A record-setting performance in Nashville and a runaway win in Cincinnati left American Athletic Conference teams with a 2-0 Sunday afternoon.
VANDERBILT 17, HIGH POINT 13
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On a picture perfect day, the Vanderbilt lacrosse team gutted out a gritty win over High Point by a 17-13 final score at Vanderbilt Stadium on Sunday.
The win moves the Commodores to 4-2 overall, including a 4-0 mark in Nashville.
The Commodores’ offense was fueled by a number of key performances, notably Maddie Souza and her career-high six goals to go with Gabby Fornia, who tied a school record with seven assists. In the process, Fornia moved into a tie for first in the Vanderbilt record book with 88 career assists.
"The girls were locked in during the timeouts and bought into the adjustments," Vanderbilt head coach Beth Hewitt said. "The game didn’t come easy to us, that’s for sure. We were behind on 50/50 balls, but we really worked hard to come together to clean up fundamentals. Maddie Souza, seemed like every time we needed a goal, she came up with it."
Seven different Commodores found the back of the net. In addition to Souza’s six goals, Elizabeth Scarrone and Callie Sundin both added a hat trick.
High Point raced out to a 3-1 lead before Vandy bounced back to knot the score at 8-8 at the half. In the second half, the Panthers continued to battle and held a 12-11 edge with 10 minutes to play. Vanderbilt’s offense dominated down the stretch, scoring six of the game’s final seven goals to pull away.
Fornia, Souza and Scarrone all scored within 1:37 of each other to put the Dores up 14-12 with 6:59 to go. After a High Point goal, tallies from Sundin, Souza and Bri Gross in the final 3:18 put the game away.
Sophomore goalkeeper Paige Gunning put on another stellar performance with 11 saves on the day.
CINCINNATI 15, KENT STATE 5
CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati lacrosse team scored 14 straight goals on Sunday, surging to a 15-5 win over visiting Kent State in nonconference action at Nippert Stadium Sunday.
Trailing 2-1 with 20:45 left in the first half, Alyssa Adams scored back-to-back free-position goals over a span of 26 seconds to give Cincinnati (2-2) a lead it would not relinquish. The Bearcats led 10-2 at the half and played some strong defense, holding the Golden Flashes (0-4) scoreless for nearly 40 minutes, only giving up three late second-half goals.
Adams tied a career high with five braces on nine shots. She also added three ground balls and a draw control.
Kylie Nause finished with four goals, an assist and a ground ball.
Monica Borzillo scored twice, added an assist, caused three turnovers and picked up three ground balls. Peyton Mottice netted a pair, had two ground balls and caused a turnover.
Goalie Kate Brocato made three saves, picked up three ground balls and got the win.