Three American Athletic Conference teams were in action in nonconference road games Friday, and two came back with victories. No. 18 Temple overcame an early six-goal deficit to rally past UMBC and Cincinnati was a wire-to-wire winner at Kent State, while No. 16 Vanderbilt suffered its first loss of the season with a setback at Colorado.
FRIDAY, MARCH 4
Temple 14, UMBC 11
Cincinnati 17, Kent State 13
Colorado 18, Vanderbilt 11
NO. 16 TEMPLE 14, UMBC 11
BALTIMORE, Md.– Temple (5-1) stormed back from a six-goal halftime deficit to claim its second win in three days, 14-11 against UMBC.
"We knew UMBC was going to be a tough team," said Temple head coach Bonnie Rosen. "They have a great offense, and we knew after a long week of spring break and practice we needed to really show up today. To have a game where we were down big, it was a hard game to play in and I was really proud we came out of the half with an attitude that said we could get it done and we climbed our way back in."
Midfielder Quinn Nicolai stole the show for Temple. The midfielder fell one short of her career-high with six goals and also dished out two assists. This is the second time in four games she has found the back of the net at least six times.
Midfielder Belle Mastropietro had another monster performance. She scored her fifth hat trick in six games while also causing two turnovers and controlling four draws.
Attack Mackenzie Roth scored two goals and passed for an assist and tied her career-high with three ground balls.
Annie Carroll had a strong game in goal. She made 11 saves on 21 shots.
CINCINNATI 17, KENT STATE 11
KENT, Ohio -- The University of Cincinnati lacrosse team had a season-best scoring effort in a 17-11 win at Kent State on Friday afternoon.
Kylie Nause led the way with five goals, extending her season-long hat-trick streak to six. She is up to 101 goals in her career (22 this year) to tie Sam Mlkvy for fifth in school history.
"We are still working out some kinks, but I love seeing people step up in big ways," head coach Gina Thomas said. "Tori Accardo and Sophia Finotti have been amazing on the defensive end. It was also really good to see Liz Murphy step up and put points on the board in addition to Kylie Nause. We're getting there!"
Cincinnati took a season-high 42 shots, while its 19 allowed were nine fewer than its next-closest game. It also had a season-high 19 draw controls.
The Bearcats extended their lead by one each quarter until outscoring the Golden Flashes 5-2 in the fourth. UC led 3-1 to start after Kent State struck first, then after a 7-5 deficit, the visitors scored four-straight goals (including two by Nause, one by Andie Pomeroy on her first-collegiate shot and another by Elizabeth Murphy) to lead 9-7 at the break.
Murphy's three assists marked both a career-high and team-season-high for the sophomore. She also scored her second and third goals. The Bearcats' 17 goals marked their most since its 17-6, home-finale win over Old Dominion on April 18.
Ava Goeller also collected her third hat trick. Other goals were by Grace Wehland (2), Peyton Mottice, Alyssa Adams, Kylie Gioia and Morgan Bates.
COLORADO 18, NO. 16 VANDERBILT 11
BOULDER, Colo. — Vanderbilt was defeated for the first time this season as Colorado defended its home field, 18-11, on Friday.
Bri Gross scored four goals for the second consecutive game and Gabby Fornia totaled five points including four assists.
Colorado took an early 2-0 lead and never trailed in the contest. The Commodores rallied to pull even in the first period, but the Buffaloes went on a 6-1 run in the second quarter to lead 10-5.
Vanderbilt scored twice in the final two minutes before halftime to cut into Colorado’s lead.
Vanderbilt opened the second half with a quick goal to trail by just two, but the Buffaloes scored the next four to pull away.
Gross scored twice in the second half and Megan Graziano tallied her first goal of the season in the fourth quarter as Vanderbilt looked to mount a comeback, but Colorado had an answer each time to stay ahead and win 18-11.
Melissa Hawkins recorded a team-high three caused turnovers with two ground balls. Hawkins took sole possession of third on Vanderbilt’s career caused turnovers list with 113.