Wednesday, Feb. 13 - Sunday, Feb. 17
Highlights
Virginia Tech 19, Cincinnati 8
The University of Cincinnati lacrosse team opened its first road game of the year on fire, scoring the first four goals, including two from Monica Borzillo. But, #23 Virginia Tech (2-2) responded to take a 9-7 lead at halftime before using a big run in the second half to hand the Bearcats (2-2) their second loss of the season, 19-8, at a game played inside the Beamer-Lawson Indoor Practice Facility in Blacksburg, Va., Wednesday afternoon.
Borzillo scored her third hat trick of the year and in as many games while making it four games in a row this year that she has scored at least two goals and added at least one assist. Borzillo, already the program's all-time assist leader (70), is now just two points shy of tying the career points record of 169. Giuliana Durso posted 10 saves in the game, tying for her season-best total.
To say UC came out on fire in the opening minutes might be an understatement as Sam Mlkvy won the draw control and sent the ball ahead with Borzillo getting the ball and moving inside for a shot and goal with just 20 seconds elapsed. The Bearcats would double their advantage just under two minutes later as the defense stood tall and cleared the zone and a pass ahead came to Kate Carney, who moved forward and past the goalie who came way out to try and stop the pass, leaving the cage wide open for Carney and a 2-0 UC lead. After that, Alyssa Adams won the draw control and sprinted toward the cage, adding the third goal of the game for UC just 11 seconds after Carney's strike. After another draw control win, the Bearcats went back to work on offense and saw Borzillo drive in and shoot low into the cage for a 4-0 lead at the 27:18 mark. Following three goals for UC in a span of 29 seconds, VT called time out.
The Hokies climbed back into the game as they scored the next three in a row before Borzillo completed her hat trick at the 19:33 mark for a 5-3 lead. After both teams traded goals, including Gianna Napoletano scoring her first of the game, the hosts would begin to turn the tide on the Bearcats as they scored five in a row for a 9-6 lead late in the half. Amanda Donovan scored with 4:35 remaining to cut into the Hokies' lead, making it 9-7 at the break.
The second half was nothing like the first for the Bearcats as they were unable to find a goal for nearly 15 minutes of play as Borzillo converted a free-position chance with 5:39 remaining in the game. Unfortunately for UC, the Hokies scored the first eight goals of the second half, bringing the score to 17-8 when Borzillo scored her fourth of the day.
Saint Joseph’s 17, Temple 8
Despite a huge advantage in draw controls and the second career hat trick for sophomore Bridget Whitaker, Temple lacrosse suffered a 17-8 loss at city rival Saint Joseph's on Thursday evening. The Owls (1-3) struggled with turnovers, particularly in the second half, while the Hawks (1-2) doubled Temple's shots on goal.
Junior Julia Ryan tallied two goals while junior Maddie Gebert and seniors Amber Lambeth and Quinn Benintende scored one goal apiece.
Saint Joseph's recorded 30 shots on goal to the Owls' 14, and raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first seven minutes. The Hawks put together two other 4-0 runs during the game, always keeping the Owls out of reach.
The Hawks first got on the scoreboard at 26:58, and scored three more goals in the next four minutes. Temple only once scored back-to-back goals, doing so in a five-minute stretch of the second half to make it 12-6 before another 4-0 SJU run.
ECU 10, George Washington 9
In a game that featured two lead changes and six ties, the ECU women's lacrosse team finished ahead in the end, beating George Washington 10-9 on Friday afternoon.
ECU (3-1) has already set a new record for wins in a season, besting its inaugural season total. The Pirates also avenge an 18-7 loss to George Washington (0-2) in ECU's inaugural game in February 2018.
After going down 3-0 to start the game, ECU's defense clamped down after that Buff and Blue goal, allowing the offense to methodically get ECU back into the game. The Pirates allowed just one goal the rest of the half and held George Washington scoreless for a stretch of nearly 17 minutes at one point. During that scoreless streak, Camryn Pennypacker, Nicole LeGar and Pallozzi all scored for ECU, tying the game at 4-4. George Washington got the final goal of the half to take a 5-4 lead into the locker room.
The lead was short lived, as George Washington scored to tie the game at 7-7 with 11:04 remaining. The two teams traded goals for the next nine minutes. A Pennypacker goal made it 8-7, but the Buff and Blue scored less than a minute later to tie the score once again. Brittany Borchers scored on a free-position attempt, but that marker was canceled out by a George Washington tally with 3:27 remaining.
As the clock was winding down, every possession became crucial. The Pirates showed that by winning the draw off the George Washington goal, with LeGar getting credit. ECU used nearly all of the shot clock before LeGar found Pennypacker, with the freshman scoring the go-ahead goal.
With the slim one-goal lead, ECU had to sweat out the final 2:04. George Washington won the ensuing draw and an ECU foul gave the Buff and Blue a golden opportunity.
Luckily for ECU, Christina White's school-record 19th save came on that ensuing free-position attempt, denying George Washington its final chance to tie the score.
Pennypacker led ECU with four points on three goals and an assist. Stanton (three assists), LeGar (two goals, one assist) and Pallozzi all finished with three points each. White finished with the school record 19 saves while Hannah Melton had a team-best six ground balls.
Loyola 15, Florida 12
The No. 5 Florida Gators fell to the No. 16 Loyola Greyhounds, 15-12, in a challenging road test on Saturday at the Ridley Athletic Complex.
Shannon Kavanagh paced the offense for the Gators, scoring four goals on the day – just one off her career-best. Lindsey Ronbeck pitched in a hat trick and Grace Haus added two goals of her own.
Sabrina Cristodero won five draw controls, while Kavanagh and Ronbeck each added three wins during the game.
Pirreca gave the Gators the early advantage, putting Florida on the board within the first minute of game. Haus and Kavanagh then went back-to-back on the offensive end, putting the Gators up 3-1.
Loyola followed with a 4-0 run to the take the 5-3 lead with 11:42 left in the first half, but Kavanagh stopped the run on her second goal of the game. The Greyhounds then got one back, taking the 6-4 lead with 3:02 remaining in the first half.
The Greyhounds got on the board first in the second half, but Madi Hall scored an unassisted goal to cut the deficit to two at 7-5. Kavanagh then notched back-to-back goals within 35 seconds to tie the game at 7-7 and push her to four goals on the day.
With the game tied 7-7, Loyola went on a 3-0 run to take the 10-7 lead with 23:36 remaining in the second half. Ronbeck and Haus then helped the Gators storm back, combining for two goals to pull within two goals at 11-9 – but the Greyhounds added another to take the 12-9 lead with 15 minutes remaining in the game.
Down three, Ronbeck scored back-to-back free-position goals to cut the deficit to 12-11 with just over 13 minutes left in the game. Loyola then answered back with two goals of their own, taking the 14-11 lead, but Hall collected her second goal of the game to cut it to 14-12.
The Gators were unable to get any closer, while Loyola added one to its total with six seconds remaining in the game.
Cincinnati 18, Detroit Mercy 8
Four players scored at least three goals each as the University of Cincinnati offense got back to its high powered ways to rebound from Wednesday's road loss with an 18-8 home victory over visiting Detroit Mercy Sunday afternoon at Gettler Stadium. The Bearcats (3-2), who scored seven of their goals on free-position shots, scored 18 or more goals for the third time in 2019 to hand the Titans (1-3) their third loss of the season.
Four players scored hat tricks in the game including Monica Borzillo (6), Alyssa Adams (3), Taylor Gysin (3) and Sam Mlkvy (3). Three other players scored one goal each, including Amanda Fess, who netted her first of the season.
UC jumped out to a 2-0 lead as Adams scored just 39 seconds into the game on a free-position shot before Amanda Donovan scored on an assist from Adams. The two teams traded goals from there to make it 4-2 with 23:10 remaining as Borzillo netted her first of the day and Jayde Sains scored on a free-position shot. The Bearcats would add two more after that with Mlkvy and Borzillo scoring to make it 6-2 before UMD halted that run for a 6-3 score line. UC responded, however, and scored the next five goals in a row with Borzillo scoring three and both Adams and Mlkvy finding their second. After a UMD goal at 9:24, the Bearcats would go on to score the final three goals of the opening half as Adams, Mlkvy and Gysin scored once again to give UC a 14-4 advantage at the break.
The second half started at a much slower pace than the first as it took nearly five minutes before either team scored. Before UMD got the goal at 25:04, they took several shots with Durso making four saves to keep the Titans out of the cage. After that goal, the Bearcats scored the next four goals with Gysin netting a pair and both Borzillo and Fess finding the net as well. Leading 18-5, UC did not score again in the final 11:23 of play while the visitors scored three times to bring about the final margin.
ECU 16, Delaware State 2
In the most dominating effort of the young season, the ECU women's lacrosse team routed Delaware State 16-2 on Sunday afternoon.
The Pirates started the game on the right foot as Megan Pallozzi won the opening draw. ECU held the ball, probing for an opening before Camryn Pennypacker was fouled over a minute into the possession. Pennypacker scored on the ensuing free position shot and ECU was off and running.
The ECU offense continued to roll while the defense was inpentrable. Pennypacker's goal kicked off a 9-0 ECU run to open the game, all before Delaware State took its first shot. Ally Stanton and Nicole LeGar both had a pair of goals during the run, while Liz Blumthal, Hannah Rzempoluch, Emma Bowman and Megan Tryniski all also scored.
Delaware State finally got on the scoreboard at the 12:43 mark on a goal by Olivia Summerville. That goal did not slow ECU's momentum, with the Pirates scoring four more times before the end of the half. Blumthal and Tryniski both scored their second goal of the game before Caroline Inderlied and Alex Nicoletti each got their first.
In the second half, Pennypacker once again got the first goal of the period for ECU, this time off a feed from Stanton. ECU added two more goals, the first by Pallozzi and the second by Stanton at the 15:54 mark of the half. Delaware State added one more goal with 14:16 remaining to account for the final margin.
Stanton led the Pirates with six points on three goals and three assists. Tryniski had three points of her own, scoring a pair of goals and adding an assist. Pennypacker and Pallozzi had a team-high three draw controls while Stanton led ECU with two ground balls.
New Hampshire 13, UConn 12
Despite a furious second half rally and seven different Huskies finding the back of the net, UConn women's lacrosse fell in its home opener, 13-12, to New Hampshire Sunday afternoon at Sherman Family Complex. UConn drops to 0-4, while UNH improves to 2-1.
Sydney Watson led the charge for UConn, recording a hat trick and dishing out two assists for a game-high five points. Anna Costello, Lia LaPrise and Sam McKenna each tallied two goals apiece, while Lexi Kenneally, Olivia Miles and Madison Cook each found the back of the net once.
UConn put the first one on the board after Watson slotted home a shot 30 seconds into the game. UNH scored the next three to take a 3-1 lead, but back-to-back tallies from Watson and LaPrise knotted the score at 3-3. The Wildcats would close the half scoring seven of the next nine goals to take a 10-5 lead into the locker room.
Olivia Miles and Lexi Kenneally slotted home two early in the second half to bring UConn within three, 10-7. UConn and UNH would trade goals over the next 12 minutes, and the visitors held a 13-9 lead with 10:34 remaining on the clock. UConn wasn't done competing though.
Anna Costello found the back of the cage for the second time off the feed from Kenneally, Sydney Watson completed her hat trick with a free position goal and Sam McKenna took the pass from Watson and cashed in on a man-up opportunity as the Huskies came storming back to cut the deficit to one, 13-12, with 3:03 left. Caitlin Leary had a chance at the equalizer with a minute remaining, but couldn't get her shot to go as the UNH keeper made the save to preserve the win.
Vanderbilt 18, Furman 5
Vanderbilt started its road trip off with a resounding 18-5 victory over Furman on Sunday at Paladin Stadium.
The Commodores (3-0) jumped out to an early lead and never looked back after scoring nine goals in each half.
Sophie Furlong, the Commodores' leading scorer, kicked things off within the first minute of the game. After Furman tied it up, Vanderbilt rattled off eight straight goals for a 9-1 lead with four minutes left in the first half.
Emily Mathewson led the way offensively with a hat trick with two of those goals coming on free position attempts. Six different Commodores also scored multiple goals in the game: Melanie Becker, Julie Blaze, Hadley Brown, Gwyn Devin, Bri Gross and Callie Sundin.
Blaze has scored two goals in each game this season while Sundin has scored six goals in the past two games. She also had a season-high six draw controls vs. Furman, while Mathewson trailed her with three.
Becker filled up the stat sheet for the Commodores as she caused turnovers and recorded four ground balls and three draw controls. Devin was the only other Commodore with multiple caused turnovers with three.
Lily Argyle started in goal for the Commodores and earned her second win of the season. She posted six saves while only allowing four goals. Grace Bell relieved her late in the second half and made one save.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
| TUESDAY |
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Lafayette |
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Temple |
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3 p.m. |
Philadelphia, Pa. |
Live Stats Live Video |
| WEDNESDAY |
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Vanderbilt |
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Louisville |
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6 p.m. |
Louisville, Ky. |
Live Stats |
| FRIDAY |
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Cincinnati |
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Central Michigan |
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3 p.m. |
Mount Pleasant, Mich. |
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| SATURDAY |
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Florida |
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Navy |
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11 a.m. |
Annapolis, Md. |
Live Video |
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UConn |
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UMass |
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1 p.m. |
Amherst, Mass. |
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| SUNDAY |
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Saint Francis |
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ECU |
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12 p.m. |
Greenville, N.C. |
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Cincinnati |
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Michigan |
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1 p.m. |
Ann Arbor, Mich. |
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Vanderbilt |
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Denver |
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3 p.m. |
Denver, Colo. |