Florida and Temple remained unbeaten in conference play as the Gators and Owls improved to 2-0 in The American with Saturday victories. Temple celebrated a significant program milestone with the win, while Vanderbilt pulled away from East Carolina for its first conference victory.
SATURDAY, APRIL 9
Florida 22, Old Dominion 6
Temple 14, Cincinnati 10
Vanderbilt 19, East Carolina 12
No. 10 Florida 22, Old Dominion 6
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 10th-ranked Florida lacrosse team toppled the Old Dominion Monarchs 22-6 on Saturday afternoon at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
The Gators move to 9-4 on the season, 2-0 in the AAC and are winners of seven-straight games, while Old Dominion falls to 5-9 overall and 0-2 in league play.
“We played very well from start to finish today," said Florida head coach Amanda O'Leary. "That was a full 60-minute game for us and I thought our players came off the bench and were just outstanding today.”
Florida had 14 goal scorers on the afternoon, led by four from freshman Emma LoPinto. Emily Heller, Ashley Gonzalez, Madison Rielly, Sarah Mackey and Paisley Eagan each found the back of the cage twice for the Gators.
Eight different players tallied one goal apiece in the victory: Janine Suris, Danielle Pavinelli, Brie Catts, Maggie Corbo, Kylee Hubiak, Whitney Albert, Kaala Puglisi and Kelly Schluederberg.
Pavinelli and Suris each dished out a team-leading two assists on the day, while Catts, Gonzalez, Heller, LoPinto, Rielly and Macy Zaban each recorded one helper in the victory.
Florida won 17 draw controls led by a combined eight from Liz Harrison (5) and Heller (3).
The Gator defense was stellar on Saturday afternoon, keeping Old Dominion to a .313 shooting percentage on the day (6-of-15). Florida tallied 12 caused turnovers, led by a team-high two from Emma Wightman.
Leigh Lingo, Heller, Catherine Flaherty, Maeson Tydings, Catts, Rielly, Alexa Waters, Celeste Forte, Jill Quigley and Suris each recorded one caused turnover in the victory.
Bella Palagonia and Tydings both registered a team-high two groundballs on the day.
In the cage, Sarah Reznick and Julia Hammerschlag split halves. Reznick tallied two saves with a .500 clip, while only allowing two goals on the afternoon, while Hammerschlag notched one save in the victory.
Temple 14, Cincinnati 10
PHILADELPHIA – The Temple lacrosse team (9-4) earned its 500th program victory Saturday with a 14-10 decision against Cincinnati (6-8). Alumnae, former coaches, and many friends of the program were in attendance as Temple became only the sixth program in NCAA Division I history to cross the 500-victory marker.
"It's really humbling to be a part of the history of Temple lacrosse," said Owls head coach Bonnie Rosen. "Every single player, coach, support staff member, and parent is part of 500 wins. When you think about it like it's an overwhelming, historical feeling. We today are a part of the continuation of Temple Lacrosse, and it will continue long into the future"
Mackenzie Roth opened the scoring for the Cherry and White sandwiched between a pair of Bearcat goals from Kylie Nause (1-2). Temple scored the next three straight, and Roth scored or assisted on all three goals to put Temple up 4-2.
Cincinnati scored the next two to tie the match at four. The Owls scored four of the final five to end the half. Maeve Tobin, Riley McGowan, Belle Mastropietro, and Roth all scored to put the Owls ahead 8-5 at the half.
Cincinnati opened the second half with two goals to cut Temple's lead down to one, but Mastropietro found the back of the net assisted by Roth before the Bearcats scored again. Tobin notched the final goal of the third frame to give Temple an 11-9 lead.
The Bearcats opened the scoring in the fourth quarter. Quinn Nicolai countered for Temple to extend the lead back to two goals. Cincinnati scored one more time before Temple ended the match with a flood of goals.
The Owls scored three goals in the last four minutes as Julie Schickling, Mastropietro, and Gabrielle Kirsch slammed the door on the Bearcats and gave Temple the win.
Vanderbilt 19, East Carolina 12
NASHVILLE - Gabby Fornia scored four goals and assisted on three others, setting Vanderbilt's career points record as the Commodores outscored East Carolina 9-2 in the fourth quarter to claim a 19-12 victory Saturday afternoon.
Fornia had three goals and three assists in the decisive fourth quarter to help the Commodores pull away from what had been a 10-10 deadlock through three periods. Fornia finished the game with 245 career points, breaking Vanderbilt's old mark of 244, held by Maggie Curran.
The Commodores led 10-8 in the third quarter on Ellie Smith's goal midway through the period. But the Pirates were able to tie the game on goals by Erin Gulden and Sophia LoCicero 32 seconds apart to close the quarter.
Maddie Souza scored a pair of goals as part of Vanderbilt's 3-0 run to start the fourth quarter, however as Fornia fed Souza to start the run before she found Bri Gross less than a minute later.
Megan Tryniski brought the Pirates within two at 13-11, but the Commodores answered with a 6-0 run, in which Fornia scored three goals and assisted on another to put the game away.
Souza added four goals for the Commodores, while Gross had a hat trick as Vanderbilt improved to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in the American Athletic Conference.
East Carolina was led by Gulden, who scored four goals as the Pirates fell to 8-6 overall and 1-1 in The American as their three-game winning streak came to an end.