NO. 8 FLORIDA 20, CINCINNATI 5
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 8 Florida lacrosse team earned its first conference win of the 2023 campaign after topping the Cincinnati Bearcats 20-5 on Saturday afternoon at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
The Gators improve to 7-3 overall and 1-1 in AAC play, while Cincinnati falls to 8-4 and 1-1 in the league.
Florida's offensive output was led by a four-goal effort from Emily Heller, while Danielle Pavinelli added three in the victory. Maggi Hall, Emma LoPinto and Tayler Warehime each registered a two-goal performance.
Seven Gators posted one goal on the day: Paisley Eagan, Madison Waters, Gianna Monaco, Josie Hahn, Ashley Gonzalez, Jenny Woodings, Janine Suris.
LoPinto dished out a team-high four assists, followed by two from Emerson Cabrera. Bella Palagonia, Ava Tighe, Monaco and Pavinelli each registered one assist on the afternoon.
The Gators won 20-of-27 draw controls, including a team-high eight from Emily Diaz. Liz Harrison (4) and Heller (3) combined for seven.
Florida held Cincinnati to a .333 shooting percentage (5-of-15), below the Bearcats' season average of .440. As a team, the Gators posted 10 caused turnovers in the game, led by two from LoPinto and Eagan.
Five Gators each tallied a team-high two groundballs in the game: Heller, LoPinto, Hall, Celeste Forte and Gonzalez.
Sarah Reznick tallied five saves and a .556 save percentage in her three quarters of action, while Elyse Finnelle posted one save with a .500 save percentage.
The last time the Gators scored 20 goals or more was against Furman on Feb. 28
The Gators remain undefeated in the series, moving to 12-0 against Cincinnati
NO. 5 JAMES MADISON 10, TEMPLE 8
PHILADELPHIA – James Madison lacrosse has a double-digit winning streak for the second consecutive season, as the fifth-ranked Dukes survived a late comeback bid from Temple to win 10-8 at Howarth Field on Saturday.
JMU is 10-1 (2-0) after the victory while Temple has lost its third straight to fall to 5-5 (0-1).
Senior Tai Jankowski scored four goals for the fourth time this season, adding an assist for a five-point afternoon. Redshirt junior Isabella Peterson marked her eighth hat trick of the season and dished three assists for a game-high six points.
The Dukes' defense was disruptive, allowing just one goal in the game's first 39:08. Mairead Durkin stuffed the stat sheet with five ground balls and two caused turnovers. Kat Buchanan marked nine saves in net on a .529 save percentage.
Temple was led by Belle Mastropietro and Amelia Wright with two goals each. Defensively, junior Katie Shallow caused three turnovers and picked up five ground balls while goalkeeper Taylor Grollman made nine saves.
VANDERBILT 17, OLD DOMINION 7
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt lacrosse tallied its first American Athletic Conference victory on Saturday afternoon, topping Old Dominion 17-7. The Commodores matched a season-high eight student-athletes scoring in a single game.
Vandy sophomore Cate Bradley matched a career-high with four goals on four shots. In the last two contests, Bradley has been perfect connecting on eight goals off eight shots.
The Dores jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the opening quarter of the game from Bradley and Paige Finneran. The Commodores extended their lead to 3-0 in the opening seconds of the second frame. Old Dominion responded with its first goal at the 12:20 mark but Vandy would go on to outscore the Monarchs 6-2 to extend the lead at the break, 9-3.
Vanderbilt’s first seven goals of the contest were scored by seven different Dores.
Vandy opened the second half with back-to-back goals from Nancy Halleron, who tallied her third hat trick of the season and Bradley. Old Dominion outscored the Dores 3-0 in the final 10 minutes of the quarter, bringing the Commodores' lead to 11-6 heading into the closing frame.
In the final period, Vanderbilt outscored Old Dominion 6-1, with two goals from Ellie Hilsabeck, Molly Finlay, Paige Finneran and a pair from Bradley.
MERCER 13, TEMPLE 8
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina lacrosse team dropped a disappointing loss, 13-8, to the Mercer Bears on Saturday in Johnson Stadium. Erin Gulden scored a hat trick and an assist to lead the Pirates on a day where it seemed impossible for shots to find the back of the net.
East Carolina (8-3, 1-0 AAC) got off to a slow start again on Saturday, falling behind as many as four goals early in the contest before clawing their way back into it. The team leveled the score at eight apiece in the final stanza but a pair of Mercer (6-2) goals put the Bears back in front before a very close offside call deflated any ECU momentum. Mercer tallied three more goals to slam the door shut on the comeback effort.
The Pirates had a tough time slowing down Shannon Urey as she finished with a game high six goals and seven points, including the final three goals of the contest. Urey accounted for nearly half of Mercer's offense on the day.
The ECU defense had its moments in the game, forcing 11 turnovers - including four caused turnovers by Sydney Frank and three by Alexandra Giacolone - but an ordinarily clinical ECU offense was unable to convert. The team came into the game ranking in the top five in the nation in shot percentage and top 20 in free-position percentage but scored only eight goals on 26 shots and one goal on five free position shots.