Gainesville's Big Enough for Two Lax Powers
by David Ely | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
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Kate O'Linn and the Florida club team have fared just fine despite the rise of their varsity counterpart. These Gators are ranked No. 8 in this week's US Lacrosse WDIA poll, with an SWLL showdown Saturday at No. 11 Georgia. © Dirk Dewachter |
The much-publicized addition of the Florida varsity
women’s lacrosse program had the potential to throw a
gigantic wrench in the makeup of the Gators’ WDIA club team.
In other situations, a varsity startup might poach the club
team’s best players and leave the cupboard bare for next
year.
But so far, the Gators' club team is doing just fine in WDIA play,
despite the presence of their varsity sister. Apparently,
Gainesville is big enough for the two of them.
“To be honest, it hasn’t affected us all that
much,” Florida club co-coach Betsy Milligan said
Thursday.
The Gators lost Marissa Higgins, their starting goalie from the
2009 season, who walked onto the varsity squad, but that's about
all the change the club has endured.
Milligan said that the addition of the varsity team has been a
handy tool for her club.
“We have some former players of ours that are on that
team,” she said. “They can give us updates on drills
that we can do.”
It also helps when Amanda O’Leary, the head coach of the
varsity team, comes to the occasional practice, like she did last
season. When O’Leary stopped by, Milligan said, she would
check out how the girls were doing and pass along a few tips.
With a team to coach this year, O’Leary doesn’t come
around as much, but now the club team has the opportunity to see
college women’s lacrosse played at its highest level.
Milligan added: “It’s nice for the girls because they
can go watch the varsity games. They can see a higher level of
competition.”
The competition – and the play of the Gators – in the
WDIA this spring also could be classified as elite.
The Gators currently are ranked No. 8 in the most recent US
Lacrosse WDIA poll, and they boast a couple of impressive outings
on their resume.
During the Santa Barbara Shootout, the Gators beat now-No. 10 BYU
and No. 9 Colorado State and lost by just one goal to No. 2
UC Santa Barbara.
“We played really well out there,” Milligan said.
“We only lost to Santa Barbara by one, and I think
that’s a pretty good insight for what we can do in
Nationals.”
Leading the young Gators is attacker Kate O’Linn, midfielder
Nicole Nadeau and goalie Adrianna Paidas.
"I would say our goalie had like 10 saves against UC Santa
Barbara,” Milligan said. “I think for goalies,
it’s really hard once they start getting lit up. Paidas is
really good about not letting things get her down."
And with Milligan and Marla Queris (the other co-coach) in place,
the Gators have the necessary stability at the top to ensure a
successful run. Milligan and Queris both played for the Gators,
with 2006 and 2007 as the final seasons for Milligan and Queris,
respectively.
The duo took over coaching duties in 2009, and Milligan said that
the program is in a better place than it was a year ago.
“At this time last year were making a coaching change, so
there was a lot of chaos.,” Milligan said. “Now
we’re much more prepared.”
That they are. The Gators are undefeated in the SWLL with wins
over Auburn, Miami and Florida State. The club travels to No. 11
Georgia on Saturday for a pivotal SWLL clash.
WDIA News & Notes
After boasting an 18-7 thrashing of UCLA last weekend, Santa Clara
moved up to No. 1 in the latest US Lacrosse WDIA poll. Santa Clara
is 7-0 on the season but has two top-five road contests in its
immediate future. The Broncos travel to No. 5 Cal Poly on Saturday.
Next week, they visit No. 2 UC Santa Barbara… Preseason No.
1-ranked Virginia Tech Club finally began its season last weekend
-- and the results weren’t particularly impressive. The
Hokies just barely beat James Madison Club and Maryland Club by
scores of 12-11 and 10-8, respectively… After a frustrating
weekend at the Santa Barbara Shootout, Michigan certainly took out
its frustrations on Toledo. The Wolverines cruised to a 24-3 win.
The 24 goals scored doubled Michigan’s previous top offensive
outing.
