The race for the final spot in the American Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship took a dramatic turn Friday as East Carolina, needing a win to stay alive for a postseason spot, rallied past Cincinnati in Greenville, North Carolina.
That result means that Sunday's rematch between the Pirates and Bearcats will determine which team grabs the No. 4 seed in the tournament and can head to Gainesville for the May 6 semifinals.
Meanwhile, Temple took the first of what will be three straight games against Vanderbilt, and Florida, which clinched a share of The American's regular-season title last week, claimed the outright title with a win against Old Dominion.
EAST CAROLINA 12, CINCINNATI 11
A frantic second-half comeback lifted the East Carolina lacrosse team to a 12-11 win over visiting Cincinnati on Friday afternoon.
ECU improves to 4-11 on the season with a 2-7 AAC record while Cincinnati falls to 6-9 overall with an identical 2-7 league mark. With the victory, the Pirates keep their hopes of reaching he AAC Championship alive and need to beat Cincinnati on Sunday in the regular-season finale to clinch the league's fourth and final playoff spot.
At the end of the first half, it looked like Cincinnati was well on the way to clinching a playoff spot. The Bearcats held ECU to just two goals in the opening 30 minutes, both of which consisted of Megan Tryniski setting up Camryn Pennypacker for goals. On the other end, the Bearcats had multiple 3-0 runs, with Sam Mlkvy and Kylie Nause each scoring a pair of goals. At the break, Cincinnati held a 6-2 lead.
The East Carolina comeback effort did not start immediately in the second half. It took nearly eight minutes for either team to score in the second stanza, as Payton Barr finally scored on a free-position shot. However, that ECU goal was answered by a Cincinnati tally 91 seconds later.
The next five minutes of play flipped the game on its head. Pennypacker completed her hat trick when she scored off a pass from Frances Kimel. Megan Pallozzi then scored back-to-back goals for the Pirates, the first on a free-position shot and the second on an individual effort that saw her run past multiple Bearcat defenders. Just 41 seconds after Pallozzi's second goal, Kimel set up Nicole LeGar for a goal and suddenly ECU saw itself level at 7-7 with 16:07 to play.
Cincinnati briefly regained the lead on a Monica Borzillo goal, but Pennypacker answered when she scored off a pass from Pallozzi. Again, Cincinnati took the lead when Gianna Napoletano scored for the Bearcats.
A second flurry of Pirate goals was what finally tipped the game in East Carolina's favor. LeGar bounced in a free-position goal with 11:09 to play and then added a second goal from the eight-meter arc with 8:27 remaining to give the Pirates their first lead of the game (10-9).
Pallozzi became the third Pirate with a goal as she slipped a rocket shot between the Cincinnati goalkeeper and the upper corner of the net. That made Pallozzi the first ever ECU player to reach 100 career goals and extended her school-record of 34 goals in a single season.
LeGar added an insurance goal at 5:28 when she scored off a pass from Kimel and that tally proved vital.
The Pirates seemed to be in control of the game, leading 12-9 as the clock ticked under a minute remaining, but a goal by Peyton Mottice gave Cincinnati a lifeline. Borzillo added another goal with just eight seconds on the clock to claw back within one.
Cincinnati won the ensuing draw and looked to have a chance to tie the game, but Jordyn Cox picked off a Bearcat pass to clinch the victory.
Along with the season-high 10 goals in the second-half, the Pirate defense also came alive in the second 20 minutes. Ashley Vernon finished with 11 saves on the day, including eight in the second stanza. ECU also forced nine turnovers in each half, led by four caused turnovers for Alexandra Giacolone, three for LeGar and two each for Cox and Liz Blumthal.
The Bearcats finished with a 26-24 edge in shots and a 16-9 lead in draw controls. The Pirates held the edge in ground balls 19-14 and turned the ball over 15 times compared to 18 for Cincinnati.
LeGar, Pennypacker and Pallozzi all had four points, Kimel added three assists and Tryniski had two helpers to lead the Pirates. Pennypacker also added four draw controls while Giacolone scooped up four ground balls.
The two teams will meet again on Sunday afternoon with the final playoff spot on the line. That contest will get started at 12 noon and will be broadcast on ESPN+. East Carolina will also honor its 14 seniors following the conclusion of the game.
TEMPLE 13, VANDERBILT 12
NASHVILLE- The Temple lacrosse team (11-3, 7-2 AAC) won their seventh straight game Friday afternoon, defeating the Vanderbilt Commodores 13-12 (11-5, 6-3 AAC). Meghan Hoffman dished out her 37th assist of the season, tying the Temple single-season assist record.
"It was just such a good showing from us," said Temple head coach Bonnie Rosen. "I am really excited about our ability to play the game that's on the field and adjust and adapt and that was been a key all year. We can handle going down goals, or the ball not going in, or going in against us and still stay calm and find a way. Our ability to play the game on the field is really outstanding."
Vanderbilt came out hot. The Commodores scored the first three goals of the game to take an early lead. Belle Mastropietro found Bridget Whitaker to get Temple on the board. Vanderbilt found three more consecutive goals to extend the lead to five (6-1).
The teams traded scores, with Julie Schickling and Whitaker both scoring to cut the lead down to three before the Commodores came back with two goals of their own. The Owls ended the half on a 3-1 run. Mackenzie Roth, Mastropietro, and Schickling cut the lead down to 9-6 going into halftime.
Temple exploded out of the gate with four straight from four different scorers to start the second half and take their first lead 10-9. Hoffman found Jen Rodzewich to get her 37th assist of the year on the game-tying goal.
Vanderbilt quickly retaliated with two goals to take the lead back with 15:10 remaining.
Temple was quick to respond with two strikes from Mastropietro and Rodzewich to retake the lead with nine minutes left.
Both defenses stood strong as neither team was able to score for the next eight minutes of game time. Schickling eventually broke the stalemate with 1:15 remaining to give the Owls a healthy two-goal margin.
Whitaker, Mastropietro, and Schickling all earned hat tricks. For Whitaker, it is her fifth straight hat trick. For Schickling, this is her first time scoring three goals.
Mastropietro also contributed two assists. Hoffman had one, which tied the single-season record.
Several Owls contributed to an effort that had Temple win the draw control battle yet again. Maddie Barber set a new career-high with three draw controls.
Kessina Heyn set a new career-high with six ground ball pickups. The junior also caused two turnovers. Olivia Martin was strong in net, with five saves.
FLORIDA 17, OLD DOMINION 6
NORFOLK, Va. – The No. 9 Florida lacrosse team clinched the American Athletic Conference regular season title outright after defeating Old Dominion 17-6 on Friday afternoon at L.R. Hill Sports Complex.
Florida improves to 12-2 on the year and 9-0 in league play, while Old Dominion drops to 3-13 and 1-8 in the AAC.
"Really impressed with the effort the team put forth today. We shared the ball well on offensive, getting a lot of different goal scorers into the mix. On the defensive side of the ball, I thought we locked in really well on our assignments."
The Gators had nine goal scorers in the game, led by five from Brianna Harris. Shannon Kavanagh followed with four goals of her own, while Ashley Gonzalez netted two on the afternoon.
Danielle Pavinelli, Kassidy Bresnahan, Grace Haus, Maggi Hall, Paisley Eagan and Shelton Sawers each found the back of the cage once for Florida.
Harris and Hall both dished out two assists apiece to lead the way for the Gators, while Gonzalez and Emerson Cabrera each registered a helper in the victory.
Florida won 14-of-24 draws in the game, with Eagan and Emily Heller leading the way with four draw controls apiece. Kavanagh added three, while three other Gators each registered one in the game.
Florida's defense – which ranks fourth in the nation – showed why on Friday, holding the Monarchs to just six goals, three of which came in the final six minutes of the game. The Gators held Old Dominion to 6-of-19 shooting on the night for a .316 clip.
As a team, UF notched 12 caused turnovers, led by three from Kaitlyn Dabkowski. That mark tied her career-best, which she has hit twice before. Kavanagh added two caused turnovers of her own, while seven Gators each registered one apiece.
Dabkowski and Kavanagh each tallied a team-high four groundballs – a career-high for Dabkowski and a season-best for Kavanagh. Haus added three groundballs, while Cara Trombetta and Eagan each added two of their own.
Sarah Reznick was stellar in the cage, recording nine saves, while only allowing three goals for a .750 save percentage.
The Gators close out the series with the Monarchs on Sunday, which serves as the final conference game for both teams. Opening draw is set for 10 a.m. at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex.