Gators Win, Chapin Honored
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After a cold, rainy start to both the weekend and its home game against South Florida, the Florida men's lacrosse team watched as the clouds parted on what would turn into a fantastic 48 hours in Gator country.
Florida took care of business on the field Saturday against their Southeast division foe, defeating the Bulls 19-9 to impove to 1-0 in the division and 4-0 on the season.
Senior FOGO Aaron Silcott led the way, winning 23-of-24 draws in an effort that earned him a spot on the Honor Roll for this week’s Commanding Performance of the Week powered by Under Armour. With the lion’s share of possession time, the Gator offense was able to fill the net seemingly at will.
Senior attackman Hank Champagne (6g, 1a) and sophomore midfielder Kyle Rintoul (1g, 6a) paced the offensive assault with support from two more starting attackmen in junior Zach Salazar (5g, 1a) and freshman Sam Khalil (3g, 3a).
Though the on-field result was a success, the highlight of the weekend came later as Gator Lacrosse hosted visitors from all over the state and country during the First Annual Jamie Chapin Classic. The charity golf scramble, held at Gainesville’s Ironwood Golf Course during a gorgeous Florida afternoon, paid tribute to former Gator Lacrosse captain Jamie Chapin by raising money for brain cancer treatment and research at UF Health.
“Thanks to the efforts and generosity of the Chapin family, our sponsors, and our event attendees, we were able to host over 40 golfers and over 60 total guests at the First Annual Jamie Chapin Classic,” said Florida coach Garrett Hanrahan. “Over $7,000 will be donated to brain cancer treatment and research at UF Health, and we as a team could not be more humbled to have been able to play our part in this tremendous event."
"Though I wasn’t lucky enough to know Jamie, his story was always a part of our program’s identity during my time as a player here," continued Hanrahan. "We’re very excited to have taken this next step in honoring Jamie’s legacy and we hope to be able to grow this event year after year. Ultimately, the goal is to make a substantial impact on brain cancer treatment and research and to offer even more hope to current and future victims of this terrible disease.”
The Gators now face a short week of preparation for their longest road trip of the regular season.
Florida departs Gainesville late Thursday night and travels to College Station, Texas, to take on Texas A&M and Houston.
“I said this before our trip to Baton Rouge two weeks ago, you have to be able to win on the road against good teams if you want to be a championship contender in the SELC and the MCLA,” said Hanrahan. “Our guys answered that challenge and went 2-0 that weekend. Now we get the chance to see if that was a one-time result or if it’s a level of performance that we can sustain. We’ll find out soon enough. I know this, though: we’re excited for the opportunity.”