No. 9 Florida moved into a tie for second place in the American Atheltic Conference standings with a win against an East Carolina squad that was previously unbeaten in league play. Temple, meanwhile, picked up its first conference win of the season as the Owls ran away from Old Dominion.
NO. 9 FLORIDA 10, EAST CAROLINA 5
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The ninth-ranked Florida lacrosse team extended its win streak to six-straight games after topping the ECU Pirates 10-5 on Saturday afternoon at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
The Gators improve to 11-3 on the year and 3-1 in the AAC, while East Carolina drops to 10-5 overall and 3-1 in league play.
With the victory, Florida leapfrogs East Carolina for the second spot in the American Athletic Conference with two games left in league play.
The defense was the story of the afternoon for Florida, with the Gators only allowing five goals – East Carolina’s lowest scoring output of the year. Florida held the Pirates to a .217 shooting percentage (5-of-23) and the five goals allowed was the fewest for UF since March 25 against Cincinnati.
East Carolina is averaging 13.3 goals per game in conference play and has only had four games under 10 goals this season. As a squad, Florida totaled 12 caused turnovers, led by three from Shelton Sawers. Becky Browndorf and Maggi Hall each registered two caused turnovers in the win.
Emma LoPinto led Florida’s offensive effort on the day, finishing the game with three goals. Danielle Pavinelli and Hall each found the back of the cage twice, while Madison Waters, Emerson Cabrera and Ava Tighe each tallied one goal on the afternoon.
Hall dished out a team-high three assists, while LoPinto added one helper in the win.
The Gators held almost complete control of the draw circle, winning 13-of-18 on the afternoon. Liz Harrison finished the game with a team-high eight, while Sawers and Kaitlyn Davies each added two.
Hall posted a career-high five groundballs to lead the way for Florida, followed by a personal-best three from freshman Theresa Bragg.
In the cage, Sarah Reznick posted 11 saves with a .688 save percentage to earn her 11th victory of the season.
TEMPLE 19, OLD DOMINION 5
NORFOLK, Va. – Temple lacrosse (6-8, 1-3 AAC) picked up their first conference win of 2023 in a dominant victory over Old Dominion (4-11, 0-4 AAC). A 13-goal first half performance set the tone for the contest, leading the Owls to the 19-5 victory.
The Cherry and White had their strongest start of 2023, posting seven goals in the first fifteen minutes of play, while holding Old Dominion scoreless.
Maeve Tobin opened scoring for the day on an unassisted goal, which was followed by a Julie Schickling finish just a minute later off a Camryn Zavacky dish. Belle Mastropietro found back-to-back goals next, with one coming off a pass from Mia Ciancio. Tobin and Shickling each found their second of the day, before Sabrina Martin found the last goal of the quarter off a Charessa Crosse dish.
Old Dominion started off the second quarter with a goal, but Ciancio found the back of the net to swing the momentum back towards the Owls.
Hannah Schrader added to the lead with a goal of her own, followed by a Crosse finish to advance to 10-1.
Crosse found freshman Kaitlyn Stankavage for her first career goal, followed by a goal apiece from Emily Liberio and Crosse to close out the first half 13-1.
Tobin and Ciancio each found the back of the net to start off the third quarter, with ODU finding their second of the game just two minutes later.
Crosse converted once again to open the fourth quarter followed by a Katie Flynn goal from a Stankavage feed.
The Monarchs snuck three more in to advance their goal count to five, ending the contest, 19-5.
The Cherry and White found scoring contributions from ten different Owls, the most of 2023.
Crosse posted a season-best five points on three goals and two assists.