via UF press release, by Katie Callahan – photo by Leslie White

Florida has now won its conference season opener in 11-straight seasons

BOX SCORE

CINCINNATI, Ohio – The 10th-ranked Florida lacrosse team continued its hot streak on Sunday, defeating Cincinnati 19-12 for its sixth-straight victory.

Florida moves to 8-4 on the year and 1-0 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Bearcats fell to 6-7 overall and 0-1 in the league.

This is the 11th-straight season that Florida has won its conference opener (2011-Pres., excluding 2020).

The Gators had nine goal scorers in total, led by five goals from Emma LoPinto. Danielle Pavinelli added four goals of her own in conference-opening victory, while Maggi Hall tallied her fifth hat trick of the season with her three goals.

Paisley Eagan recorded two goals on the afternoon herself, while Josie Hahn, Emily Heller, Sarah Mackey, Ashley Gonzalez and Bella Palagonia each registered a goal in the victory.

Pavinelli also dished out a career-high five assists in the game, followed by two helpers from LoPinto. Hall and Liz Harrison each tallied one assist in the win.

The Gators won 19 draws on the day, led by five from Emily Heller. Pavinelli and Harrison recorded three draws in the victory as well.

As a team, Florida held Cincinnati to 12-of-38 shooting – a .316 shooting percentage – and caused four turnovers from four different Gators: Emma Wightman, Maeson Tydings, Catherine Moriarty and Eagan.

LoPinto picked up a career-high and a team-high three groundballs, followed by two apiece from Tydings and Catherine Flaherty.

Sarah Reznick posted seven saves during her 54:23 in the cage on Monday afternoon. Julia Hammerschlag saw 5:37 minutes of her own between the pipes, coming up with one save.

The Gators are back in action on Saturday, April 9 against Old Dominion. Opening draw is set for 12 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.

Records
No. 10 Florida (8-4, 1-0 AAC)
Cincinnati (6-7, 0-1 AAC)

How it Happened

• Just 40 seconds into the game, Maggi Hall came from behind the cage to put Florida on the board early. Following up on Hall’s goal was Danielle Pavinelli, netting her 40th goal of the season to give the Gators the 2-0 advantage.
• Florida’s defense held the Bearcats scoreless for almost the first six minutes of the game, but Cincinnati found the back of the cage with 9:03 remaining in the first to cut the lead to one.
• Pavinelli did not let that last long as the sophomore attacker scored her second of the day on a behind-the-back shot to put the Gators up 3-1.
• Cincinnati’s Kylie Nause scored her second of the day to once again bring the game within one goal, but less than a minute later Emma LoPinto found the back of the net to put UF up 4-2.
• Emily Heller kept the Florida scoring going, converting on a free-position attempt with 1:54 left in the frame. The Bearcats scored the final goal of the first quarter, but Florida took the 5-3 lead into the second.  
• Cincinnati scored the first goal of the second frame, but LoPinto gave the Gators a two-goal lead after, scoring her 30th goal of the season on a pass from Pavinelli.
• LoPinto followed up her own goal with a diving score, putting Florida up 7-4 with just under nine minutes to play in the half. Cincinnati would not bow out though, getting one back just 32 seconds later to bring UF’s lead back to two.
• The Gators went on a 3-0 run to take the 10-5 lead with 5:48 left in the half. Hall started the run on a woman-up free-position conversion, followed by back-to-back scores within 16 seconds, coming from the sticks Josie Hahn and Paisley Eagan.
• The Bearcats scored their final goal of the half with just under four minutes to go, cutting the lead to 10-6, but Eagan notched her second of the day on a pass from Pavinelli to give Florida the momentum going into the locker room.   
• The Gators came out of the halftime break and put two goals on the board within three minutes, with Hall and Ashley Gonzalez finding the net to put Florida up 13-6 in the third.
• Pavinelli then tallied back-to-back goals to bring her total to four in the game, putting the Gators up nine goals with 8:33 left in the third quarter and then Bella Palagonia got in the scoring column herself, giving Florida the running clock.
• The Bearcats stopped the running clock 90 seconds later, cutting the deficit to nine with 6:33 left in the third quarter and then added one final goal in the third, scoring with just 19 seconds to play.
• Cincinnati continued its run, striking first in the final frame, cutting the deficit to seven at 16-9.
• LoPinto answered with her fourth goal of the day on an unassisted score with 10:59 remaining in the game, giving the Gators the eight-goal advantage.
• The Bearcats found the back of the cage twice more over the next four minutes, but sandwiched between those scores was LoPinto’s fifth of the game to keep Florida in control.
• Sarah Mackey gave the Gators the eight-goal lead at 19-11 on an assist from Liz Harrison with just under three minutes remaining in the game and although Cincinnati was able to score one final time, Florida held on for the 19-12 victory.

Notables

• The Gators improve to 11-0 in the all-time series against the Bearcats, including a 4-0 record in Cincinnati
• Florida has now won 53-straight conference games and 41-straight regular season conference games
• The Gators are 7-0 this season against teams not ranked in the IWLCA/ILWomen Top-25 poll
• Danielle Pavinelli is on pace to become Florida’s 19th 100-point scorer as she currently sits at 97
• 2022 Hat Trick Counter:
  • Danielle Pavinelli: 8
  • Emma LoPinto: 6
  • Maggi Hall:5
• When scoring at least 14 goals, the Gators are 158-2 (.987) in program history
• Streaking: Sarah Reznick has recorded a save in 41-straight games, the third-longest streak in program history
• Streaking: Pavinelli has registered a point in 15-straight games
• Streaking: Emily Heller has recorded a point in 13-straight games
• Streaking: Heller has also recorded a draw control in 12-straight games
• Streaking: Catherine Moriarty has caused a turnover in seven-straight games, tied for the sixth-longest streak in program history

Career-Highs

• Danielle Pavinelli recorded career-highs in the following: points (9), assists (5) and draw controls (3)  
• Sarah Mackey and Bella Palagonia each tied their career-high with one goal
• Brie Catts recorded a career-high two draw controls and both Josie Hahn and Kelly Schluederberg tied their career-best with two draw controls
• Emerson Cabrera tied her career-best with one draw control
• Emma LoPinto picked up a career-high three groundballs and Catherine Flaherty tied her career-high with two groundballs
• Kylee Hubiak tied her career-best with one groundball

Insight from O’Leary

• “We started a little slower than we would have liked today, but really found ourselves to start the second half. Credit to Cincinnati, they played us tough and we’re happy to see how our players responded to that.”

Up Next

• The Gators are back in action when the team returns home to face Old Dominion on Saturday, April 9
• Opening draw is set for 12 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium

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