Florida and Vanderbilt are off to 5-0 starts in American Athletic Conference play as both schools took the opening games of their respective two-game series this week.
NO. 10 FLORIDA 20, EAST CAROLINA 9
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 10th-ranked Florida lacrosse team dominated the East Carolina Pirates on Thursday afternoon, winning 20-9 to secure its 100th victory at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
The Gators move to 8-2 on the year and remain undefeated in conference play with a 5-0 record, while the Pirates drop to 3-8 overall and 1-4 in league play.
Florida was led offensively by Brianna Harris, who tied her career-high in goals with five on the afternoon. Shannon Kavanagh and Danielle Pavinelli each registered a hat trick, finding the back of the net three times apiece.
Grace Haus, Paisley Eagan and Ashley Gonzalez each tallied two goals on the afternoon, while Kassidy Bresnahan, Kaitlyn Dabkowski and Kaala Puglisi all recorded one goal in the game.
Eagan, Kavanagh and Harris all dished out two assists against the Pirates, with Eagan's being a career-high for the redshirt sophomore.
The Gators dominated in the draw circle, winning 23-of-31 draws. Kavanagh notched six draw controls, Harris added five, while Heller rounded out the leaders with four of her own.
As a squad, Florida recorded eight caused turnovers and held the Pirates to just nine goals on the day. Emma Wightman and Dabkowski each registered two caused turnovers in the win to lead the Gators.
Six UF players tallied two groundballs in the win: Pavinelli, Bresnahan, Wightman, Dabkowski, Cara Trombetta and Sarah Reznick.
In the cage, Reznick recorded five saves with a .454 clip during her 47:30 between the pipes.
The Gators are right back in action against the Pirates on Saturday. Opening draw is set for 11 a.m. at The Diz.
VANDERBILT 16, OLD DOMINION 5
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt lacrosse team extended its winning streak to eight games with a 16-5 victory over American Athletic Conference foe Old Dominion on Thursday at Vanderbilt Stadium.
With the win, the Commodores improve to 10-2, marking the best 12-game start in program history. It is also the 11th time in the program’s 26-year history that the team has reached double-digit victories. The eight-game winning streak is the second-longest in school history.
Senior Cassidy Orban fueled the offense with three goals to go with two apiece from Griffin Gearhardt, Bri Gross and Paige Finneran. Seven other Commodores scored once, highlighted by Gabby Fornia, Kate Murphy and Lila Huddles registering a goal and an assist apiece.
Fornia’s assist gives her 36 on the season, tying her own school record for single-season assists set in 2019.
In goal, Paige Gunning put on another dominating performance with 12 saves with freshman goalkeeper Lindsey Maxwell seeing her first collegiate action in the last five minutes.
“Today was an awesome team win,” Vanderbilt head coach Beth Hewitt said. “Starting with Paige Gunning in the goal, I thought the defense played really great today, played as a unit and worked really hard on the ride as well, so the attackers, it kind of started with them. Everybody was doing the little things today, and that made the biggest difference.”
Vanderbilt led from start to finish on the day, taking an early 2-0 lead in the opening three minutes. After an ODU goal, the Commodores orchestrated a 6-0 run that spanned nine minutes to stretch the advantage to 8-1.
Vandy tallied three free position goals in the final 4:13 of the first half, including one from Gearhardt with two seconds on the clock to take an 11-2 halftime lead.
In the second half, Vanderbilt outscored the Monarchs by a 5-3 margin.
Orban posted a game-high six draw controls, and senior Halle Regan helped anchor the defense with three caused turnovers and three ground balls.
The Dores and Monarchs are set to square off at 11 a.m. Saturday at Vanderbilt Stadium. Vanderbilt will hold a senior day ceremony prior to the game.