Lacrosse Falls to Florida in The American Title Game

Saturday, May 6

Philadelphia, Pa.

12 p.m.

James Madison University

17-2

Florida

16-3

JMU

5/6/2023 4:35:00 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

PHILADELPHIA – James Madison lacrosse was unable to hold on to a fourth-quarter lead and fell to Florida 9-8 in a back-and-forth contest in the American Athletic Conference championship game at Howarth Field in Saturday afternoon.

No. 6 JMU saw its 17-game winning streak snapped, falling to 17-2 overall while No. 8 Florida won its 11th straight to improve to 16-3.

Redshirt junior Isabella Peterson scored four goals on nine shots and added two draw controls, marking her 16th hat trick of the season, including her ninth straight. Redshirt sophomore Maggie Clark added a pair of goals with junior Katelyn Morgan dishing two assists.

On defense, redshirt senior Mairead Durkin caused three turnovers and added two ground balls. Classmate Kat Buchanan made seven saves on a .438 percentage.

Florida was led in goal by Sarah Reznick, who made 10 saves on a .556 save percentage on the afternoon. Junior Danielle Pavinelli had a hat trick on five shots while fellow junior Maggi Hall had a goal on three assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter – Florida 2, James Madison 2
The Gators struck twice in the first 2:55 to gain a 2-0 lead but Clark and Peterson tied things up at two with goals 1:02 apart. The two sides were scoreless for the final 7:53.

Second Quarter – James Madison 6, Florida 5
Florida took a 3-2 lead before Peterson scored twice to give JMU its first lead at 4-3. With the game tied at four, goals by Clark and Maddie Epke gave JMU a 6-4 advantage before a final-minute goal by Florida. JMU grabbed possession with six ground balls and four draw controls in the period.

Third Quarter – James Madison 8, Florida 7
Florida scored twice in 1:18 to re-grab the lead at 7-6 before Peterson scored from the free-position to tie the game. Fox's last-minute goal re-took the lead at 8-7. JMU picked up five ground balls and out-shot Florida 6-4.

Fourth Quarter – Florida 9, James Madison 8
The Gators scored twice in 1:43 to take a 9-8 lead at the 10:43 mark. From there, JMU had four shots, three on goal, but were not able to tie the game. Buchanan made three saves in the quarter to keep JMU within striking distance. It was JMU's first scoreless quarter since the fourth quarter on March 25 at Temple.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Saturday marked JMU's first conference title defeat since 2016, snapping a nine-game winning streak in conference tournament games.
There were six ties and four lead changes while no team led by more than two goals.
JMU won the ground ball battle 20-12, its sixth 20-ground-ball output of the season.
Florida won in the draw circle, 12-7, the second-fewest draw controls for JMU this season.

RECORDS AND MILESTONES

With four goals on Saturday, Peterson sits at 78 for the season, just four goals away from setting the new single-season goals record.
Peterson also moved within nine points of the all-time points record currently held by Gail Decker.
Durkin moved within 10 caused turnovers of breaking her own single-season record.

UP NEXT
James Madison will learn it's position in the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship on Sunday, May 7. The selection show will air on ESPNU at 9 p.m. with the First Round set for Friday, May 12.