Gator Lacrosse AAC Conference Champs!

Gator Sports
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – 11-straight. That’s how many regular season conference championships the No. 10 Florida lacrosse team has taken home in the 13-year history of the program.

The Gators defeated the Temple Owls 18-7 on Senior Day at Donald R. Dizney Stadium to clinch at least a share of the American Athletic Conference title. With a win against ECU on April 30, Florida can secure the outright championship. In the three complete seasons in the AAC, the Gators have won the regular season title in each of them.

UF has now won 56-straight conference games and 44-straight regular season conference contests en route to its 11th regular season title.

With the victory, Florida has now won nine-consecutive games and moves to 11-4 on the year and 4-0 in league play, while Temple drops to 10-5 overall and 3-1 in the conference.

Danielle Pavinelli led the way offensively with five goals on the afternoon, while Emerson Cabrera notched her second hat trick of the season, finishing the day with three.

Emma LoPinto, Emily Heller, Josie Hahn and Shelton Sawers each found the back of the cage twice for Florida, while Ashley Gonzalez and Paisley Eagannetted one goal apiece.

LoPinto also dished out a team-high three assists in the game, followed by two apiece from Gonzalez, Maggi Hall, Heller and Pavinelli.

Florida won the battle in the draw circle, coming up with 15-of-29 in the game. Heller posted a career-high seven to lead the way, while Hahn tallied a personal-best three.

The Gator defense held the Owls to 7-of-28 shooting in the game, just a .280 shooting percentage. Emma Wightman posted a team-high two caused turnovers on her Senior Day.

Hall picked up three groundballs in the victory to lead the Gators, while Leigh Lingo and Sarah Reznick each registered two.

Reznick recorded six saves on a .426 save percentage during her 52:31 in cage on Saturday afternoon. Julia Hammerschlag registered two saves of her own, while allowing no goals for a 1.000 save percentage between the pipes.

The Gators close out the home portion of their schedule on Wednesday when the 22nd-ranked Jacksonville Dolphins come to town. Opening draw is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.

Records
No. 10 Florida (11-4, 4-0 AAC)
Temple (10-5, 3-1 AAC)

How it Happened

  • Florida struck first, with Emma LoPinto finding a cutting Danielle Pavinelli for her 49th goal of the season with 2:40 gone in the first.
  • Emerson Cabrera followed with a score of her own just over five minutes later, this time finding the back of the cage on a pass from Pavinelli.
  • The Gators pulled ahead three when the duo of Pavinelli-LoPinto combined for another score, with Pavinelli tallying her second goal of the day.
  • Temple cut the deficit to two goals with 2:50 left in the frame, but Florida answered with two-straight goals in the last 15 seconds of the quarter from the sticks of Josie Hahn and Pavinelli to take the 5-1 lead into the break.
  • The Gators continued the scoring momentum into the second quarter, with Shelton Sawers recording her first goal of the season to put Florida up 6-1.
  • The Owls got one back less than a minute later, but Florida strung together a 3-0 run behind scores from Hahn, Pavinelli and Sawers to pull ahead 9-2 with 11 minutes left in the half. Temple tallied back-to-back goals to pull back within five at 9-4, but once again, the Gators answered – this time with a 4-0 run.
  • The run started on an Emerson Cabrera goal – her eighth of the season – then LoPinto followed with her first score of the day to put the Gators up 11-4.
  • Ashley Gonzalez and Emily Heller kept the scoring going, putting the Florida up 13-4 going into the halftime break.
  • Out of the locker room, the Owls found the back of the cage first, pulling to within eight goals at just over two minutes gone in the frame.
  • Florida scored the next three goals of the game, with Paisley Eagan, Cabrera and Pavinelli each finding the back of the cage to put the Gators up 16-5 and secure the running clock.
  • Temple responded with back-to-back goals to cut Florida’s lead to nine at 16-7, but the Gators found the back of the cage twice more before the final horn sounded. The first of the two goals came from the stick of Heller on a free-position conversion.
  • LoPinto scored her second goal of the day and final goal for either team with 8:13 left in the game, securing the 18-7 victory for Florida.

Notables

  • Florida has won a regular season conference championship in 11 of the 13 years the program has existed
  • This puts the Gators at 265 conference team titles (254 SEC Championships; 11 lacrosse championships)
  • The Gators have not dropped a conference game since April 18, 2015 and have not lost a regular season conference game since that same day
    • That’s 56 games overall and 44 regular season games that Florida has won in conference
  • Florida is 10-0 this season against teams not ranked in the IWLCA/ILWomen Top-25 poll
  • When scoring at least 14 goals, the Gators are 161-2 (.988) in program history
  • In the confines of Donald R. Dizney Stadium, Florida is 113-21 (.843) in program history
  • Streaking: Sarah Reznick has recorded a save in 44-straight games, the second-longest streak in program history
  • Streaking: Danielle Pavinelli has registered a point in 17-straight games
  • Streaking: Emma LoPinto has tallied a point in 11-straight games
  • Streaking: Emily Heller has recorded a draw control in 14-straight games
  • Streaking: Liz Harrison has recorded a draw control in 11-straight games   

Career-Highs

  • Emily Heller recorded a career-high seven draw controls and career-best two assists
  • Josie Hahn registered a new career-high in draw controls (3) and tied her career-best with two goals
  • Catherine Flaherty tied her career-best with one caused turnover
  • Maggi Hall tied her career-high with three groundballs
  • Shelton Sawers tallied a career-best two goals and tied her career-high in points (2)
  • Emerson Cabrera tied her career-high in goals (3), points (3) and draw controls (1)  
  • Julia Hammerschlag tied her career-best with a 1.000 save percentage

Insight from O’Leary

  • “This was a total team effort today. We were making things work on the offensive end, our defense came out and played really solid. Sarah did a great job in the goal and when Julia came off the bench, she was lights out in the goal. We were able to honor our seniors exactly how we wanted to today.”

Up Next

  • The Gators close out the home portion of their schedule on Wednesday when the 22nd-ranked Jacksonville Dolphins come to town
  • Opening draw is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.

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