THE MCCORD ACCORD A Dolphin Tale
“I was looking for a change leaving Florida, and I found the bond between the players and coaches at JU was unreal. Everywhere else I visited, there was
Eighty-fi ve miles from Gainesville, Florida’s other women’s lacrosse startup from 2010 has made its own mark
nothing like it.” — Taylor McCord
W By Laurel Pfahler
While the Florida women’s lacrosse team garnered national attention with a fi nal four appearance in just its third season in 2012, another program just as young quietly made signifi cant strides 85 miles up the road.
Jacksonville went Division I in 2010, the same year the Gators did. By 2011, the Dolphins were the highest-scoring team in the country in terms of goals per game, a distinction they have owned for three straight years.
After an 8-11 inaugural campaign, Jacksonville has gone 42-15 over the past three seasons, including an NCAA tournament appearance last spring, when the Dolphins made their Atlantic Sun Conference debut and won the title with their fi rst full senior class. Though Jacksonville’s rapid development from startup to NCAA tournament contender doesn’t quite match Florida’s ascent to a No. 1 national ranking, two NCAA quarterfi nal appearances and one semifi nal trip, the Dolphins have made their own splash under less advantageous circumstances. “We were starting under a little
different premise of where our program was building from,” said Jacksonville coach Mindy McCord, who was hired in April 2008. “We also were kind of surprised with how successful we’ve become in such a short time.” McCord said she has never felt like her small private-school program was inferior to its big sister in Gainesville, because Florida hired Mandee O’Leary a
A Publication of US Lacrosse November 2013 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 49
©JACKSONVILLE
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