UF LAX | UMass Amherst’s Hannah Heller Joins Gators as Graduate Transfer

The Babylon, N.Y. native elects to play fifth year at Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida women’s lacrosse team officially announced the addition of Hannah Heller to the program as a transfer on Saturday.

Heller – a rising fifth year – spent her undergraduate career at UMass Amherst, where she competed in 57 games for the Minutewomen.

Heller has familiarity with the Gators as her twin sister Emily Heller just concluded her senior season in the 2023 campaign.

All of Heller’s accomplishments prior to Florida can be found below.

* Named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team
* IWLCA Northeast All-Region Second Team
* Two-time A10 Defensive Player of the Week
* Led a defense that finished 11th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 8.95 goals per game
* Finished the season with 55 draw controls, 38 groundballs, 25 caused turnovers, nine goals and five assists
* Tied her career-high with two goals twice on the year
* Registered a season-high four groundballs on three different occasions
* Forced a career-high six caused turnovers against La Salle on March 22
* Posted a career-high eight draw controls against La Salle on March 22
Junior Season (2022)

* Named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team
* Played in 18 games with 17 starts
* Tallied five points with two goals and three assists
* Gave possession to the Minutewomen by winning 29 draw controls and forcing 23 turnovers
* Picked up 32 groundballs
* Forced three turnovers in three separate games
* Recorded five draw controls in games against Richmond (4/10) and St. Joseph’s (5/1)
* Had a season-high six groundballs to go with three caused turnovers and three draw controls in a win over Davidson (4/28)
Sophomore Season (2021)

* Saw action in 16 games making one start
* Recorded two goals and one assist on the season
* Added 13 groundballs and 16 caused turnovers
* Had a career-high four caused turnovers in a win over Saint Bonaventure (4/23)
* Collected three ground balls on two occasions
* In a victory over Duquesne (4/18) had two goals, two ground balls and two caused turnovers
* Started and had three groundballs and one caused turnover in the NCAA first round matchup against Temple
Freshman Season (2020)

* During the shortened 2020 COVID-19 season, saw action in four of the five games
* Finished the shortened season with one goal, one groundball and one caused turnover
* Scored the first goal of her collegiate career against Boston College in the season opener
* Recorded the groundball and draw control against Dartmouth on Feb. 15
Prior to UMass

* Played at West Babylon Senior High School
* No. 10 recruit in the nation
* Member of the Under Armour All-Long Island Team
* Named Second-Team All-America in 2019
* Earned a spot at the Under Armour All-America Senior Game
* Selected to the 2019 U19 USA Training Team
* Scored 29 goals and added 23 assists as a senior
* Finished career with 126 goals and 45 assists
* Academic All-County selection
* Also played soccer and ran track, winning the state title in the 4×4 relay in 2017
* Her father, Michael, played football at Penn State
Heller – along with a group of 10 newcomers who signed their NILs in the fall<https://floridagators.com/news/2022/11/9/florida-lacrosse-welcomes-10-newcomers-to-the-2023-24-class.aspx> – will comprise Florida’s incoming class of 2023.

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