No. 5 James Madison, No. 8 Florida and Cincinnati all claimed impressive nonconference wins Wednesday, while East Carolina impressed in its own right in a close loss against a nationally ranked opponent.


NO. 5 JAMES MADISON 10, NO. 12 VIRGINIA 8
HARRISONBURG, Va. – No. 5 James Madison lacrosse scored the final three goals and were lifted by a stout goalkeeping performance to win a back-and-forth battle 10-8 against No. 12 Virginia at Sentara Park on Wednesday.
 
JMU improved to 9-1 on the season while Virginia fell to 7-3.
 
Sophomore Savannah Derey scored three goals to lead JMU for her first career hat trick, while senior Tai Jankowski scored twice. Redshirt sophomore Maggie Clark provided clutch offensive heroics, scoring the game-winner with 4:33 left to play.
 
Redshirt senior Kat Buchanan repeatedly stood tall in net, making a career-high 12 saves on a .600 save percentage. Rachel Matey was active in the circle, gaining a season-high eight draw controls and added a caused turnover defensively.
 
For the Cavaliers, Ashlyn McGovern scored four times while Ashley Vernon made 11 saves in goal on a .523 percentage.
 

NO. 8 FLORIDA 15, MERCER 6
MACON, Ga. – The eighth-ranked Florida lacrosse team defeated the Mercer Bears 15-6 on Wednesday afternoon behind a strong showing on both ends of the field.
 
The Gators improve to 6-3 on the year, while the Bears fall to 5-2 overall.
 
Florida had nine different goal scorers on Wednesday afternoon, with Kaitlyn Davies leading the way with her three-goal effort. Emma LoPinto, Maggi Hall, Emily Heller and Danielle Pavinelli each registered two scores on the day, while four Gators each recorded one goal: Madison Waters, Paisley Eagan, Ava Tighe, Tayler Warehime.
 
Hall posted a team-high three assists in the victory, while LoPinto, M. Waters and Ashley Gonzalez each dished out one assist in the win. 
 
The Gators won 18-of-25 draw controls on the afternoon, with Liz Harrison tallying a career-high 12. Heller added two draw control victories in the game.
 
Florida held Mercer to 6-of-27 (.222) shooting in the victory, posting 15 caused turnovers. Heller registered a team-high and career-high five caused turnovers, followed by two from Becky Browndorf.
 
Heller also posted a career-high five groundballs in the win, followed by two from Browndorf. Nine Gators each picked one groundball on the day.
 
In her 41:14 between the pipes, redshirt junior Sarah Reznick tallied eight saves while only allowing four goals for a .667 save percentage on the afternoon. Elyse Finnelle stepped in for the final 18:46, coming up with four saves and a .667 save percentage as well.
 


CINCINNATI 17, BUTLER 3
CINCINNATI, Ohio – Led by hat-trick performances from freshman Camryn Callaghan (five goals), junior Ava Goeller (three) and sophomore Kylie Gioia (three), the Cincinnati women's lacrosse team flew past Butler, 17-3, on Wednesday at Nippert Stadium.
 
The Bearcats collected a 38-10 advantage in shots and held the Bulldogs scoreless until the 6:22 mark in the third quarter.
 
UC improved to 8-3 on the season with the non-conference win. The Bearcats are off to their best 11-game start in school history.

"We came out really strong. Dani Mlkvy, on the draw, did what she is supposed to do and set us up for success early," head coach Gina Thomas said. "We have to limit our turnovers and continue to move the ball on offense with confidence and find openings that we can execute. A lot of things went in our favor today, and it worked out for us."
 
Cincinnati jumped out to an early lead thanks in part to outstanding defense and impressive play from senior midfielder Dani Mlkvy, who was nearly perfect in winning eight draw controls, while also forcing three turnovers.
 
Senior defender Sophia Finotti led UC's defense with five turnovers caused, while keeper Ashley Lapp tallied two saves en route to her eighth win.
 
UC quickly snagged a 3-0 lead with a trio of goals over a 55-second span in the match's first four minutes.
 
Goeller started where she left off following up her seven-goal performance on Saturday with the first goal of the match at the 12:29 mark on Wednesday.
 
Callaghan netted her first goal 30 seconds later and redshirt sophomore Lindsey Durkota passed to Gioia for the next goal 25 seconds later.
 
Cincinnati made it 4-0 at the end of the first quarter when senior midfielder Morgan Bates whipped a perfect pass to a darting Gioia.
 
Just 15 seconds later, Goeller sprinted 30 yards to fire her second goal of the game to put UC in front 5-0.
 
Callaghan capped the first quarter with her second score, as well, as she powered her way through several defenders to give Cincinnati a 6-0 advantage.
 
Callaghan fired a pair of goals to make the score 8-0 early in the second quarter and net the freshman phenom her 10th hat trick in 11 matches this season.
 
Her fourth goal featured an assist from freshman Sophia Lymberis, which marked the first career point for the first-year midfielder.
 
Cincinnati held a commanding 11-0 lead at halftime, and quickly added two more goals in the opening minutes of the second half.
 
Sophomore Kirsten Schleicher netted her first goal of the year 20 seconds into the third frame and two minutes before Durkota recorded her second goal to push the Cincinnati lead to 13-0.
 
Butler finally got on the board at the 6:22 mark in the third quarter when Patricia Lynn scored to make it 13-1.
 
Schleicher added a second goal in the fourth, while freshman midfielder Ava Jennings scored her first career goal in the final minutes.


NO. 18 DUKE 13, EAST CAROLINA 10
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina lacrosse team dropped a tight contest with No. 18 Duke 13-10 on Wednesday evening in Johnson Stadium. Ellie Bromley scored four goals in the game and despite being face-guarded for most of the game, Frances Kimel managed a trio of goals and one assist.

If a team can learn anything from a loss, what ECU (8-2, 1-0 AAC) can learn from this one is: Belief. The Pirates are good enough to play with anyone and they showed it on Wednesday.

Duke (5-5) got out of the gates early, leading 6-1 in the first quarter before the Pirates began to climb back into it. It was a game that, despite that healthy first-half advantage for the Blue Devils, was decided by only a handful of plays. One such play came at the end of the first half when Duke ended an ECU run to push their lead back to three going into the break.

After 19 first-half goals for the two teams, the defenses locked in in a goalless third quarter, setting up a high-intensity final 15 minutes. Bromley scored to open that fourth quarter before the Blue Devils managed a pair unanswered. Leah Bestany's late goal came a little too late and Duke held on for the 13-10 victory.

It was a battle all game. Maddie Jenner dominated on the draw as she has done for her entire career with 13 draw controls - but ECU mitigated her efforts well in the second half. Duke scored some less-than-spectacular goals in less-than ideal situations for the Pirates - but the team donning Purple and Gold found answers to keep themselves in the game.

It was a loss, but it was a top-25 loss and the Pirates remain a stout 8-2 through their first 10 games.