bella Kerr recorded five quick saves but was spoiled as freshman Autumn Blair slammed a top bin goal for her second of the game.
Cincinnati looked to pick up the pace in the second half, but that attempt was difficult to come by. Florida has held 12 of its 14 opponents to five or fewer goals in the second half this season, and it did so again Saturday.
DeWitt capitalized on a green card to record her hat-trick performance. Florida continued its campaign as it scored two more goals in the last four minutes, marked by sophomore Clark Hamilton’s only goal of the game and senior Kaitlyn Davies' second.
Right after, the Gators were awarded two free-position shots, and while Davies couldn't capitalize, graduate Ava Kristynik did, pushing the Florida lead to eight.
Freshman Caroline Hoskins scored UF’s 12th point as the third quarter finished. Then, just four minutes later, DeWitt opened the final quarter with her fourth goal of the game.
Wolfee scored her second goal for Cincinnati with her sidearm near-post shot sailing into the cage, but the Gators piled on more goals to bury that showing.
Redshirt sophomore Frannie Hahn and freshman Kennedy Richardson sank two more on Kerr, and sophomore Ryann Frechette scored off a free position shot, the only one for Florida of the day.
Florida controlled Cincinnati with 37 shots, seven saves and 12 draw controls. While UC had more saves (11), its offense was not on par with Florida, only attempting 18 shots on the day.
Florida closes the regular season against UC Davis (7-6, 2-1 Big 12) at Donald R. Dizney on Saturday at noon.
Contact Ethan Feinberg at efeinberg@alligator.org. Follow him on X @thefeinline.
Ethan Feinberg is a senior sports journalism student and the Spring 2026 men’s tennis reporter. He has previously written stories and produced audio sessions for WRUF, covering high school football. Ethan enjoys watching and playing sports like football and basketball, working out, fishing, cooking, and having a good laugh with his friends and family. His favorite sports teams are the New England Patriots, Miami Heat, Florida Panthers, and the Miami Marlins. (Drake "Drake Maye" Maye is the GOAT.)
