East Carolina stands at 3-0 for the first time in the brief history of the program after the Pirates rolled past Presbyterian Sunday afternoon. The result salvaged a split of nonconference games for The American as Cincinnati fell to No. Michigan.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20
East Carolina 20, Presbyterian 3
Michigan 20, Cincinnati 7
EAST CAROLINA 20, PRESBYTERIAN
GREENVILLE, N.C. – A record offensive showing propelled the East Carolina lacrosse team to a 20-3 victory over Presbyterian on Sunday afternoon.
ECU improves to 3-0 on the season, the first time the Pirates have won their first three games in program history. Presbyterian drops to 1-1.
The Pirates turned the game into a blowout right from the opening draw. Frances Kimel got ECU on the scoreboard and 11 seconds later, Nicole LeGar added a second. A Leah Bestany goal made it 3-0 after five minutes.
The gates truly flooded open from there. Ellie Bromley got a goal before Bestany set up Kimel. Payton Barr scored on an unassisted effort. With 39 seconds, Kimel set up Megan Tryniski for a goal and then Tryniski fed Sophia LoCicero who scored. Those five goals came in a span of 3:12 and made it 8-0 with 6:10 remaining in the first. The ECU offense finally cooled off a bit, but LoCicero scored off a pass from Kimel with 16 seconds remaining in the quarter to make it 9-0 after 15 minutes.
The lead extended to 10 early in the second, as Carli Johnston scored. Presbyterian finally got on the scoreboard when Abby Edmisten scored an unassisted goal. But Barr answered for ECU and then the Pirates took advantage of a Presbyterian yellow card as LeGar and Kimel combined for a man-up goal. The Blue Hose closed the second quarter scoring as Edmisten got her second goal, making it 12-2 at the break.
The third quarter was all ECU. The Pirates outscored Presbyterian 5-0 in the frame, with Erin Gulden scoring a pair of goals and getting an assist. Regina Di Chiara and Madeleine Saucier also combined for a goal in the quarter, with Di Chiara scoring and Saucier getting the assists. The pairing combined for two more goals in the fourth quarter, with Di Chiara scoring all three. Her third goal with 23 seconds left gave ECU 20 in the game, tying the school record.
East Carolina had a 33-14 edge in shots and led 15-10 in draw controls. The Pirates had a slight 15-13 lead in ground balls and turned it over five times compared to 11 for the Blue Hose. The 20 goals tie the school record, which had been set in a 20-8 win over Campbell on Feb. 24, 2021 and a 20-5 victory against Wofford in the 2020 home opener.
For the second straight game, Kimel led ECU in points, finishing with two goals and three assists. Regina Di Chiara had a hat trick to lead ECU in goals, while Madeleine Saucier had three assists. The pair were two of seven Pirates with exactly three points. Nicole LeGar (six), Flynn Reed (four) and Sophie Patton (three) combined for 13 draw controls while Alexandra Giacolone led the Pirates with two caused turnovers. Brynn Knight took the first 30 mintues in goal for ECU, making four saves and allowing two goals. Sophie Bandorick followed with 18 shutout minutes, making four saves while Savvy Smith played the final 12 minutes.
NO. 11 MICHIGAN 20, CINCINNATI 7
CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati lacrosse team fell to No. 11 Michigan, 20-7, Sunday afternoon at Nippert Stadium.
The loss moves the Bearcats' record to 0-3 on the young season and improves Michigan's record to 4-0.
The Bearcats were led offensively by senior attacker Kylie Nause, who recorded her third hat-trick in three games. She scored three goals, one in the first, one in the third and one in the fourth quarter. Sophomore midfielder Ava Goeller, junior attacker Grace Wehland, junior midfielder Peyton Mottice and junior midfielder Morgan Bates also added one goal each.
Nause tied the game up, 1-1, early in the first quarter, however Michigan went on a 5-0 run to take an early 6-1 lead. Mottice's unassisted goal in the second quarter put the Bearcats back on the board before Michigan scored seven straight goals to end the first half up 13-2.
Bates and Goeller scored on back-to-back plays to start the third quarter and Nause added her second goal of the game while Michigan added a few more goals, with the score 15-5 heading into the fourth quarter. Wehland scored the first goal of the fourth quarter and Nause added her third goal at the 7:02 mark but it was all Michigan in the end, with the final score of 20-7.