GAINESVILLE, Fla. — They have nothing to connect the dots other than stories. They can listen to their head coach, Amanda O’Leary, share her journey, or, if they are students of history, browse the internet and online databases for a trip into the past.

Otherwise, for members of the UF women’s lacrosse team, their daily existence in no way resembles that of O’Leary or her contemporaries. O’Leary arrived on the scene at Temple University soon after the NCAA sanctioned a championship in the sport. Massachusetts defeated the College of New Jersey for the first NCAA championship in women’s lacrosse in 1982.

The spring before O’Leary’s arrival, Temple won the national title in 1984. By the time she was finished as a player, Mandee Moore (as she was known then) was the game’s dominant player, leading the Lady Owls to the 1988 national championship and earning National Player of the Year honors. O’Leary’s dominance helped Temple become the first two-time NCAA champion in women’s lacrosse.

The day the Lady Owls defeated Penn State 37 years ago for the national title, Moore scored three goals and added an assist in the championship game at tiny Haverford (Pa.) College. The accomplishment received scant coverage, except in a couple of local newspapers.

What the Gators know is that when they face No. 1 North Carolina on Friday afternoon at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. — playing in an NFL stadium seemed a fantasy during O’Leary’s college years – they have an opportunity to move a step closer to the sport’s ultimate prize, one than O’Leary has been chasing for 30 seasons as a coach. She was at Yale for 14 seasons and is in her 16th season at Florida.

 “We want to get one more and make it to that national championship game and be able to win one,” sophomore defender Ashley Dyer said. “We just need to get over that hump.”

O’Leary took the UF job 18 years ago next month to start the program from scratch. She began building from the ground up more than two years before the Gators made their debut in the 2010 season. In Year 3, the Gators made their first trip to the Final Four, only to lose to Syracuse in a controversial national semifinal. It took the Gators 12 years to return, but they advanced to the national semifinals a year ago before losing to Northwestern.

And here the Gators (19-2) are again, riding a 17-game winning streak and ready for a rematch against the undefeated Tar Heels (20-0) for a berth in the national championship game against the Boston College-Northwestern winner.

“It certainly helps,” O’Leary said of being here previously. “The unique thing is that the majority of this team, while they were on the team [last season], there wasn’t a lot that saw a lot of playing time. So, this is going to be a little bit different for them, because they are going to have to step up and be in that position of playing versus being on the sidelines.

“That part is exciting. Every time that a team competes in a Final Four, you learn a little bit something more.”

Florida lost 14-9 to North Carolina in the third game of the season four months ago, a game in which Florida fell behind 4-1 and the Tar Heels controlled the draw (15-10), winning more ground balls (20-14). Florida’s young lineup remained untested, and the Gators converted only 1 of 6 free-position shots.

They enter Friday’s rematch much more confident and productive with eight 20-goal scorers, led by 73 from junior Gianna Monaco, 54 from freshman Clark Hamilton and 50 from junior Kaitlyn Davies. The emergence of Hamilton and the all-around contributions from graduate transfer Jordan Basso (36 goals, 38 assists) give Florida a different look than the first meeting.

“They like to attack in transition, so we’ve got to do a really good job defensively in transition to eliminate that threat,” said veteran Tar Heels coach Jenny Levy, who has won three national titles (2013, ’16, ’22). “But they do a great job. That will be a hard, hard for us.”

 

it’s go time.

🆚@UNCWLax

📍 Gillette Stadium

⏰ 3 p.m.

📺 https://t.co/aVGg15fGOx (ESPNU)

📊https://t.co/ObZ36VQQ4J

🎟️https://t.co/QPfpxWcrwu#FLax | #GoGators pic.twitter.com/MXCYRd6y7D

— Gators Lacrosse (@GatorsLAX) May 23, 2025

Since Florida’s first season 15 years ago, only five schools have won a national title: Maryland (5), North Carolina (3), Northwestern (3), Boston College (2) and James Madison (1). The 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, when the Gators look around Gillette Stadium this weekend, they will see the best of the best. Defending national champion Boston College is there, along with 2023 champion Northwestern and the 2022 champion Tar Heels.

You know what they say: to be the best, you have to beat the best.

“They love competitiveness,” O’Leary said.

The Gators have their shot after NCAA Tournament wins over Mercer, Stanford and Duke got them to Foxborough.

O’Leary has praised her team’s chemistry and fight throughout the tournament. If the Gators can get past the Tar Heels – Florida lost to North Carolina in the regular season a year ago before beating them to get to the Final Four – they will play for their first national championship.

“This team is super resilient. I mean, we’ve come back from being down three goals, four goals to teams,” O’Leary said. “This team has a no-give-up attitude. They just don’t want to lose, and so they’re going to do everything they possibly can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Oh, the stories they could tell.