TicketsCINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati lacrosse team is set for the AAC Championships stage as it takes on No. 6 and top-seeded James Madison in Thursday's 4:30 p.m. semifinal.
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REGULAR SEASON AT A GLANCE
Cincinnati's four-game improvement was far and away the best among its AAC foes, going from 7-10 to 11-6. The 11 wins and .647 win percentage both match the 2019 squad for the best in regular-season history.
The Bearcats' 7-1 record at Nippert Stadium marked its second-most home wins in program history, and its only loss was to now-No. 19 Marquette on Feb. 19. This is Cincinnati's fourth ranked matchup of the season, and all have been away from home. UC is 10-0 when leading at the half, 0-6 when trailing, and 1-0 when tied (Central Michigan).
Cincinnati is 2-1 in overtime games, all by 13-12 scores, after not having one since 2018. The win at Louisville was its first-ever against the Cardinals.
BACK TO THE MAY STAGE
Cincinnati has made three of four all-time AAC tournaments, with its only absence coming last year. The squad fell to host and top-seeded Florida in 2021 but did make the title game of the inaugural 2019 event at its own Sheakley Athletics Center. UC defeated Temple in its opener before a defeat to the Gators.
HOMECOMING, IN A WAY
While it's certainly not Cincinnati's home field, 17 members of the roster hail from Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Maryland, so a strong Bearcats contingent is expected.
LAST TIME OUT
Cincinnati knew it needed to win and get some help from around the league, both on April 22 and in its ensuing bye week, and the former was no problem at all on Senior Day. The Bearcats scored in the first 28 seconds and led Old Dominion 7-1 after the first quarter for an eventual 17-7 win.
Camryn Callaghan scored a game-high five goals, Ava Goeller and Lauren Ottensmeyer added hat tricks (the latter coming against her former Youngstown State head coach), and Ashley Lapp saved six shots while the rest of the defense boasted a 28-15 margin there.
PREVIOUS MEETING
James Madison took the April 15 matchup, 17-8, behind a fast start and finish. The Dukes took a 3-0 lead in the first two minutes and led 7-1 after the period. Kylie Gioia's ground ball in the crease and subsequent strike in the final second of the third quarter pulled UC to within 12-6. Freshman Sophia Lymberis scored her first-career goal on the opening fourth-quarter possession, but the Dukes scored five-straight to end the rally.
CALLAGHAN LEADS ALL NATIONAL FRESHMEN
Callaghan has maintained her place atop the nation's freshman goals leaderboard all season, now up to 55 (third in UC history behind Kylie Nause's 63 in 2022 and Monica Borzillo's 61 in 2019). Army's Brigid Duffy is second with 50, followed by Virginia Tech's Ella Rishko (44).
Callaghan has 12 hat tricks this year, tied for second at UC. Her five goals against Old Dominion came on six shots. She is also fifth nationally with a 70.6 free-position percentage.
GIOIA FINISHING STRONG
Sophomore Kylie Gioia has become a different animal since earning her first hat trick of the season in the March 22 blowout win over Butler. She has 25 points over the last seven games (17 goals, eight assists) after having nine and eight the first 10. She also had a career-high four goals on five shots against JMU this year.
Her 16 assists are one behind Ava Goeller for the team lead. Her 42 points (26 goals, 16 assists) are more than double from her freshman campaign (14, 6).
MLKVY STANDING ALONE
Dani Mlkvy, a Second-Team All-AAC performer last season, padded her school-record, single-season draw control record to 110 on April 22. Her 10 in that Senior Day contest against Old Dominion marked her fourth game with double-digits. Her 6.47 per game rank 18th nationally in addition to leading the AAC. She and her sister, Sam, split the top-four draw control seasons in school history and were college teammates for two years.
Next year, Dani plans to continue her speech language hearing sciences and deaf studies program into graduate school at UC.
LAPP IN THE CAGE
Ashley Lapp is the only active goalkeeper for the Bearcats following freshman Ellie Puente's midseason injury, and her 10.97 GAA is second in single-season school history. UC's 11.15 mark comes after a 14.06 clip last year. Lapp, who played at Akron the last two years, had 12 saves against Louisville and Youngstown State as well as 11 versus Temple, all wins, and had nine apiece against James Madison and Ohio State.
OTHER SENIOR PLANS
Tori Accardo, who grew up playing lacrosse with Mlkvy in New Jersey, will pursue a career in merchandising in corporate retail after graduating magna cum laude in marketing. Morgan Bates, who joined Mlkvy and Goeller in captain duties, will stay in Cincinnati and pursue a finance career.
Peyton Mottice, who scored her first goal of the season at JMU, will pursue a master's degree in nursing from UC. Grace Wehland, a magna cum laude finance graduate, has accepted a full-time JP Morgan Chase position in its Global Finance and Business Management Analyst program in her native Maryland.
ESPN+ | Live Stats
REGULAR SEASON AT A GLANCE
Cincinnati's four-game improvement was far and away the best among its AAC foes, going from 7-10 to 11-6. The 11 wins and .647 win percentage both match the 2019 squad for the best in regular-season history.
The Bearcats' 7-1 record at Nippert Stadium marked its second-most home wins in program history, and its only loss was to now-No. 19 Marquette on Feb. 19. This is Cincinnati's fourth ranked matchup of the season, and all have been away from home. UC is 10-0 when leading at the half, 0-6 when trailing, and 1-0 when tied (Central Michigan).
Cincinnati is 2-1 in overtime games, all by 13-12 scores, after not having one since 2018. The win at Louisville was its first-ever against the Cardinals.
BACK TO THE MAY STAGE
Cincinnati has made three of four all-time AAC tournaments, with its only absence coming last year. The squad fell to host and top-seeded Florida in 2021 but did make the title game of the inaugural 2019 event at its own Sheakley Athletics Center. UC defeated Temple in its opener before a defeat to the Gators.
HOMECOMING, IN A WAY
While it's certainly not Cincinnati's home field, 17 members of the roster hail from Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Maryland, so a strong Bearcats contingent is expected.
LAST TIME OUT
Cincinnati knew it needed to win and get some help from around the league, both on April 22 and in its ensuing bye week, and the former was no problem at all on Senior Day. The Bearcats scored in the first 28 seconds and led Old Dominion 7-1 after the first quarter for an eventual 17-7 win.
Camryn Callaghan scored a game-high five goals, Ava Goeller and Lauren Ottensmeyer added hat tricks (the latter coming against her former Youngstown State head coach), and Ashley Lapp saved six shots while the rest of the defense boasted a 28-15 margin there.
PREVIOUS MEETING
James Madison took the April 15 matchup, 17-8, behind a fast start and finish. The Dukes took a 3-0 lead in the first two minutes and led 7-1 after the period. Kylie Gioia's ground ball in the crease and subsequent strike in the final second of the third quarter pulled UC to within 12-6. Freshman Sophia Lymberis scored her first-career goal on the opening fourth-quarter possession, but the Dukes scored five-straight to end the rally.
CALLAGHAN LEADS ALL NATIONAL FRESHMEN
Callaghan has maintained her place atop the nation's freshman goals leaderboard all season, now up to 55 (third in UC history behind Kylie Nause's 63 in 2022 and Monica Borzillo's 61 in 2019). Army's Brigid Duffy is second with 50, followed by Virginia Tech's Ella Rishko (44).
Callaghan has 12 hat tricks this year, tied for second at UC. Her five goals against Old Dominion came on six shots. She is also fifth nationally with a 70.6 free-position percentage.
GIOIA FINISHING STRONG
Sophomore Kylie Gioia has become a different animal since earning her first hat trick of the season in the March 22 blowout win over Butler. She has 25 points over the last seven games (17 goals, eight assists) after having nine and eight the first 10. She also had a career-high four goals on five shots against JMU this year.
Her 16 assists are one behind Ava Goeller for the team lead. Her 42 points (26 goals, 16 assists) are more than double from her freshman campaign (14, 6).
MLKVY STANDING ALONE
Dani Mlkvy, a Second-Team All-AAC performer last season, padded her school-record, single-season draw control record to 110 on April 22. Her 10 in that Senior Day contest against Old Dominion marked her fourth game with double-digits. Her 6.47 per game rank 18th nationally in addition to leading the AAC. She and her sister, Sam, split the top-four draw control seasons in school history and were college teammates for two years.
Next year, Dani plans to continue her speech language hearing sciences and deaf studies program into graduate school at UC.
LAPP IN THE CAGE
Ashley Lapp is the only active goalkeeper for the Bearcats following freshman Ellie Puente's midseason injury, and her 10.97 GAA is second in single-season school history. UC's 11.15 mark comes after a 14.06 clip last year. Lapp, who played at Akron the last two years, had 12 saves against Louisville and Youngstown State as well as 11 versus Temple, all wins, and had nine apiece against James Madison and Ohio State.
OTHER SENIOR PLANS
Tori Accardo, who grew up playing lacrosse with Mlkvy in New Jersey, will pursue a career in merchandising in corporate retail after graduating magna cum laude in marketing. Morgan Bates, who joined Mlkvy and Goeller in captain duties, will stay in Cincinnati and pursue a finance career.
Peyton Mottice, who scored her first goal of the season at JMU, will pursue a master's degree in nursing from UC. Grace Wehland, a magna cum laude finance graduate, has accepted a full-time JP Morgan Chase position in its Global Finance and Business Management Analyst program in her native Maryland.