Saturday, April 6
Highlights
Cincinnati 14, ECU 5
Using balanced scoring and stout defense, the University of Cincinnati lacrosse team collected its first road win of the year by downing host ECU, 14-5, Saturday afternoon inside Johnson Stadium in Greenville, N.C., in an American Athletic Conference game aired lived on the American Digital Network.
Five different players scored goals for the Bearcats, all of which scored at least two on the day, while defense allowed its fewest goals in more than two years to help UC grab its fifth win in a row. The Bearcats improved to 8-5 overall and remained in a tie atop of the AAC standings with a 2-0 record while the Pirates fell to 5-8 overall and 0-2 in league play.
The win is UC's fifth in a row, tying for the second-longest winning streak in program history (2014) and one shy of the record. The win also tied the program record for wins in a season, set last year with an 8-9 record.
Monica Borzillo led the team in scoring with five points on four goals and one assist and the game-winning goal. Borzillo now holds the season points record at 75 (43g-32a) and tied for the season game-winning goals record with her third.
Sam Mlkvy and Alyssa Adams each finished with hat tricks (3 goals each) while both added a single assist as well.
Both teams had chances at scoring the first goal with UC failing on its first two attempts before ECU was successful on its second with a goal at the 26:02 mark to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. The Bearcats responded, however, as Adams won the draw, drove to the cage and scored just eight seconds after the ECU goal to tie things up and start what would be a five-goal run by UC. In that run, Napoletano scored on a free-position shot before Borzillo, Mlkvy and Nause all tallied unassisted goals. The Pirates halted the run at the 14:22 mark with back-to-back goals for a 5-3 score at the 11:52 mark, but the Bearcats closed out the half with three straight from there.
Borzillo and Napoletano each added their second before Mlkvy grabbed her second as UC gained the ball with 34 seconds remaining in the half and sent the ball down field, eventually seeing Mlkvy take the ball into the ECU zone and score with 15 seconds on the clock. The goal from Mlkvy not only made it 8-3 at the break, but also marked the 20th-latest goal scored in the opening half of a UC game.
Florida 18, Vanderbilt 9
The 17th-ranked Gators moved to 2-0 in the AAC after topping Vanderbilt, 18-9, on Saturday afternoon at Donald R. Dizney Stadium. Florida is 2-0 in conference play for the eighth time in program history and the sixth-straight season.
Florida's offense was led by Sydney Pirreca, who posted four goals on the day, a season-best mark for her. Four other Gators recorded hat trick as well: Lindsey Ronbeck, Grace Haus, Shannon Kavanagh and Brianna Harris.
UF won 15-of-27 draws, including a season-best nine from Kavanagh.
Sydney Pirreca got the Gators on the board early, scoring on an unassisted goal just 32 seconds in the frame. Brianna Harris followed with a free-position conversion, then Pirreca notched her second goal of the day to put the Gators up 3-0 at the 26:50 mark.
Pirreca continued to roll in the first half, coming up with back-to-back goals to put the Gators up 5-0 with just over 22 remaining in the half.
Vanderbilt answered with a 2-0 run to cut Florida's lead three, but the Gators got two goals from Caroline Benitez and Shannon Kavanagh to take back the five-goal lead back at 7-2.
Grace Haus extended Florida's lead to 10 after notching two consecutive goals, giving the Gators the 13-3 lead going into the locker room.
Harris picked up her first hat trick of the season, scoring just 1:40 into the second half to put Florida up 14-3. Vanderbilt cut the lead back to 10 goals at the 23:59 mark, but Haus extended the lead back to 11 with her fourth hat trick this year.
Temple 17, UConn 13
With an 11-goal second half, Temple lacrosse surged ahead in the final 15 minutes and got its first American Athletic Conference victory with a 17-13 defeat of UConn (2-11, 0-2) on the road. The Owls (4-8, 1-1) got hat tricks from three players including five goals each from juniors Maddie Gebert and Olivia Thompson.
Over the first 33 minutes of the game there were seven ties and five lead changes.
The first time either team got a two-goal lead was on a Gebert goal with 26:27 remaining in the second half. That goal put Temple up 9-7 and was the third in a four-goal run that put the Owls up 10-7, but UConn answered with three straight to tie the game yet again at 10-10 with 20 minutes to go.
Another 4-0 run with two Gebert goals put Temple ahead for good. The Huskies cut the margin to two, 15-13 with seven minutes to go, but the Owls shut them down the rest of the way while scoring twice more to seal the victory.
Thompson scored the Owls' first two goals before eventually finishing with five, her second-best total of the season. Gebert scored four times in the second half, and her five total goals and six total points are both season highs. Senior Amber Lambeth scored three goals for her third hat trick of the year, and also tallied one assist.
Junior Maryn Lowell made 10 saves in the cage, caused three turnovers and tallied six ground balls.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
| TUESDAY |
 |
Duke |
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 |
ECU |
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|
7 p.m. |
Greenville, N.C. |
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| WEDNESDAY |
 |
UConn |
|
 |
Yale |
|
|
4 p.m. |
New Haven, Conn. |
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| THURSDAY |
 |
Florida |
|
 |
Jacksonville |
|
|
7 p.m. |
Jacksonville, Fla. |
Live Stats |
| SATURDAY |
|
ECU |
|
|
Florida |
|
 |
12 p.m. |
Gainesville, Fla. |
Live Stats Live Video |
 |
Temple |
|
 |
Cincinnati |
|
|
12 p.m. |
Cincinnati, Ohio |
Live Stats |
| SUNDAY |
 |
UConn |
|
 |
Vanderbilt |
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|
12 p.m. |
Nashville, Tenn. |
TV:American Digital Network |