Three American Athletic Conference teams were on the road Friday and all three came up with impressive victories as Cincinnati, East Carolina and No. 22 Vanderbilt pulled away for wins.

The Bearcats picked up their first victory of the season with a 15-9 decision at Gardner-Webb. The Pirates improved to 4-0 for the first time in program history with a 16-10 win at George Mason. And the Commodores celebrated a milestone victory for coach Beth Hewitt in a 17-11 victory at Elon.


FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25
Cincinnati 15, Gardner-Webb 9
East Carolina 16, George Mason 10
Vanderbilt 17, Elon 11


CINCINNATI 15, GARDNER-WEBB 9
CINCINNATI -- The University of Cincinnati lacrosse team outscored Gardner-Webb 6-0 in the second quarter, while also adding six more in the third, to defeat the host Bulldogs 15-9 on Friday afternoon.

"We're happy to get our first win in 2022!" head coach Gina Thomas said. "Our team has fought through a lot of adversity this year, so we're glad we were able to get everyone an opportunity to play."

The six goals in each quarter marked season-highs for the team, which earned its first win after a grueling three-game stretch to start the year against Marquette, Ohio State and No. 11 Michigan.

Cincinnati shook off a close start for a 13-5 advantage in draw controls over the middle quarters. UC struck first within the first 67 seconds as Peyton Mottice raced all the way downfield before a quick pass and strike from Grace Wehland for the goal. Gardner-Webb responded two minutes later before UC responded with seven-straight goals, including a hat trick from Kylie Nause.

Elizabeth Murphy also scored the first goal of the second quarter, which also marked the first of her career.

The Bulldogs got the first score of the third quarter, but Alyssa Adams responded 24 seconds, and again 90 seconds later, for an added cushion. Gardner-Webb scored three more times in the final minutes to cut it from 15-6.

Adams, Nause (4) and Ava Goeller all earned hat tricks. Sophie O'Brien showed her fast-growing versatility with nine saves from several angles as well, a career-high for the freshman.


EAST CAROLINA 16, GEORGE MASON 10
FAIRFAX, VA. – An 8-2 second half, including a shutout fourth quarter, propelled the East Carolina lacrosse team to a 16-10 win over George Mason on Friday afternoon.
 
The Pirates improve to 4-0 on the season, the best start in program history, while George Mason drops to 0-4.
 
The first quarter was a game of runs. George Mason grabbed the opening two goals in just over three minutes, prompting a Pirate timeout. East Carolina got back in the game, getting goals from Leah Bestany and Sophia LoCicero. The Pirates got their first lead of the game with 7:09 left in the first half when Nicole LeGar found Megan Tryniski in front of the George Mason goal and Tryniski flipped in a backhanded goal.
 
From there though, the Patriots took over and scored the final four goals of the first quarter to make it 6-3. A Patriot goal to open the second quarter put ECU into its biggest hole of the young season.
 
It was not long before East Carolina began to climb out of the deficit. Tryniski dodged from behind the goal and got in front where she was able to score. Payton Barr followed it up by converting a free-position shot. The run continued with Tryniski polishing off a first half hat trick and then Ellie Bromley dodged into the front of the cage and fired a rocket that found the back of the net to make it 7-7.
 
The scoring slowed down after Bromley's goal. George Mason got one more goal to retake the lead. The Pirates made it a tie game as Frances Kimel fed LeGar for a goal with 11 seconds left in the half, making it 8-8 at the break.
 
The pace continued to slow down in the third quarter, as neither team could take control of the game. Barr got her second goal of the game at the 11:40 mark when she cut in from the right wing and scored a backhand. But 70 seconds later, the Patriots answered. The pattern repeated itself once again, with LeGar getting her second goal to make it 10-9 Pirates, but the Patriots had an answer.
 
East Carolina finally found some breathing room at the end of the third quarter. Sophie Patton scored on a free-position shot to make it 11-10. Kimel then stole a pass from the George Mason goalkeeper and raced in to score on an empty net. Kimel was not done there, as she added a second straight goal with seven seconds left in the third to make it 13-10 after the third.
 
The Pirates clamped down on the defensive end to make sure George Mason never had a chance to get back in the game. Bestany bagged a goal 59 seconds into the fourth quarter, but from there, only two more goals were scored. Kimel got her hat trick with a goal with 8:21 remaining while Barr got a hat trick of her own on a goal with 2:38 remaining. The Pirates shut out the Patriots in the fourth quarter, the fourth shutout quarter of the season for East Carolina.
 
ECU finished with a 44-33 edge in shots, while both teams had 14 draw controls. George Mason had a 16-10 edge in ground balls, but the Patriots turned it over 11 times compared to nine for the Pirates. ECU shot 4-of-11 from the eight-meter arc while George Mason was 2-of-7.
 
Kimel led the Pirates with three goals and two assists while Tryniski had three goals and a helper. Barr and LeGar each had three points, with LeGar grabbing a game-high eight draw controls. Kimel, Caroline Meininger, Jordyn Cox and Alexandra Giacolone led the team with two ground balls each while Giacolone and Maddie Kercher each caused two George Mason turnovers.
 
Brynn Knight took the first 30 minutes in the cage for ECU, making five saves. Sophie Bandorick took the final 30 minutes, making 10 saves.  
 
The Pirates will have the biggest test of the young season as they travel to Durham to take on No. 8 Duke on Monday night. That game will get started at 5 p.m., and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.   


?NO. 22 VANDERBILT 17, ELON 11
ELON, N.C. — Head coach Beth Hewitt recorded her 100th career victory Friday as the Commodores took down Elon 17-11 at Rudd Field.
 
No. 22 Vanderbilt improved to 3-0, the team’s best start since winning the first five games in 2019.
 
The Commodores looked to be cruising after taking a 5-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Phoenix rallied to score six unanswered goals.
 
The two teams went to halftime even at 7-7.
 
The Commodores took control of the contest in the second half, outscoring Elon 6-1 in the third quarter.
 
Vandy fought off Elon’s comeback attempts in the fourth quarter to maintain a six-goal lead, winning 17-11. The Commodore defense has allowed a total of just nine second-half goals in the past two games.
 
Bri Gross did a little of everything, scoring a team-high four goals while tallying eight draw controls, three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
 
Gross moved into second place on Vanderbilt’s career draw controls list with 183, passing Margie Curran (2005–08).
 
Mikela McCauley finished with a hat trick and Callie Sundin and Karlie Bucci each scored a pair of goals.
 
Fifth-year senior Melissa Hawkins recorded three caused turnovers to tie Ally Carey (2009–12) for third-most career caused turnovers in program history with 110.
 
Hewitt, in her fourth season at Vanderbilt, owns a 100-38 (.725) career record over nine seasons.
 
Vanderbilt heads west for its next two games. The Commodores will play at Colorado on March 4 and at No. 12 Denver on March 6.