TAMPA, Fla. – Old Dominion women’s lacrosse fell short against South Florida on the road by a 15-10 score on Saturday afternoon.
Sarah Murrell attacked first for the Monarchs (8-7), finding the back of the net by the 12-minute mark of the first quarter. Teammate Sylvia Mayo added onto ODU’s lead under three minutes later, where she would score twice within 70 seconds. Callie Culhane would make it a 4-0 lead for Old Dominion before South Florida’s Sofia Chepenik scored the first goal of the day for the Bulls (11-3). Mayo would grab the first hat trick of the game on a free-position shot, and Murrell followed suit at the three-minute mark to give ODU an early 6-1 lead. While Chepenik would score once more for USF, ODU would end the first up 6-2.
South Florida began the second quarter with a free-position goal from Kali Cleary just under a minute in, and she grabbed her second goal just 40 seconds later. To make it a one-point game, Kaitlyn Tartaglione found the back of the net for the Bulls, though Mayo would disrupt their scoring spree with her fourth foal of the game just past the nine-minute mark. Alex Kulinski found the back of the net with under eight minutes left to play to bring ODU up 8-5, though USF’s Juliana George and Ava Uphues would respond within the next two minutes to make it a one-point game. To knot the score at eight, Chepenik recorded the Bull’s first hat trick of the day on a player-up. Annalynn Pompetti ended the first half with one more goal for the Monarchs, giving them a 9-8 lead as they headed to halftime.
USF’s Maggie Newton and Chepenik opened the second half by netting one in to give South Florida its first lead of the game, 10-9. Georgia added onto the Bull’s lead with under eight minutes left in the third quarter, and neither team would score as the Bulls entered the fourth quarter up 11-9.
Kulinski found the back of the net from Kulinski just 50 seconds into the fourth quarter to bring ODU just one point away from tying the game. However, South Florida’s Elle Trzaskawka scored two minutes later to regain their two-point lead. Tartaglione, Natalie Kelly, and Uphues added to the Bull’s lead, securing USF’s 15-10 win over ODU.
Mayo led the Monarchs in scoring with four goals, while Murrell and Kulinski both recorded two and Pompetti contributed one. Murrell also had a team-high seven draw controls with Pompetti accounting for the only assist from ODU. Goalie Brynn Bowen grabbed 10 saves with seven ground balls.
Old Dominion returns home next weekend to host Temple for Senior Day on Saturday, April 19 at noon at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex.