Florida and Vanderbilt completed weekend sweeps of their opening American Athletic Conference series, while Old Dominion picked up its first conference win as a member of The American with an overtime decision against East Carolina.
NO. 11/11 FLORIDA 14, NO. 20/25 TEMPLE 7
The 11th-ranked Florida lacrosse team completed the weekend sweep of No. 25 Temple after defeating the Owls 14-7 on Sunday afternoon at Howarth Field.
The Gators move to 5-2 on the year, including a 2-0 record in conference play, while Temple drops to 4-3 overall and 0-2 in AAC games.
Shannon Kavanagh led the way offensively, producing her sixth hat trick of the season behind a four-goal performance. Grace Haus also nabbed a hat trick on the afternoon, tallying three goals in the win.
Paisley Eagan and Ashley Gonzalez each scored two goals apiece, while Kassidy Bresnahan, Maggi Hall and Brianna Harris each found of the back of the cage once.
Kavanagh led the way with three assists, tying her season-high mark of seven points. Haus added two helpers on the afternoon, while Harris and Gonzalez each dished out one assist in the win.
Kavanagh recorded a team-high five draw controls, followed by two from both Eagan and Cara Trombetta.
The defense was lights out on the afternoon, holding Temple to seven goals and a .280 shooting percentage. Trombetta and Kaitlyn Dabkowski marked Temple's two biggest scoring threats in Mastropietro and Hoffman, holding the duo to just 2-of-9 shooting with two assists.
As a team, Florida recorded 12 caused turnovers, led by three from Trombetta. Danielle Pavinelli and Jill Quigley each recorded a career-high two caused turnovers in the victory.
Trombetta totaled six groundballs on the afternoon, tying the career-high she set in Friday's game. Sarah Reznick also tied her career-high with four, while Emma Wightman and Eagan each picked up three groundballs.
Reznick had a stellar game in goal, allowing just six goals while registering 10 saves in her 57:52 in the cage. The redshirt-freshman notched a season-high .625 saves percentage on the day. Julia Hammerschlag came into the game for the final minutes, tying her career-high with one save.
The Gators are back in action for a two-game series on March 26/28 against Cincinnati as the squad finally makes their 2021 debut at Donald R. Dizney Stadium. Friday's opening draw is slated for 4 p.m., while Sunday's game is set for noon.
VANDERBILT 16, CINCINNATI 14
CINCINNATI, Ohio – Trailing by five at halftime, the Vanderbilt lacrosse team used a strong second half to pick up a 16-14 win at Cincinnati on Sunday to complete a sweep of the Bearcats in the opening weekend of American Athletic Conference play.
Ten different players scored for Vanderbilt (7-2, 2-0 AAC), which has now won five games in a row. Senior Griffin Gearhardt fueled the offense with three goals and an assist with Gabby Fornia, Callie Sundin, Maddie Souza and Bri Gross all chipping in with two goals apiece.
Vanderbilt showed its depth, receiving contributions on the offensive end in the form of one goal apiece from Kate Murphy, Lila Huddles and Ella Smith.
“I think that was everybody’s favorite part,” Vanderbilt head coach Beth Hewitt said. “We knew we needed to get some production from somewhere, and we know there’s a lot of people who can do it. We really believe that. I think some of the minutes they received early in the season really helped them in the bigger moment here where we’re down or we’re tied and they just felt confident to go in there, step up and make the play.”
The Commodores held a 2-1 advantage five minutes into the game before the momentum swung to Cincinnati. The Bearcats accounted for eight of the next 10 goals before the half to take a 9-4 edge at the break.
The halftime adjustments worked as the Vanderbilt offense exploded for the first eight goals of the second half to give the lead back to the Commodores at 12-9 with 15 minutes left. Gross and Gearhardt posted two goals apiece as part of the 8-0 run.
With the score knotted at 14-14 with five minutes to play, Sundin came away with the go-ahead goal with 4:16 to go. Paige Finneran added an insurance goal with 3:05 remaining on a free position shot.
In the final three minutes, the Vanderbilt defense forced a turnover and Paige Gunning made the last of her six saves to keep the lead intact. Vanderbilt outscored Cincinnati by a 12-5 margin in the second half.
The Commodores finished with 18 draw controls to Cincinnati’s 14. Cassidy Orban tallied seven draw controls with Gross finishing with five.
Gunning posted six saves in just over 38 minutes between the pipes. Freshman Lexie de Roziere added four second-half saves in goal.
Vanderbilt looks to stay hot with two more AAC games at East Carolina on March 26 and 28.
EAST CAROLINA 12, OLD DOMINION 9
NORFOLK, Va. -- Tess Meurling's free position goal with 2:02 left in the first overtime period gave Old Dominion its first conference victory as a member of the American Athletic Conference as the Monarchs claimed a 12-11 win against East Carolina Sunday.
The win gave ODU a split of its opening-weekend series with the Pirates, who had taken the first game 12-9 Friday.
Old Dominion had built an early 4-1 lead, but it was the Pirates who built a 10-7 cushion early in the second half on Elizabeth Wilson's second goal of the game.
The Monarchs tied it at 11-11 on Haley O'Connor's strike with 14:50 to play and gained an 11-10 lead on the fifth goal of the afternoon from Lilly Siskind.
East Carolina forced overtime when Nicole LeGar completed her hat trick when she finished a feed from Megan Pallozzi with 2:07 left in regulation.
The Monarchs controlled the ball throughout the overtime period, which paid off when Meurling drew her free position opportunity and buried the shot to cap a 6-2 run for Old Dominion to finish the game.
Siskind led all scorers with five goals and an assist, while O'Connor and Danielle Dundas both finished with two goals for the Monarchs, who improved to 3-6 overall and 1-1 in The American. Goalie Sabrina Leatherwood was credited with the win after she made five saves and allowed only three goals in 34:27.
LeGar had three goals for East Carolina, while Elizabeth Wilson had two for the Pirates, who fell to 3-5 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Ashley Vernon made 10 saves.