On Day of Near Upsets, Temple Gets it Done

Temple opened its Big East schedule by posting its third consecutive win, beating Denver 10-9 as sophomore Maryn Lowell made 12 saves, including the game-clincher with 20 seconds remaining in the contest.

"Everything about this game was great," said Temple coach Bonnie Rosen. "We knew Denver is a great team that has been playing really great defense and powerful offense, and we had to bring our A game today. To be able to start our conference play with this win is exciting, but more importantly, the way we played today is what I am really excited about. They have been working really hard for two weeks to play a game for a complete 60 minutes, and we got that today."

Denver came into the game on the verge of the Top 20 in the Nike/US Lacrosse rankings and No. 22 in the IWLCA coaches poll, and already owns impressive wins over Stanford and Louisville. But Temple, which has now won three straight since a loss to No. 2 James Madison, was up for the challenge.

Michelle Koscinski broke a 4-4 tie with the first goal of the second half and then Olivia Thompson scored back-to-back goals to give Temple a three-goal run to open the half. Denver stayed right in the thick of things, but never drew even again.

After Temple's Maddie Gerdert scored with 1:12 to play, giving the Owls a 10-8 lead, Denver made one final push. Julia Feiss converted a free position shot with 31 seconds remaining, and Molly Little won the ensuing draw. Temple's Lowell then came up with the save on Eliza Rodochonski's shot with 20 seconds left, Lowell's second save in the final minute of the game.

Amber Lambeth, Thompson and Koscinski all had two goals for Temple. Quintin Hoch-Bulled led Denver with three goals and Kendra Lanuza had three assists.

Florida Survives Scare in the Music City

There was almost another upset in the Big East, but Florida held on for an 11-10 win at Vanderbilt.

Junior goalie Haley Hicklen came up huge again for the Gators, finishing the game with 13 saves, allowing Florida to escape despite not scoring over the game's final 17:57.

"This game was a fight," said Florida head coach Amanda O'Leary, who won her 299th game as a collegiate head coach. "I give all the credit to Vanderbilt for forcing us into some very uncomfortable situations on the field. Our energy level across the board still needs to improve, but I am proud that this team has not given up when faced with adversity."

Florida led 3-0, 5-1 and had a four-goal lead at 11-7 after back-to-back goals by Grace Haus, but could never completely put Vanderbilt away as they clearly missed star attacker Lindsey Ronbeck. Ronbeck, who was injured in a midweek win over Navy, did not play on Sunday.

The Commodores pulled to within 11-10 with 3:53 to play on Emily Mathewson's goal and it came down to the wire. After an apparent Florida goal by Shayna Pirreca was waved off for a goal circle violation, Vanderbilt got some good looks on its final possession, but its best shot went high over the cage then Carolina Benitez forced a turnover that allowed Florida to run out the clock.

Pirreca led the Gators with four goals and Haus had the two goals.

Gabrielle Fornia and Julie Blaze each had three goals for Vanderbilt.

Trojans Escape in Overtime Again

Two days after a wild 8-7 overtime victory against Colorado put USC on top of the Pac-12 standings, the Trojans needed extra time again, this time prevailing over Oregon 9-8.

For the second straight game, the Trojans ran into some hot goaltending. Colorado's Julia Lisella made 17 saves on Friday night and this time it was Louisville transfer Brittany Read coming up big for Oregon. Read made 15 saves in the game and limited the Trojans to just one goal over the final 34 minutes or regulation.

The goal was a big one however, as sophomore Hope Anhut scored with 7:01 to play to break a 7-7 tie and give the Trojans a one-goal lead.

Oregon kept the margin at one as Read came up with three saves down the stretch and then a late USC turnover gave the Ducks a final opportunity in regulation which Jill Zubillaga cashed in with eight seconds left to force overtime.

Oregon won the draw to start overtime, but turned it over and Kerrigan Miller buried a free position shot with 51 seconds left in the first overtime period to give the Trojans the win and move them to 3-0 in the league.

Miller, Anhut and Kalei Huff all had two goals for USC and Gussie Johns earned the win with eight saves.

Mariah Gatti led Oregon with three goals and Shannon Williams (2g, 2a) had a team-high four points.

Games of Note

No. 15 Colorado bounced back from Friday's overtime loss at USC with an 18-2 win at Arizona State. Miranda Stinson had four goals and two assists and Julia Lisella made nine saves for the Buffs.
Julia Bolte had four goals and four assists and Emma Harden had five goals as No. xx Virginia Tech overcame an early 3-0 deficit to beat Delaware 17-10, the third straight win for the Hokies.
Grace Gabriel had six goals as Marquette outscored Cincinnati 19-15 in both team's Big East opener, snapping the Bearcats six-game winning streak.

Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Scoreboard

No. 5 Florida 11, Vanderbilt 10
No. 12 USC 9, Oregon 8 (OT)
No. 15 Colorado 18, Arizona State 2
No. 19 Virginia Tech 17, Delaware 10

Other Scores