England coronated a new King and Queen-Consort this morning.
The same cannot be said in the American Athletic Conference. Florida upended top-seed James Madison 9-8 in the AAC championship game on the campus of Temple University.
The win is the ninth-straight conference tournament crown for Florida and 10th overall in its 14-year history. Four of those titles have come in the AAC, which began sponsoring women’s lacrosse in 2019.
“It’s hard to put into words,” said Amanda O’Leary, Florida’s first and only head coach who starred in field hockey and lacrosse at host-site Temple. “You’ve won it in the past, but it’s so special each and every year … Not winning the regular season title was a … chip on our shoulder … glad we could redeem ourselves.”
James Madison beat Florida 14-9 on March 18, ran the table in its first season in the AAC and broke the Gators’ run of 11-straight regular-season conference championships. On Saturday, it was Florida’s turn to play spoiler — this time to James Madison’s 17-game winning streak that began after an opening-day loss to defending national champion UNC.
“We wanted it so bad,” said Florida goalie Sara Reznick. “When we lost to them in the regular season, I said, ‘Remember this feeling because we are going to see them again. I think they did.”
Reznick made 10 saves and was named the championship’s Most Outstanding Player. Danielle Pavinelli scored three goals and added an assist. Liz Harrison finished with seven draws.
Isabella Peterson tallied a game-high four goals for James Madison. Kat Buchanan made seven saves. The Dukes will await an at-large bid on Selection Sunday.