NASHVILLE – A hot start in the first quarter lifted top-seeded South Florida to a 13-7 victory over No. 4 seed Temple on Thursday night in the first semifinal game of the 2026 American Conference Women’s Lacrosse Championship at Vanderbilt’s FirstBank Stadium.

USF (12-4) advanced to the tournament final of the American Championship for the second consecutive year in just its second year as a conference member. The Bulls will face the winner of Thursday’s second semifinal between East Carolina and James Madison on May 2 at noon CT.

The regular season champion USF squad got off to a fast start in the opening quarter, scoring five goals on 16 shots (10 on goal). Ava Uphues opened the scoring 1:51 into the game to put the Bulls in front 1-0. Goals from Kali Cleary (7:06), Jenna Binkis (5:45), Julia Huxtable (4:35) and Sofia Chepenik (2:36) extended the early lead for USF to 5-0.

Temple (12-5) clawed back into the contest in the second quarter with goals from Amelia Wright and Kali Saito, but USF found three more goals of its own to take an 8-2 advantage into halftime. The Bulls held a 24-9 edge in total shots after the first 30 minutes, including 17-5 in shots on goal.

USF extended its lead as high as nine goals at 12-3 following Chepenik’s second of the night with 12:13 left in the fourth quarter, but Temple managed to limit the Bulls to just one goal the remainder of the contest. Saito completed the hat trick with goals at the 8:53 and 3:43 marks, and Wright added a second tally with 5:44 remaining, but a Chepenik and an Elise Grissett hat trick capped the final scoreline for USF at 13-7.

Both Chepenik and Grissett were tied for the game lead with three goals and one assist to pace USF, while Uphues added a pair of goals and an assist. Maggie Newton contributed a game-high three assists to lead all players representing the Bulls.

Saito’s hat trick led all Temple scorers, while Wright converted two of her three shots into goals. Sarah Gowman chipped in a goal and an assist for the Owls.