Florida finished conference play 10-0 and claimed the outright regular season championship
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 8 Florida lacrosse team swept the six American Athletic Conference postseason awards and had 10 players named to the All-Conference Team, as the league announced Wednesday.
The awards come just one day before the Gators take on Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal in Gainesville, Fla.
UF finished 10-0 in league play and clinched the outright regular season championship – the 10th in program history.
Grace Haus was named AAC Attacker of the Year, Shannon Kavanagh was tabbed as AAC Midfielder of the Year, Cara Trombetta earned AAC Defensive Player of the Year accolades, Sarah Reznick was named AAC Goalkeeper of the Year and Danielle Pavinelli earned AAC Freshman of the Year in her rookie campaign.
To round out the award winners, Florida’s staff of Amanda O’Leary, Taryn VanThof and Nadine Hadnagy were named as the AAC Coaching Staff of the Year.
Senior Grace Haus earned AAC Attacker of the Year after racking up 58 points on 43 goals and 15 assists through 16 games played. Haus is averaging 2.69 goals per game – good for second in the league – and 3.62 points per game. She sits atop conference standings in free position goals per game with 0.94 and notched a career-high seven points (6g, 1a) against Old Dominion on April 25. Earlier this season, she became just the 13th Gator to record 100 career goals and she sits 12th in the record books in total points (172) and 11th in total goals (133).
Senior Shannon Kavanagh earned the second AAC Midfielder of the Year honor of her career after recording 76 points on 60 goals and 16 assists through 16 games this season. Kavanagh is averaging 3.75 goals per game and 4.75 points per game – putting her first in the league in both categories. She has notched 14 hat tricks in 16 games, including a season-best seven goals against Vanderbilt on April 18. Earlier this season, Kavanagh became the program leader in draw controls, while also becoming the ninth Gator to score 200 points. She currently sits one goal away from being just the fourth Florida player to achieve 200 goals in their career. Kavanagh has also been named as a Tewaaraton Top-25 Nominee for her efforts this season.
Fifth-year Cara Trombetta was tabbed as AAC Defender of the Year for the second time after leading a Florida defense that has only allowed an average of 6.60 goals per game during conference play and sits third in the nation in overall scoring defense. Trombetta has registered 41 groundballs and 23 caused turnovers through 15 games played in the 2021 campaign. She holds the record for most caused turnovers in program history and is inching closer to the record for groundballs – just eight away from claiming first outright. For her efforts this season, Trombetta earned a spot as a Tewaaraton Top-25 Nominee.
Redshirt freshman Sarah Reznick has been lights out in the cage all year, securing 122 saves and a .581 save percentage through 16 games played. Her .581 save percentage puts her first in the nation, while her 6.33 goals-against-average is good for second in the country. Against No. 1 UNC earlier this season, she recorded a career-high 16 saves, tying the program record for most in a game. In conference play, she has only allowed 5.53 goals per game with a .615 save percentage in 509:30 minutes in the cage. She has also collected 37 groundballs on the year, including four games with a career-high four GBs.
Rookie Danielle Pavinelli was named Freshman of the Year after tallying 31 points on 26 goals and five assists through 16 games played. She has started 13 games during her first season as a Gator and notched four hat tricks along the way. The freshman has also notched nine groundballs, seven draw controls and seven caused turnovers in the 2021 campaign. Pavinelli recorded a career-high four goals against Cincinnati on March 28 and has hit four points twice this season.
Amanda O’Leary, Taryn VanThof and Nadine Hadnagy were named as the Coaching Staff of the Year after leading Florida to a 10-0 record in conference play. The Gators won their 10th regular season conference championship and sit 14-2 overall on the year.
Florida had six All-AAC First Team selections and four All-AAC Second Team honorees to go along with the major award winners. Kaitlyn Dabkowski and Brianna Harris joined Haus, Kavanagh, Reznick and Trombetta as the First Team honorees.
Kassidy Bresnahan, Paisley Eagan and Emma Wightman were named to the Second Team, along with Pavinelli.
This was the fourth All-Conference honor for Trombetta, third for Kavanagh and second for both Haus and Harris. Dabkowski, Reznick, Bresnahan, Eagan, Pavinelli and Wightman each were named All-Conference for the first time in their careers.
The Gators face off against Cincinnati on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
Notables
* Florida’s 10 honorees were the most of any school
* Cara Trombetta earned her second Defensive Player of the Year award
* Shannon Kavanagh also took home her second Midfielder of the Year award and third total major award (2018 – BIG EAST Freshman of the Year)
* Sarah Reznick joins Haley Hicklen and Mikey Meagher as the only two other Gators to be named Goalkeeper of the Year
* Grace Haus and Danielle Pavinelli each took home their first major award on Wednesday
Attacker of the Year: Grace Haus, Florida
Midfielder of the Year: Shannon Kavanagh, Florida *
Defender of the Year: Cara Trombetta, Florida*
Goalkeeper of the Year: Sarah Reznick, Florida*
Freshman of the Year: Danielle Pavinelli, Florida
Coaching Staff of the Year: Florida
First Team All-Conference
A: Monica Borzillo, Cincinnati
A: Brianna Harris, Florida *
A: Grace Haus, Florida *
A: Meghan Hoffman, Temple
A: Gabby Fornia, Vanderbilt
M: Alyssa Adams, Cincinnati
M: Sam Mlkvy, Cincinnati
M: Shannon Kavanagh, Florida *
M: Belle Mastropietro, Temple
M: Bridget Whitaker, Temple *
M: Bri Gross, Vanderbilt
M: Cassidy Orban, Vanderbilt
D: Kaitlyn Dabkowski, Florida
D: Cara Trombetta, Florida *
D: Courtney Taylor, Temple *
D: Melissa Hawkins, Vanderbilt
GK: Sarah Reznick, Florida *
Second Team All-Conference
A: Megan Pallozzi, East Carolina
A: Kassidy Bresnahan, Florida
A: Lilly Siskind, Old Dominion
A: Maddie Souza, Vanderbilt
M: Nicole LeGar, East Carolina
M: Frances Kimel, East Carolina
M: Paisley Eagan, Florida
M: Danielle Pavinelli, Florida
M: Caroline Shaefer, Old Dominion
M: Kara Nakrasius, Temple
D: Morgan Dukes, Cincinnati
D: Liz Blumthal, East Carolina
D: Emma Wightman, Florida
D: Madison Corcoran, Old Dominion
D: Nicki Dadino, Vanderbilt
GK: Paige Gunning, Vanderbilt
*denotes unanimous selection
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