All four American Athletic Conference teams in action Wednesday came away with nonconference wins as Florida, Vanderbilt, Temple and East Carolina prevailed.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24
Florida 19, Stetson 5
Temple 13, Monmouth 10
East Carolina 13, Campbell 10
Vanderbilt 14, Towson 8
NO. 11 FLORIDA 19, STETSON 5
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Led by its high-powered offensive attack, the No. 11 Florida lacrosse team defeated Stetson 19-5 on Wednesday evening at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
Even with a 45-minute delay due to inclement weather, Florida was able to roll to the victory.
“I was really pleased with our effort today," said Florida head coach Amanda O'Leary. "Our starters came out and did a great job and those athletes that came off the bench continued that high level of play we expect. We see it every day at practice, so it was no surprise seeing them keep that level of play going.”
The Gators move to 5-4 on the year and are winners of three-straight games, while Stetson drops to 3-6 in the 2022 campaign.
Florida’s had 12 goal scorers in the game, led by four from Emma LoPinto. Kelly Schluederberg registered the first hat trick of her career Wednesday night, tallying three goals in the victory, followed by two apiece from Maggi Hall and Danielle Pavinelli.
Emily Heller, Paisley Eagan, Brie Catts, Whitney Albert, Ashley Gonzalez, Jill Quigley, Janine Suris and Kylee Hubiak each found the back of the cage once for Florida.
LoPinto also dished out three assists in the game to bring her to a total of seven points. Pavinelli added two assists of her own, while Gonzalez and Quigley each registered one helper.
Florida won 18-of-28 draw controls, led seven from Liz Harrison. Heller, Josie Hahn, Celeste Forte, Schluederberg and Bella Palagonia each picked up two draw controls in the victory.
The Gator defense held Stetson to just five goals, the lowest scoring output for an opponent since May 16, 2021 against Jacksonville (3 goals). Florida held the Hatters to 5-of-14 shooting on the afternoon, good for a .357 shooting percentage.
The team as a whole caused nine turnovers, led by two apiece from Leigh Lingo, Heller, Alexa Waters and Catherine Moriarty.
Lingo also recorded a team-high four ground balls – a season-high for the 5th year. Moriarty followed with three, while three different Gators each tallied two in the game.
Sarah Reznick played the first half in cage for Florida, posting two saves and a .500 save percentage. Julia Hammerschlag saw a half of her own in between the pipes, recording a career-high four saves and allowing only three goals for a .571 save percentage.
VANDERBILT 14, TOWSON 8
TOWSON, Md. – Vanderbilt won its third consecutive game on Wednesday, defeating Towson 14-8 at Tiger Field to improve to 6-3 on the season.
Paige Gunning, playing in her home state, made 11 saves to anchor the Vanderbilt defense which held an opponent to single-digit goals for the second time in as many games.
The Commodore offense used hat tricks from Bri Gross and Maddie Souza to outpace the Tigers after falling behind 2-1 in the first quarter.
Four different Commodores scored in the first period to give Vandy a 5-3 lead at the end of the first. Vanderbilt scored three goals in the first six minutes of the second quarter to go up 8-3. Towson trimmed Vandy’s lead to 8-5 at halftime.
Vanderbilt scored the only two goals of the third period. Baltimore native Kemper Robinson scored her first collegiate goal with 1:27 left in the quarter to increase Vandy’s lead to 10-5.
Gross and Souza completed their hat tricks within 35 seconds of each other early in the fourth quarter.
The Commodores held off Towson in the final minutes to secure the 14-8 road victory.
TEMPLE 13, MONMOUTH 10
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The Temple lacrosse team (7-3) earned its second consecutive victory Wednesday afternoon, defeating the Monmouth Hawks (5-4) 13-10. Temple trailed 5-1 in the second quarter, before rattling off seven unanswered goals to take a lead they never gave up.
"This was a great next step in our season," said Temple head coach Bonnie Rosen. "It was an all-around team effort with key plays from many different players and from all aspects of our game."
Katie Shallow had a stellar day. She picked up a career-high seven ground balls, caused a season-high five turnovers, and controlled a career-high six draws.
Mackenzie Roth set a season-high with three goals. She also passed for an assist to add to her team-leading 23 on the year. The attacker set a new career-high with three caused turnovers.
Quinn Nicolai tied for the team lead with three goals. She also picked up three ground balls. Abaigeal Ryan, and Julie Schickling scored two goals. Schickling also set a career-high with six ground balls.
Belle Mastropietro scored a goal, tied her career-high with three assists, and three ground balls.
EAST CAROLINA 13, CAMPBELL 10
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Ellie Bromley scored four goals and dished out two assists to help East Carolina defeat Campbell 13-10 in a non-conference contest Wednesday afternoon at Barker-Lane Stadium.
The Pirates improved to 6-5 with the victory, establishing a program single-season record for wins in the process. The Camels dropped to 3-4 with their second-straight setback.
Megan Tryniski tacked on four points via three goals and an assist, while Frances Kimel and Leah Bestany added two goals apiece. Brynn Knight also collected 13 saves in net. Sam Bischoff paced the home side with two goals and an assist.
Campbell seized control early on, racing out to a 5-2 advantage in the second period before Kimel notched a goal in the latter stages of the frame to leave the Camels ahead by two at the break.
ECU would outscore Campbell 5-1 in the third period to jump ahead 8-6 and would not trail the remainder of the afternoon. Bestany's goal with 12:54 to go in regulation afforded the Pirates their largest lead of the day at 10-6 before they settled for the three-goal victory.