2023 Women's Top 30: How Jacksonville Fared vs. Projections

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2024, our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking one last look at 2023.

After all, you have to look at the most recent results before making projections for what’s to come. To do that, we’re taking a journey through the top 30 teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse — what went right, what went wrong and what we should all think of that team’s season.

Was it a success? A failure? A mixture of both? You’ll find out our thoughts over the next month or so.

JACKSONVILLE WOMEN’S LACROSSE

Nike/USA Lacrosse Preseason/Final Top 20 Ranking: 19/Unranked (also considered)
2023 record: 12-8 (6-1 Atlantic Sun)

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Jacksonville once again ranked in the top quarter of the country in terms of scoring offense (14.05 goals per game, 24th nationally), scoring defense (9.3 goals per game, 14th nationally) and scoring margin (4.75 goals per game, 16th nationally) under first-year head coach Tara Singleton. The Dolphins earned a big resume-boosting win on March 11 against Penn — the eventual Ivy League champion — to boost its NCAA tournament chances, then locked up the Atlantic Sun’s automatic bid after a thrilling ASUN title game.

Jacksonville boasted a true three-headed scoring monster with Sarah Elms (69 goals), Lauren Craft (39 goals) and Brianna Samuels (38 goals) benefitting from the expert feeding by Grace Hobson (48 assists). The Dolphins also had a pair of century-mark draw dynamos, with Molly Brock and Lauren Ellis each corralling at least 100 draw controls.

WHAT WENT WRONG

An 0-3 start to the season was ominous, and as strong as Jacksonville’s per-game totals were (see the section above), they were inflated because much of the Dolphins’ damage came in blowout wins over UMass Lowell (16-4), Delaware State (20-3), Kennesaw State (17-4), Lindenwood (26-6), Queens (27-6) and Stetson (24-7). Otherwise, Jacksonville played a lot of close games. Five of its seven regular-season losses were by four goals or fewer.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT

Jacksonville avoided the NCAA tournament’s bubble discussion by earning the Atlantic Sun’s automatic bid on May 6. Facing top-seeded Liberty, which beat Jacksonville 12-10 on April 1, the Dolphins coughed up a two-goal lead in the fourth quarter before Hobson fed Samuels for the overtime winner.

VERDICT

Jacksonville had been a consistent member of the Nike/USA Lacrosse Top 20 since a win over Florida in March 2021, but the Dolphins were in and out of the rankings for much of 2023. The Dolphins certainly care more about a conference title and an NCAA tournament berth than an arbitrary ranking next to their name, and all things considered, winning the conference after an 0-3 start — and a regular-season loss to their title game opponent — is impressive.