A busy Saturday saw American Athletic Conference teams come away with four wins as Temple, James Madison, Old Dominion and East Carolina found success.
It also was a day of milestones as James Madison coach Shelley Klaes earned her 200th career victory with the Dukes and the 250th of her head coaching career.
No. 7 Florida and No. 25 Vanderbilt came up on the short end Saturday as the Gators battled top-ranked North Carolina and the Commodores were upset by Hofstra.
Temple 15, George Washington 6
WASHINGTON - Temple (2-1) defeated George Washington (0-2), 15-6 in their second consecutive road test of the year. The day was highlighted by a six-goal performance from Belle Mastropietro and a lockdown defensive effort that only allowed for 13 total shots.
The Owls came out firing on all cylinders, finding the back of the net just 50 seconds into play as Amelia Wright converted on a Mastropietro assist. Two goals from George Washington, split by a Mastropietro finish left the game at 2-2 with six minutes remaining in the quarter.
The Cherry and White found an offensive burst, netting three goals with contributions from Julie Schickling, Mastropietro (2), and Mackenzie Roth to end the quarter 6-2. Both teams remained scoreless for the first half of the second quarter before the Colonials found a goal of their own. The Cherry and White quickly answered back as Sabrina Martin found Charessa Crosse for goal number seven.
George Washington continued to fight back, finding a free position goal, while two more Owls found a goal apiece for the Cherry and White in Mastropietro and Maeve Tobin, finishing the half, 9-4.
Temple outscored the Colonials 2-1 in the third quarter with goals from Mastropietro and Roth to advance the lead to 11-5.
The Cherry and White kept their foot the gas, securing four more goals in the final 15 minutes while only allowing one. Wright, Crosse, Mastropietro and Erin King all made scoring contributions for Temple, closing out the day with the 15-6 victory.
No. 12 James Madison 11, UConn 7
SPARKS, Md. – Head Coach Shelley Klaes won her 200th game leading the James Madison lacrosse program, as the Dukes pulled out an 11-7 neutral-site victory over UConn at Tierney Field Saturday afternoon.
The victory also marked the 250th overall of Klaes' collegiate head coaching career, where she is in her 22nd season.
The Dukes improved to a winning record at 2-1 while UConn dropped to 1-1.
Senior Tai Jankowski scored a career-high four goals as she peppered the UConn net with nine shots on goal. Freshman Maddie Epke and redshirt junior Taylor Marchetti each added two of their own.
On defense, the Dukes caused 16 turnovers, three each from Mairead Durkin and Nicholle Marshall while Isabella Peterson, Maggie Clark and Carolyn Thistlewaite each added two. The Dukes caused 16 turnovers to UConn's 10.
For UConn, Grace Coon and Morgan Carter each scored twice. Despite the losing effort, goalkeeper Landyn White made 18 saves on a .621 save percentage.
Old Dominion 13, Radford 3
RADFORD, Va. – The Old Dominion Women's Lacrosse team moved to 2-1 on the year after a dominant 13-3 victory over Radford on Saturday. Lilly Siskind led the Monarchs offensively scoring five goals and adding one assist. Jenna Peccia had nine saves on the day and didn't allow a goal in the second half.
Radford got the scoring started with a goal from Margaret Gleason. Siskind answered with a goal of her own to tie the game at one. The Highlanders regained the lead with a goal. The Monarchs would answer with three goals, Jayme Weber brought the game back to 2-2. Caroline Shaefer gave ODU a 3-2 lead and with 15 seconds left in the first quarter Weber scored her second goal and make it 4-2.
The second quarter was a defensive battle as both teams only scored one goal. Sydney Taylor scored on an assist from Moira Olexa. Radford cut into the lead and go into the half trailing 5-3.
The second half was all Monarchs as the Highlanders were outscored 8-0. ODU scored twice to make the score 7-3, both goals were scored by Siskind. In the fourth quarter Old Dominion poured it on scoring six goals from five different Monarchs. Danielle Dundas scored the first goal of the fourth quarter when Siskind assisted her. Taylor scored her second goal giving ODU a 9-3 advantage. Siskind would score her fourth goal of the game and shortly after Callie Culhane would score her first goal of the year making the score 11-3. Siskind would score her fifth and final goal of the game and Caroline Shaefer scored with eight seconds left growing the Monarch lead to 10 and giving them a 13-3 win.
No. 1 North Carolina 12, No. 7 Florida 5
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The seventh-ranked Florida women’s lacrosse team dropped a 12-5 road contest to the No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday afternoon.
The Gators move to 1-1 on the season, while North Carolina improves to 3-0.
UF was led by a three-goal performance from Emma LoPinto, while Emily Heller and Danielle Pavinelli each pitched in one goal of their own on the afternoon. Pavinelli also added a team-high two assists in the game.
Heller and Liz Harrison led the way in the draw circle, coming up with two wins apiece.
Defensively, the Gators totaled six caused turnovers, led by two from Pavinelli. Heller, Paisley Eagan, Shelton Sawers and Theresa Bragg each added one in the game.
Three Florida players recorded a team-best two groundballs in the game: Pavinelli, Heller, Sawers.
Sarah Reznick had a day in the cage for Florida, finishing the afternoon with 14 saves against the No. 1 Tar Heels and a .538 save percentage. With her first save of the day, she tied the program record for consecutive games with a save at 53 (Mikey Meagher, 2010-13).
Hofstra 11, No. 25 Vanderbilt 8
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt Lacrosse fell on Saturday 11-8 to Hofstra at the Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex. Kemper Robinson tallied her second career hat trick and finished the game having scored four of Vandy’s eight goals.
Hofstra jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first quarter, with two goals scored by Nikki Mennella. Robinson found the back of the cage for the first time early in the second quarter and then again with three minutes to go in the half. At the break, Vandy trailed 4-2.
Robinson then opened the second half with a quick score to bring the Dores within one. Hofstra connected on five goals to push its lead back out to their largest of the day 9-3. With 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Robinson forced a Hofstra turnover and went the length of the field to bring the Commodores within four heading into the final frame.
Vanderbilt opened the fourth with back-to-back goals from Paige Finneran and Bri Gross to come back within three, but another pair of goals from Hofstra’s Mennella sealed the game.