Saturday, March 30
Highlights
Cincinnati 11, UConn 9
Despite intermittent downpours and a slick surface, the University of Cincinnati lacrosse team managed to handle the adversity well as the Bearcats jumped out a 7-1 lead before holding on to defeat UConn, 11-9, in the inaugural American Athletic Conference game that was played Saturday at Gettler Stadium in Cincinnati.
Monica Borzillo and Kylie Nause each recorded hat tricks while Giuliana Durso stopped 11 shots in goal to help UC to its third win in a row as the Bearcats improved to 6-5 overall and 1-0 in the AAC while the Huskies fell to 2-9 overall and 0-1 in the league.
Cincinnati improved to 6-5 overall and 1-0 in AAC play while UConn fell to 2-9 overall and 0-1 in league action. The win marked the first time the Bearcats have won their first conference game of a season. The Bearcats also picked up their first win in the series with UConn, halting the Huskies' 10-game winning streak. Cincinnati rises to 6-1 at home this year, breaking the record for home wins in a season (5 in 2013 and 2018).
The Bearcats won the opening draw control, but were unable to score with UConn racing the other way and Caitlin Leary scoring her first of six on the day for the visitors for a 1-0 score at 28:07. From there, however, the first half of play was vastly different as the Bearcats dominated possession and scored seven in a row to close out the half with a 7-1 lead. Borzillo got the scoring started before Gianna Napoletano and Nause added to the lead. Then, Borzillo scored her second before Sam Mlkvy got on the board and Nause tallied her second. Borzillo collected her hat trick at 8:30 to close out the first half scoring.
The second half was quite the opposite from the first. Donovan scored her goal at 27:33 to make it eight in a row for UC and an 8-1 lead for the hosts, but UConn started chipping away at the lead as the Huskies scored three in a row to make it 9-4 at the 17:41 mark. Alyssa Adams scored to halt a three-goal run for the visitors with Leary scoring before Jayde Sains nabbed a goal to make it 11-5 at 8:18. From there, the Huskies would go on to score the final four goals of the game, including three more form Leary, but it was not enough as UC was able to hang on for the win.
Florida 15, Temple 8
The Gators kicked off conference play on a high note, topping Temple 15-8 in the first AAC game for both teams. Florida has won nine-straight conference openers in three different leagues.
Grace Haus led the Gators on the offensive attack, posting four goals on the day, tying her career-best. Lindsey Ronbeck and Shannon Kavanagh both recorded hat tricks for Florida as well to help secure the victory.
Ronbeck became just the third Gator to hit 200 career goals with her second goal of the day. She is the second-fastest Gator to hit that mark, doing so in 70 games.
Temple got out to the early 1-0 less than two minutes into the game, but Shannon Kavanagh evened it all up at 1-1 on a free-position attempt. The Owls followed with on a 3-0 run to take the 4-1 lead with just over 17 minutes remaining in the first half.
Florida came storming back though, beginning with Hannah Mardiney finding Lindsey Ronbeck cutting through the crease to cut Temple's lead to two at 4-2. The Gators continued their run, with Grace Haus scoring on a free-position attempt and Kavanagh cutting through three defenders to tie it all up at 4-4.
The Owls got the lead back at the 6:04 mark, but Florida closed the half out on a 2-0 run to take a 6-5 lead into the locker room. The run was spurred by Mardiney's first goal of the day and Ronbeck's second goal of the afternoon. With that goal, Ronbeck became just the third Gator to hit 200 career goals.
Temple scored just over a minute into the second half to knot the game at 6-6, but the Gators answered with a 9-0 run to take control.
The run started with Haus powering the ball into the back of the net, followed with an acrobatic goal by Kavanagh, to give her a hat trick – her eighth of the season.
Caroline Benitez got her first goal of the day on an assist from Brianna Harris to put Florida up 9-6 with 20:45 left in the game. Haus added back-to-back goals during the Florida spurt, putting the Gators up five goals at the 19:28 mark.
Ronbeck then found a cutting Sydney Pirreca to put Florida up 12-6 with 17 minutes remaining in the game. Three more Gator goals from Ronbeck, Mardiney and Harris put the game out of reach for Temple and secured a 1-0 record in conference play for UF.
Vanderbilt 14, ECU 10
Vanderbilt secured its first conference win of the season on the road against East Carolina, 14-10, on Sunday morning at Johnson Stadium.
Playing in their first conference game as members of the American Athletic Conference, the Commodores (9-2, 1-0) were able to start off on the right foot.
The Commodores took a 1-0 lead to begin the game, but the Pirates answered with a 3-0 run to make it 3-1 Vanderbilt. Melanie Becker helped spark the 3-0 Commodore run with three straight draw controls that led to three straight goals for the Commodores, who retook the lead.
Gwyn Devin, Gabby Fornia and Sophie Furlong all scored during that stretch.
From there, both teams traded goals to make it 6-6 before the Commodores rattled off a 3-0 run to close the half and take a 9-6 lead. Becker scored two of those three goals with Maddie Souza adding the final one with nine seconds remaining in the half.
Becker finished the game with a career-high seven draw controls, two goals, one assist and one caused turnover.
Fornia and Furlong finished the game with hat tricks as they scored three goals apiece. Devin also had a multi-goal performance while Julie Blaze, Elizabeth Scarrone and Callie Sundin added one goal each in the contest.
Fornia recorded two assists to improve her team-high total to 27.
Lily Argyle started in goal for the Commodores and recorded nine saves to improve to 7-2.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
| TUESDAY |
 |
Butler |
|
 |
Cincinnati |
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|
12 p.m. |
Cincinnati, Ohio |
Live Stats |
 |
UConn |
|
 |
Dartmouth |
|
|
3 p.m. |
Hanover, N.H. |
Live Video TV:ESPN+ |
| SATURDAY |
|
Cincinnati |
|
 |
ECU |
|
 |
12 p.m. |
Greenville, N.C. |
TV:American Digital Network |
 |
Vanderbilt |
|
 |
Florida |
|
|
12 p.m. |
Gainesville, Fla. |
Live Stats Live Video |
 |
Temple |
|
|
UConn |
|
|
1 p.m. |
Storrs, Conn. |