Temple, Cincinnati and Florida all came up with conference wins Saturday to help set the stage for the upcoming American Athletic Conference Championship.
Temple scored an 11-7 win against East Carolina, which proved cruicial to the Owls' hopes of qualifying for the conference tournament, which will be held at Howarth Field in Philadelphia.
If Temple were to defeat Vanderbilt next Saturday, the Owls would need to see East Carolina fall to James Madison to qualify for the tournament. If either of those games go the other way, then Cinicnnati will be in the four-team field.
Saturday's results also secured the No. 1 seed for James Madison and the No. 2 seed for Florida in the tournament, which begins May 4.
TEMPLE 11, EAST CAROLINA 7
PHILADELPHIA – Temple lacrosse (7-8, 2-3 AAC) defeated East Carolina (10-6, 3-2 AAC) by a final score of 11-7 on Saturday afternoon, advancing to 3-2 in conference play. Taylor Grollman had a standout performance, leading the defensive unit and clocking a career-high 14 saves.
ECU struck first, but the Cherry and White quickly turned the momentum, netting three unanswered goals to advance their lead to 3-1. Maeve Tobin found the first of the game, followed by a finish from Mackenzie Roth off a Camryn Zavacky assist.
Zavacky found the helper once again, feeding a ball into Tobin for the Owls third of the game.
ECU opened the second quarter with a goal, but back-to-back goals from Belle Mastropietro kept Temple out in front.
ECU finished out the half with two more goals, but Julie Schickling split their momentum, finding one of her own in between to keep the Owls ahead by two as they entered halftime.
The Cherry and White entered the second half firing on all cylinders, posting another three-goal run. Julie Schickling found back-to-back goals, which included a dish from Mastropietro, while freshman Sabrina Martin secured her first of the game off another Zavacky dish.
The Pirates snuck one more in before the end of the quarter to enter the fourth at a four-goal disadvantage.
Mastropietro converted once again, but a two-goal run by ECU pulled the game within three with five minutes remaining.
Mastropietro kept her foot on the gas, finding one more to provide cushion for the Cherry and White and finish the day with the 11-7 win.
Grollman posted a career-best 14 saves, which included eight first half stops.
CINCINNATI 17, OLD DOMINION 7
CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati lacrosse team scored in the first 28 seconds and led 7-1 after the first quarter en route to a 17-7 win over Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon in its regular-season finale.
The Bearcats (11-6, 3-3 AAC) are within one win of matching the school record set in 2019 while seeing a three-game improvement from last year. Because of Temple's win over ECU, Cincinnati's AAC Championships scenario is contingent upon outcomes, as well as goal differentials, in next week's Temple-Vanderbilt and East Carolina-James Madison matchups.
Cincinnati also honored seniors Tori Accardo, Morgan Bates, Dani Mlkvy, Peyton Mottice and Grace Wehland pregame.
Ava Goeller scored two goals over the first 2:58 to eventually claim her sixth hat trick and 39th goals of the season. Kylie Gioia continued her late-season tear with two goals and an assist in the opening frame. Camryn Callaghan collected her 12th hat trick with a game-high five goals, giving her 55 on the season to lead all freshmen nationally. She did so on six shots while adding two draw controls and two ground balls.
Lauren Ottensmeyer's three goals came against her former Youngstown State coach who is in her first year at ODU. Bates and Lindsey Durkota scored their third and sixth goals, respectively, of the season as well while Wehland scored twice in her home finale.
Mlkvy's 10 draw controls not only set the tone all day for the Bearcats, but also extended her single-season school record to 110. It was her fourth game with 10 or more this season and first since Feb. 28 at Ohio State.
Ashley Lapp picked up six saves for a 46.2 percentage, and the aggressive defense allowed only 15 shots.
Cincinnati finished its Nippert Stadium campaign 7-1, with its only loss coming to Marquette, which boasts the No. 14 RPI.
NO. 8 FLORIDA 22, VANDERBILT 6
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The eighth-ranked Florida lacrosse team capped off the home portion of its schedule with a 22-6 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, the Gators move to 12-3 overall and 4-1 in AAC play, extending their win streak to seven-straight games. Vanderbilt falls to 3-11 on the year and 1-4 in league play. Florida clinched a spot in the American Athletic Conference Tournament with the win over the Commodores.
Following the game, the Gators honored their 17-person senior class: Whitney Albert, Tori Bates, Becky Browndorf, Emerson Cabrera, Georgia Ceanfaglione, Emily Diaz, Paisley Eagan, Emily Heller, Kylee Hubiak, Sarah Mackey, Kaala Puglisi, Jill Quigley, Sarah Reznick, Madison Rielly, Shelton Sawers, Janine Suris, Tayler Warehime.
The offense was on fire for Florida, with the Gators scoring a season-high 22 goals against the Commodores. Emily Heller and Danielle Pavinelli paced the offensive-effort, each scoring a team-high four goals. Emma LoPinto followed with three, while Paisley Eagan and Madison Waters each posted two scores in the victory.
Seven Gators each found the back of the cage once: Maggi Hall, Jill Quigley, Ashley Gonzalez, Sarah Mackey, Madison Rielly, Tayler Warehime, Emily Diaz.
Hall dished out a team-high four assists on the day, tying her career-best mark, while Eagan and LoPinto each added three helpers.
Pavinelli posted two assists on the afternoon, followed by one apiece from Kaitlyn Davies, Kelly Schluederberg, Janine Suris and Quigley.
Florida won 18-of-30 draw controls in the game, led by six from Emily Diaz. Liz Harrison (4) and Shelton Sawers (3) combined for seven in the victory.
The Gators held the Commodores to 6-of-23 shooting on the day, tallying 10 caused turnovers. Becky Browndorf, Catherine Flaherty and Madison Waters each posted a team-high two caused turnovers in the win.
Sarah Reznick finished the day with five saves and .556 save percentage in her 43+ minutes of play, while Elyse Finnelle posted three saves and a .600 save percentage in the victory.
The Gators begin the final week of the regular season with a game against the Jacksonville Dolphins on Wednesday. Opening draw is slated for 7 p.m. at Rock Stadium.