(from a Florida release)

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – On its second major road trip this month, the Florida men’s lacrosse team picked up two more wins to remain unbeaten (6-0) for the season.

The Gators took down Texas A&M on the Aggies’ home turf Friday night before beating Houston less than 24 hours later.

In Friday’s tilt, Florida jumped out to an early, 5-0 lead in the first quarter and, after the first half of play, found themselves leading 7-4. The Aggies responded with two quick goals to start the third quarter, trimming the deficit to just a goal. The Gators weathered A&M’s rally and proceeded to go on a 7-2 run to close out the game, winning 14-8.

Senior FOGO and team captain Aaron Silcott continued his dominance at the faceoff X, winning 84 percent of his attempts against the Aggies. With the added possessions provided by Silcott, the Gator offense was able to outpace A&M in the second half behind freshman attackman Sam Khalil (4g, 3a).

Khalil put up four of his seven points in the third quarter, scoring two goals on great individual efforts and assisting on two more, including one to defensive midfielder and junior captain Drew Hadley for his first goal of the season. Hadley was excellent in transition and on ground balls, scooping up nine for the Gators on their way to victory.

Florida got off to a sluggish start the following afternoon and found themselves neck-in-neck with Houston after one quarter of play. Eventually, the Gator offense woke up, producing seven goals in the second quarter to take a 9-2 lead into the break. The Gators added 11 more in the second half en route to a 20-4 victory over the Cougars.

Khalil (5g, 4a), Hank Champagne (3g, 6a) and Zach Salazar (5g), who comprise Florida’s potent attack, were able to do a majority of the damage in Saturday’s game. Sophomore midfielder Nick Rizzo provided a hat trick of his own. Freshman midfielder Daniel Bryan netted the first two goals of his career. In all, 12 players provided at least one point for the orange and blue in the contest.

Florida now heads into the back half of their schedule, which includes three ever-important SELC Southeast regional games with postseason implications. A neutral-site game against traditional SEC rival Georgia also looms large. The Gators will resume play on Wednesday, March 22 against Buffalo in Gainesville.