UF Lacrosse: AAC Champs! Florida Victorious Over Vanderbilt on Senior Day
Courtesy of University Athletic Association
BY KATIE CALLAHAN
The Gators topped the Commodores 22-9 to clinch at least a share of the American Athletic Conference regular season championship
The ninth-ranked Florida lacrosse team got to hoist the American Athletic Conference regular season trophy after clinching at least a share of the championship with its 22-9 defeat of Vanderbilt on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
With the victory, the Gators have now won the regular season conference championship both of their years in the AAC and have now won 10 regular season crowns across three conferences (ALC: 2011, ’12, ’13, ’14; BIG EAST: 2015, ’16, ’17, ’18; AAC: 2019, ’21).
Florida has also now won 38 straight regular season conference games, dating back to the start of conference play in the 2016 season.
Due to weather in the area, the Gators honored their eight seniors and three student managers in Senior Day festivities after the victory. Eddy Shoop, Annie Wright, Kassidy Bresnahan, Grace Haus, Cara Trombetta, Shannon Kavanagh, Brianna Harris, and Kaitlyn Dabkowski took part in the ceremony.
The Gators had eight different goal scorers on the afternoon, including a team-high seven from Kavanagh. With her first goal today, she tied the record for most consecutive games with a goal (40).
Haus, Bresnahan, and Danielle Pavinelli each recorded a hat trick in the game, while Maggi Hall, Emily Heller, and Harris each found the back of the cage twice. Paisley Eagan registered one goal of her own on the afternoon to round out Florida’s goal scorers.
Harris dished out a season-high four assists on the afternoon, while Bresnahan and Haus each posted two. Ashley Gonzalez, Hall, and Kavanagh each recorded one helper in the game.
Florida controlled the draw circle, coming up with 20-of-32 draw controls on the afternoon. Kavanagh posted a team-high 10, securing the program record for draw controls in a career as she passed Shannon Gilroy’s record of 303. Eagan and Harris each secured three draw controls, while Heller added two.
The defensive quartet of Trombetta, Dabkowski, Emma Wightman, and Becky Browndorf held four of Vanderbilt’s top scorers to just 1-of-7 shooting and two assists in the game.
Dabkowski, Kavanagh, and Trombetta led the way with two caused turnovers apiece, while Heller, Wightman, and Kavanagh once again tallied a team-high three groundballs in the game.
Sarah Reznick saw all 60 minutes in the cage, coming up with nine saves for a .500 save percentage.
Insight from O’Leary
On her thoughts from today’s game
* “Just really excited to come out with a victory today. Vanderbilt is a great team and they came out and played hard from the jump. I am very honored to be able to coach this senior class. They have done such an amazing job here over the course of their careers and I could not be more thrilled for them.”
Up Next
* The Gators head to Norfolk, Va. to take on the Old Dominion Monarchs for the final series of conference play
* Florida has to win just one of the two games to claim the regular season title outright
* UF and Old Dominion are meeting for the first time in program history, with this being the Monarchs’ first season in the AAC