NEW YORK – After two weekends of BIG EAST women’s lacrosse play, three of the league’s 10 teams remain unbeaten as No. 3/3 Florida, Georgetown and Vanderbilt enter Week 3 with 2-0 records. The Gators scored an impressive win over No. 13/13 Denver, the Hoyas won at Connecticut and Vanderbilt cruised by Butler, while Temple and Villanova also notched conference victories over the weekend.
No. 3/3 Florida 15, No. 13/13 Denver 8
Florida (8-1, 2-0 BIG EAST) took down No. 13 Denver (7-2, 1-1) Saturday to extend its winning streak to eight games. The 15 goals scored by the Gators were the most the stingy Denver defense has allowed in a game this season. Entering the tilt, the Pioneers ranked seventh in the NCAA in only allowing 7.75 goals per game, with a season high of just 10. Leading 4-3 midway through the first period, Florida closed the half on a 5-0 run and scored the first of the second period to take a commanding 10-3 lead. The Pioneers fought back, scoring four of the next five to close within four, but the Gators responded with their own 4-1 spurt to end the game. Audrey Schreck scored three goals and Maddy Stevenson made 11 saves for Denver, while Florida was sparked by a five-goal outing for Mollie Stevens and 12 saves by Haley Hicklen.
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Georgetown 14, Connecticut 6
The Hoyas (4-6, 2-0 BIG EAST) used an impressive second half to pull away from UConn (3-6, 0-2) to remain undefeated in conference play. Leading 6-3 after the first, Georgetown outscored the Huskies 8-3, including two goals from Katie Snouffer, over the final 30 minutes to score the victory. Snouffer added two assists to finish with four points, while Morgan Ryan totaled three goals and three dishes for GU. Maddy Fisher made 15 saves for the Hoyas. The Huskies were led by Jacqueline Jordan who notched two goals, three draw controls and two caused turnovers.
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Vanderbilt 22, Butler 4
The Commodores led wire to wire in what was their highest scoring performance in two years to improve to 2-0 in BIG EAST play and 5-3 overall. Kayla Peterson scored seven goals for Vandy while Jill Doherty added a hat trick and five assists. Butler (1-9, 0-2) saw Ashley Lizzi score twice. The ‘Dores scored 10 of the game’s first 11 goals to jump out to an early lead and limited the Bulldogs to just one score in the second half. Vanderbilt finished with a 34-5 advantage in shots and 20-8 lead in draw controls.
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Temple 17, Marquette 16 (OT)
Brenda McDermott scored the overtime game-winner for Temple to lift the Owls (8-2, 1-1 BIG EAST) to a 17-16 victory against visiting Marquette (3-7, 1-1) in their BIG EAST home opener. The high-scoring affair saw four players notch hat tricks, including six goals for MU’s Grace Gabriel and five for Temple’s Nicole Barretta. Marquette and Temple traded runs with the Owls using a 10-1 streak in the first half to take a 12-8 lead into the break. The Golden Eagles used a 7-1 spurt to gain a 15-14 lead with 9:31 left in regulation, before Barretta scored back-to-back goals 28 seconds apart to give the lead back to Temple. Gabriel took advantage of a man-up situation with 2:44 left to score the game-tying goal with 2:44 left, as the teams headed into overtime knotted at 16. With 3:19 left in the extra frame, McDermott found the back of the net, unassisted, to lead Temple to the victory. Jules Horning made four saves for MU while Kelsea Hershey had six stops for the Owls.
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Villanova 16, Cincinnati 10
Playing the lone Sunday game, Villanova (3-6, 1-1 BIG EAST) held onto its six-goal first-half lead to notch its first league win of the season. It was a battle of freshman standouts as Katie Comerford led the Wildcats with five goals and an assist, while Cincinnati (4-6, 0-2) was sparked by Monica Borzillo’s five scores. Comerford and Catherine Bendinelli notched first-half hat tricks as Villanova carried a 9-3 lead into halftime before both teams scored seven goals in the second period. Julia Michaels helped preserve the Villanova lead with 14 saves, while Alex MacAffer was credited with six stops for the Bearcats.
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