Florida finished conference play with a 5-0 record and claimed the outright regular season championship
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 8 Florida lacrosse team won five of the six American Athletic Conference postseason awards and had nine players named to the All-Conference Team, as the league announced Wednesday.
The awards come just one day before the Gators take on East Carolina in the American Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal in Greenville, N.C.
UF finished 5-0 in league play and clinched the outright regular season championship – the 11th in program history.
Danielle Pavinelli was named AAC Attacker the Year, Emma Wightman was tabbed as AAC Defender of the Year, Sarah Reznick earned AAC Goalkeeper of the Year accolades and Emma LoPinto was named AAC Freshman of the Year in her rookie campaign.
To round out the major award winners, Florida’s staff of Amanda O’Leary, Taryn VanThof and Regy Thorpe were named as the AAC Coaching Staff of the Year.
Sophomore Danielle Pavinelli earned AAC Attacker of the Year after racking up 78 points on 56 goals and 11 assists through 17 games played. Pavinelli is averaging 3.29 goals per game – good for third overall in the league – and 4.59 points per game, second overall in the AAC. She also sits fourth in the AAC in free-position goals per game and sixth in assists. The sophomore tallied a career-high seven goals against Arizona State on March 27, then followed with a career-best nine points against Cincinnati on April 9. For her efforts, she was named AAC Attacker of the Week five times and also earned a spot on the Honor Roll five times. The Tewaaraton Top-25 Nominee became Florida’s 19th 100-point scorer against Old Dominion on April 9.
Redshirt sophomore goalie Sarah Reznick earned her second-straight AAC Goalkeeper of the Year award on Wednesday. The Long Beach, N.Y. native has racked up 129 saves with a .490 save percentage through 17 games this season. The Tewaaraton nominee’s goals-against average sits at 9.12, putting her eighth in the nation, and her .490 save percentage puts her first the AAC and 13th overall in the country. She tallied her 300th career save against Arizona State on March 27 and currently sits at 46-straight games with a save, the second-longest streak in program history. Through conference play, she has allowed just 6.69 goals per game and has earned four AAC honors this season (3 – Defender of the Week; 1 – Honor Roll).
Senior Emma Wightman was tabbed as AAC Defender of the Year for the first time in her career after leading a Florida defense that has only allowed an average of 7.40 goals per game during conference play and sits 11th in the nation in overall scoring defense. Wightman has racked up 29 caused turnovers and 28 groundballs through 17 games in the 2022 campaign. She sits fifth in program history with 65 career caused turnovers and currently ranks 19th in the nation with 1.71 CTs per game. For her efforts this season, she has earned two AAC Defender of the Week honors.
Emma LoPinto was tabbed as Freshman of the Year after her stellar rookie season, averaging a conference-leading 4.65 points per game through 17 contests this season. She has set a program record 10 Freshman of the Week honors, including earning the award in nine-straight weeks. The Manhasset, N.Y. native also ranks fifth in the conference in goals per game (3.00), four in assists per game (1.65) and sits 13th in the nation in shooting percentage (.573). She was the first true freshman in program history to get named to the Tewaaraton Watch List and she is currently tied for the freshman program record for points in a season (79), needing just one against East Carolina to break the record. LoPinto set a career-high nine points against Liberty and also dished out a career-best five assists in the game – records for a rookie in both categories. She recorded seven goals against Vanderbilt on April 18 – also a program record for a freshman.
The coaching staff earned their honor after leading Florida to a 5-0 record in conference play. The Gators won their 11th regular season conference championship and sit 13-4 overall on the year.
Florida had six All-AAC First Team selections and three All-AAC Second Team honorees to go along with the major award winners. Catherine Flaherty and Emily Heller joined LoPinto, Pavinelli, Reznick and Wightman as the First Team honorees.
Ashley Gonzalez, Maggi Hall and Josie Hahn were each named to the All-AAC Second Team – the first conference honor for each of them.
The Gators face off against East Carolina on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Notables
* Florida’s nine honorees were the most of any school
* Sarah Reznick earned her second consecutive AAC Goalkeeper of the Year Award
* A year removed from earning Freshman of the Year honors, Danielle Pavinelli took home another major award in Attacker of the Year
Attacker of the Year: Danielle Pavinelli, Florida*
Midfielder of the Year: Belle Mastropietro, Temple
Defender of the Year: Emma Wightman, Florida
Goalkeeper of the Year: Sarah Reznick, Florida*
Freshman of the Year: Emma LoPinto, Florida*
Coaching Staff of the Year: Florida
Florida First Team All-Conference
A: Emma LoPinto, Florida *
A: Danielle Pavinelli, Florida *
M: Emily Heller, Florida *
D: Catherine Flaherty, Florida
D: Emma Wightman, Florida *
GK: Sarah Reznick, Florida *
Florida Second Team All-Conference
A: Ashley Gonzalez, Florida
A: Maggi Hall, Florida
M: Josie Hahn, Florida
*denotes unanimous selection
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