Temple and Florida won their opening games in the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship Friday, while Vanderbilt fell in its tournament opener.
Temple 14, Massachusetts 13
Belle Mastropietro scored five goals including the gamewinner to lead Temple to its first NCAA tournament win since 1998 as the Owls edged Massachusetts Friday in Newton, Massachusetts.
The win sets up a second-round matchup against No. 4/4 Boston College Sunday at 1 p.m.
"This team has had the ability to find a way all year and we did it again today," said head coach Bonnie Rosen. "UMass competed so hard and as expected it went down to the last seconds of the game. To come away with a win today is truly thrilling for our team, our parents, and our alumnae."
While Mastropietro led Temple with a stellar five-goal performance, Mackenzie Roth, Meghan Hoffman, and Bridget Whitaker scored two each. Ryan, Jen Rodzewich, and Julie Schickling had one goal apiece.
Courtney Taylor led the Owls with five draw control wins. Her three caused turnovers have her just one short of tying the single-season record (42).
The win was Temple's first NCAA tournament win victory since 1998, when the Owls defeated the Duke 17-10.
Florida 23, Mercer 5
The sixth-seeded Florida lacrosse team used a high-powered offensive attack to cruise past the Mercer Bears 23-5 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators improve to 17-2 on the season, while the Bears ended their 2021 campaign with a 7-8 record overall. This is the seventh time in 12 seasons that UF has won at least 17 games, just two off the program record of 19 (2012).
Florida moved to 9-9 in NCAA Tournament play with the win and moved to 1-0 all-time against Mercer.
"Really proud of this group," said Florida head coach Amanda O'Leary. "They really came out strong out of the locker room and were really fired up. I thought we connected really well. Shannon (Kavanagh) did a fantastic job off of the draw to give us possession and then offensively we were running on all cylinders. That was awesome to see. We shared the ball and got a lot of different scorers and then obviously defensively they held their own. I thought Sarah (Reznick) came up with some big saves. So I think overall it was just a fantastic effort."
The Gators' offense was firing against the Bears, scoring 23 goals on the evening – the third-best total in program history.
Brianna Harris and Shannon Kavanagh led Florida on the offensive front, each tallying five goals in the game. Grace Haus added four of her own in the win, while Paisley Eagan and Emily Heller each found the back of the cage twice in the game.
Five Gators scored a goal apiece in the victory: Danielle Pavinelli, Kassidy Bresnahan, Emerson Cabrera, Shelton Sawers and Janine Suris.
Maggi Hall posted a career-best four assists on the evening, while Harris and Kavanagh dished out three and two helpers, respectively. Pavinelli and Jill Quigley each recorded one assist of their own in the game.
The Gators dominated the draw circle, winning 25-of-27 on the evening – the second-highest total in program history (26). Kavanagh set a new program record for draw controls in a game, tallying 16. That surpassed the previous record of 14 by two.
Florida's defense lived up to its nationally-ranked name, holding the Bears to five goals in the game. In the first 37 minutes of the game, the Gators held Mercer to just one goal. Harris and Liz Harrison each recorded a caused turnover in the matchup.
Bresnahan, Hall, Harris and Kavanagh each registered a team-high two groundballs in the game.
Sarah Reznick and Julia Hammerschlag were solid in the goal for Florida, totaling three saves in the cage.
The Gators will face Jacksonville in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at The Diz. Opening draw is slated for noon ET on ESPN3.
Jacksonville 20, Vanderbilt 12
The Vanderbilt lacrosse team battled the No. 16 Jacksonville Dolphins in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but fell by a 20-12 margin. It was the first appearance in the postseason invitational since 2010.
The Dolphins raced out to the game’s first goal three minutes in. Callie Sundin found the back of the net from an Elizabeth Scarrone just shy of five minutes later to level the scoring.
Four minutes later, the Dores took their first lead of the game from Ella Smith. Sundin, Maddie Souza and Bri Gross also added goals to increase the margin to 5-2.
Following a timeout, Jacksonville used a six-goal run to seize momentum going into the intermission.
Vanderbilt and Jacksonville split eight goals to start the final half. The Dores’ four came from Smith, Fornia, Souza and Paige Finneran.
The Commodores’ comeback attempt was thwarted when Jacksonville used a quick four-goal spurt to put the game out of reach.
Smith paced the Vanderbilt scoring with a hat trick. Gross, Smith, Souza and Sundin added two goals apiece. Fornia and Griffin Gearhardt led the Dores with two assists each.
Paige Gunning stopped nine shots from the Dolphins in nearly 58 minutes of action on the night. Lexie de Rozerie stopped one shot in two minutes played.
Vanderbilt concludes the season with a 12-7 mark, tied for the second-most wins in program history.