D-I Women's Lacrosse Notes: Crunch-Time Composure, Magic Moments

As Florida and Johns Hopkins exchanged blows in a tense Feb. 7 season opener at Homewood Field, Clark Hamilton celebrated an apparent equalizing goal with less than 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

However, the officials waved off the freshman attacker’s would-be first career goal due to an illegal stick.

“At first, I was just like, ‘Oh, no,’” Hamilton said. “I’d never had a goal called back for an illegal stick, so that was a first. But I had to wipe it off. The game [was] not over.”

With the Gators down 11-10 in the final three minutes, Hamilton corralled a coveted shot at redemption. The Powder Springs, Ga., native found a window beyond Blue Jays defender Reagan O’Brien and uncorked a long-range bouncer.

Hamilton said conversations with her teammates and coaching staff instilled confidence she could produce at a decisive juncture.

“In the moment, I didn’t even know how much time was on the clock,” Hamilton said. “I saw the lane, and I took the opportunity to shoot. Thankfully, it went in and counted. When looking up at the scoreboard and knowing it’s a tie game, that was the icing on the cake.”

The left-handed effort struck the Homewood Field turf and found the back of the net, knotting the score at 11. Following Hamilton’s first collegiate conversion, Gianna Monaco grabbed the game-winner in the final seconds.

For Florida coach Amanda O’Leary, Hamilton’s crunch-time composure represented a glimpse at why the Gators’ staff has entrusted a key attacking role in a true freshman. O’Leary said Hamilton’s disallowed goal was a mere “bump in the road” for a special talent.

“Clark is a special player — we knew that when we recruited her,” O’Leary said. “We had very high expectations of her, and she’s done nothing but exceed those expectations. She’s a dynamic scorer, she’s got a good downhill dodge, but she can also feed out of a dodge. I’m very glad she’s on our team and we don’t have to scout against her.”

Just as Hamilton had little time to conjure up a bounce back moment against Johns Hopkins, Florida soon boarded a flight back south as it geared up for a Sunday home opener against Kennesaw State.

O’Leary said the rapid turnaround was nothing new for her team of “road warriors.”

With the one-day lull period between games, the Gators’ scout team had emulated both their opponents earlier in the week. As Florida shifted back to its natural grass surface from the Blue Jays’ turf facility, the Gators provided another glimpse at their new-look attack.

Unlike her debut, Hamilton needed just 55 seconds to light up the scoreboard. The highly touted freshman finished her first game at Donald R. Dizney Stadium with five goals as Florida secured an 18-5 victory.

O’Leary, who lost seven of her top eight scorers and eight starters to graduation following the 2024 season, said her team’s opening slate has provided a gauge for the Gators’ potential and highlighted areas of improvement.

The veteran coach highlighted Kaitlyn Davies — a U20 gold medalist and two-way midfielder who shifted to line defense last season due to injuries — as a leader who sets the standard for younger players like Hamilton to follow. Davies scored a hat trick in the season opener.

While Florida navigated its season-opening test against Johns Hopkins and cruised to a comfortable win two days later, the non-conference schedule only ramps up for a team looking to launch another deep postseason run.

A Saturday clash with No. 4 North Carolina awaits the Gators in Gainesville. The Tar Heels won their first two games by a combined score of 37-3, and they’re an opponent O’Leary has deemed a “beast across the board.”

“You watch the film and there’s really no weaknesses,” O’Leary said. “A challenge is an understatement. … Kids come to the University of Florida to play against those types of teams. They don’t come here to duck teams.”

MCGROGAN'S MAGIC MOMENT

UConn coach Katie Woods approached the Huskies’ two-game homestand as a learning opportunity for a team rife with new leadership and contributors. Now, she feels something special may be brewing in Storrs, Conn.

With a series of snowbanks forming on the side of Morrone Stadium, UConn faced a daunting test in its Saturday afternoon season opener against Drexel.

By all accounts, the Huskies entered the game as true underdogs. The Dragons had garnered a plethora of preseason plaudits and boast one of the nation’s premier netminders in Jenika Cuocco.

As the game progressed, Woods couldn’t help but marvel at her team’s fighter mentality. Woods said collective composure — from the players on the field to the sideline — helped the Huskies erase a 9-7 fourth-quarter deficit and send the game to overtime.

“It was a tight game from the start, but when we felt there was a bit of a momentum shift toward Drexel, the team did not get rattled,” Woods said. “They were really connected with each other across the board and battled in the moment. It allowed us to get those crucial draw controls, get possession and make some really big stops when the game was on the line.”

In the two programs’ first-ever matchup, Eve McGrogan, an attacker who saw limited action as a freshman in 2024, sealed the upset in double overtime. With a step on her marker, McGrogran split two Dragon defenders and fired her third goal of the game beyond Cuocco’s reach.

For Woods, McGrogan’s magic moment marked a potential launchpad for a breakout sophomore campaign.

“She’s just somebody that will work her tail off in practice,” Woods said. “We saw it on Saturday down the stretch, where she stepped up and did some things she never would have done last year in terms of vocal leadership and getting everybody where they needed to go. It was an impressive performance from her, but it’s really only the start.”

Four days later, UConn returned to action against in-state rival Fairfield, a squad that knocked off the Huskies 11-9 last season. Although the team’s previous three meetings were decided by two goals or less, Rayea Davis’ six first-half goals paced an 18-5 blowout.

Now, UConn shifts course to a Saturday neutral-site showdown with No. 18 James Madison at USA Lacrosse Headquarters in Sparks, Md. A victory would catapult the Huskies to a 3–0 record, their best start to a season since 2016.

While UConn has stormed out of the season’s proverbial gates, the perennial Big East giant Denver has sputtered to an 0-2 start. The Pioneers have lifted the conference championship in four consecutive seasons, but perhaps 2025 will mark a new group’s rise to the league summit for the first time since 2019.

Woods, whose program finished as runners up in three of the last four Big East tournaments, said the Huskies are aware of the standard and commitment competing for championships requires.

“The growth as individual players and the growth as a unit is going to be pretty remarkable from game one to [games] 16 and 17,” Woods said. “We’re just going to continue to get better and better.”

BY THE NUMBERS

.800 • Save percentage for Betty Nelson in a weekend when North Carolina gave up just three goals.

15 • Points from Madison Taylor during her first weekend as Northwestern’s No. 1 attacker.

12 • Draw controls for Laurel Hernandez in her college debut for Johns Hopkins against Florida — a co-national high figure for the freshman.

6 • No. 1 Boston College’s national-best turnovers per game mark during its 2-0 start.

22 • Goals for Holy Cross against Fairfield, the most productive offensive day for the Crusaders since April 27, 2023 (22-21 victory over Bucknell).