The second season of women’s lacrosse as a sponsored American Athletic Conference sport gets underway this week as five of the league’s six teams begin their respective 2020 campaigns.

The 2019 season saw Florida run away with the conference title as the Gators went 5-0 in regular-season league play and went on to win the first American Athletic Conference Championship, claiming their sixth consecutive conference tournament title. Florida went on to defeat Johns Hopkins in the first round of the NCAA Championship before falling to North Carolina in the second round.

The Gators, ranked No. 13 in the Inside Lacrosse preseason poll, enter 2020 as the prohibitive favorite to repeat in The American. Florida was the unanimous choice of the league’s head coaches in The American’s preseason poll, while three players earned preseason individual accolades.

Florida’s 2020 schedule includes 10 teams that played in the 2019 NCAA Championship. The Gators open against three nationally ranked opponents, beginning with Saturday’s matchup against No. 18 Colorado.

The season gets underway with a pair of games Friday as Cincinnati — the runner-up in The American Championship last season — visits Kent State, while ECU begins its third season of varsity play with a trip to Furman.

In addition to the top-25 matchup between Florida and Colorado Saturday, Temple begins its season against George Washington in the first of six straight home games to start the year. 

Sunday’s ledger has ECU at Presbyterian while Vanderbilt is at Wagner and Cincinnati hosts Louisville.