Florida and James Madison advanced to the round of 16 of the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship Friday as both teams used late surges to pull away for first-round victories.
The Gators scored a 13-7 win against Jacksonville, while the Dukes were 12-8 winners against Army.
FLORIDA 13, JACKSONVILLE 7
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Junior attacker Danielle Pavinelli scored three of her game-high five goals in the fourth quarter and led sixth-ranked and sixth-seeded Florida to a 13-7 victory over Jacksonville in Friday's opening-round play of the NCAA Tournament at Dizney Stadium.
Pavinelli, the junior from Northport, N.Y., helped the host Gators break open a close game and in doing so became the 11th player in UF history to reach 200 points for her career and first since Brianna Harris and Shannon Kavanagh got there in 2021. Pavinelli, now with 201 career points, finished the afternoon with those five goals (on seven shots), plus an assist, but it was the overall goal of the day — advancing in the tournament — that mattered most for the Gators and Coach Amanda O'Leary.
"This team is so experienced," said O'Leary. "They know what it takes to win. They have the fight, the grit and this is how they've played all season. Regy [Thorpe] and Nicole [Levy] did a great job of putting together two defensive game plans - Regy on the defensive end and Nicole on the offensive end. When you surround yourself with the best coaches and the best players, it's a pretty special group. It was fun to be out there today."
With the win, Florida (17-3) will take on either Notre Dame (13-5) or Mercer (17-2), who were scheduled to meet in Friday's nightcap, in Sunday's round of 16, with the winner of that match moving on to the NCAA quarterfinals. UF improved to 5-0 all-time in NCAA games that precede the Sweet 16.
Sophomore attacker Emily LoPinto had a pair of goals and three assists, while junior attacker Maggie Hall was good for a goal and three assists, with Hall's goal the 96th of her career and pushing her closer to the program's 100-goal club.
Fourth-year junior keeper Sarah Reznick, meanwhile, was terrific in goal. She faced 35 shots from the Dolphins (12-8) and finished with a program single-game record 17 saves for a .708 save percentage.
The Gators appeared to take control in the final eight minutes of the second period by scoring all four goals before the half to take a 7-2 advantage into the locker room. UF's lead was 3-2 when it seized on a JU turnover near midfield and used the miscue to convert a breakaway. Pavinelli controlled the loose ball, threw ahead to Emily Heller, who in turn dished to LoPinto, who beat Dolphins' keeper Addy Tysdal for the score and 4-2 advantage.
Just 92 seconds later a foul on JU defender Kaila Stasulli set up a free position attempt that Hall converted for her 43rd goal of 2023. At the 4:30 mark, LoPinto stripped defender Maddie Sturgell behind the Jacksonville goal, then circled the cage and threw past Tysdal for her second goal in three minutes and a 6-2 Florida lead. Junior Madison Waters's free-position score with 2:57 to go gave the Gators their 7-2 cushion at intermission.
Pavinelli's goal 7:29 into the third quarter stretched the Florida advantage to 8-2, but the Dolphins reeled off four consecutive scores — all unassisted, with two from grad attack Sarah Elms — to make things interesting (and make the home crowd a little antsy) at 8-6 with just over a minute to go in the period.
Turned out to be plenty of time for the Gators.
Actually, UF only needed a span of 13 seconds to open a four-goal advantage, with Pavinelli having a hand on a quick pair of goals. She assisted on a score by Hall with 18.9 to go, then, after the Gators controlled the ensuing draw, Emily Diaz took a pass from Pavinelli for a second quick score, this one with just 5.8 seconds left for a 10-6 lead.
Less than six minutes into the fourth period, again it was Pavinelli cutting through the 8-meter area, taking a dish from Gonzalez and beating Tysdal for a five-goal cushion with just over 14 minutes remaining. Pavinelli's third goal of the final quarter doubled up the Dolphins, 12-6, and came with 10:35 left on an assist by Hall. Her fourth was tallied at 8:24, courtesy of a pass from LoPinto.
JAMES MADISON 12, ARMY 8
HARRISONBURG, Va. – No. 7 James Madison lacrosse pulled away in the second half and defeated No. 14 Army West Point 12-8 in the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship first round at Sentara Park on Friday.
The Dukes improved to 18-2 overall while Army finished the year at 15-4. The 18th win marks the second-most in a season in JMU history, only behind the 2018 team which won 22 games.
Redshirt junior Isabella Peterson scored four goals on a career-high 15 shots, putting 10 on goal. JMU's offense was also boosted by a hat trick from redshirt junior Taylor Marchetti and a pair of goals from freshman Maddie Epke. JMU sent a season-high 40 shots toward the Black Knights' cage.
The Dukes' defense caused 14 turnovers, four each by redshirt senior Rachel Matey and junior Carolyn Thistlewaite. Matey added five ground balls and Thistlewaite four to help limit Army to 21 shots and limit its 17th opponent to fewer than 10 goals. Goalkeeper Kat Buchanan made seven saves on a .467 save percentage and added three ground balls.
For Army, goalkeeper Lindsey Serafine made 14 saves for a career high, doing so on a .538 save percentage. Julia Gorajek and Julia Franzoni each netted hat tricks.
Marchetti struck twice for a pair of goals 1:49 apart, giving JMU a 2-0 lead. After Army got on the board, Peterson restored the two-goal lead at 4:15. JMU took 13 shots and came up with eight ground balls.
Peterson scored twice to complete her hat trick before Tai Jankowski scored from the free-position to give JMU its biggest lead of the half at 6-2. Army responded with the last two goals of the quarter, scoring the final one with seven seconds to play. JMU took 13 more shots in the quarter.
The defense put up a scoreless quarter, picking up four ground balls and limiting the Black Knights to four shots. Peterson, Lizzy Fox and Marchetti each scored goals in the period.
The Dukes extended the lead to as much as seven with two goals from Epke. Army scored three times in 1:05 to finish the scoring.