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There’s one word we can use to describe the beginning of the 2020 women’s lacrosse season.

Parity.

For the fourth time in the season’s opening week, a top-five team from the Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20 has fallen. No. 16 Florida traveled to College Park to defeat No. 3 Maryland 15-14 on Saturday afternoon. It ended an 86-game home winning streak for the Terps.

“It’s a momentum builder,” Gators coach Amanda O’Leary told US Lacrosse Magazine contributor Justin Fitzgerald after the game. “It’s an affirmation of all that hard work you put in has paid off. You enjoy it until Monday to get back to practice when we need to move on.”

Hannah Warther scored twice for Maryland to tie the score at 14, but Shannon Kavanagh scored the game-winner with 49 seconds remaining for Florida (2-0).

“She had herself a day,” O’Leary said of Kavanagh, who scored eight goals on 13 shots. “Eight goals against Maryland — there haven’t been to many people who have accomplished that.”

Redshirt-freshman goalie Sarah Reznick made 14 saves for the Gators.

“She had an All-American kind of day,” O’Leary said. “She shut down angles, made saves and was spot-on on her clears. She was very composed and didn’t get rattled. For a freshman in her second start, there was a lot of positive things in her game.”

During a second half that was about as back-and-forth as it could be, Maryland struck first when Brindi Griffin assisted Shaylan Ahearn for a 9-8 lead. Kavanagh scored the next two goals for Florida, then Ahearn scored again, tying the score at 10.

Brianna Harris put the Gators ahead 12-10 and 13-11, then Kavanagh put them ahead 14-12. Warther, who had four goals and two assists, then tied it at 14.

The win for Florida continues what’s been a successful start against ranked opponents. The Gators took down Colorado last weekend 11-10. They don’t get much of a reprieve moving forward. Two of their next three opponents are ranked (Loyola and Stony Brook).

Maryland’s last home loss prior to Saturday was March 10, 2012, against Syracuse.

— Justin Fitzgerald contributed to this report.

USC Rallies to Beat Michigan

No. 10 USC scored five goals in the final 15 minutes, rallying from a 7-5 deficit to defeat No. 7 Michigan 10-8 at McAlister Field in Los Angeles.

The Trojans held the Wolverines scoreless for nearly 18 minutes in the second half, taking their first lead on Erin Bakes' outside blast that made it 8-7 with 6:09 remaining.

Michigan tied it at 8 when Maggie Kane converted a Caitlin Muir feed at the 3:30 mark.

Izzy McMahon put USC ahead for good 50 seconds later, dodging to her left off a screen and sending a lefty shot on the run past Wolverines goalie Arielle Weissman.

Emily Concialdi iced the win with 26 seconds left.

— Matt DaSilva

Loyola Wins Battle of Charles Street

Johns Hopkins had won the last three meetings between these teams, but No. 15 Loyola opened its season with a 16-7 win. Livy Rosenzweig had two goals and four assists, and Emily Wills had three goals and two assists. Jillian Wilson led all scorers with four goals.

Hopkins (1-1) jumped out to a 4-1 lead on Mackenzie Heldberg’s tally, but Loyola climbed back and led 7-5 at halftime. After Aurora Cordingley made the score 7-6 less than five minutes into the second half, the Greyhounds ripped off nine of the game's last 10 goals.

The Hounds dominated on the draw, winning 18 of 25. Rosenzweig led with eight draw controls, and Wilson chipped in six.

Dartmouth Downs UMass

Fresh off an upset of Boston College, No. 13 UMass couldn’t keep up the early-season magic. Dartmouth upended the Minutewomen, winning 15-11 in Amherst. Ellie Carson’s five goals and one assist led the charge, as Dartmouth used a 9-4 second half to undo a 7-6 halftime deficit. Kiera Vrindten made 12 saves.

Dartmouth (1-0) scored six of the first seven goals in the second half, taking a 12-8 lead on a free position from Carson. Stephanie Croke cut the deficit to 12-9 for UMass, but Dartmouth scored three of the next four goals to put the game out of reach.

Notable

  • No. 2 Syracuse bounced back from its loss to Stony Brook with a 15-3 win over Albany. Megan Carney scored five goals.

  • Kailyn Hart, Ally Kennedy and Sarah Pulis all scored four goals in No. 12 Stony Brook’s 20-7 win over Ohio State.

  • Rutgers improved to 2-0 after a 13-11 win over Delaware, led by four goals apiece from Taralyn Naslonski and Cassidy Spilis.

  • Bea Behrins had six goals and one assist in Denver’s 15-6 win over Louisville.

  • Kyla Sears and Kari Buonanno scored four goals apiece, Sears added three assists and Sam Fish made 15 saves to lead No. 6 Princeton to a 16-14 season-opening win over Temple. The Tigers trailed by two with 21:40 remaining, but scored seven of the game’s final 10 goals.

  • No. 8 Penn avenged its NCAA tournament loss to Georgetown in a big way, defeating the Hoyas 17-6 in its season opener in Washington, D.C. Gabby Rosenzweig (three goals, five assists) and Erin Barry (four goals, two assists) combined for 14 points.

Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20

No. 2 Syracuse 15, Albany 3
No. 16 Florida 15, No. 3 Maryland 14
No. 6 Princeton 16, Temple 14
No. 10 USC 10, No. 7 Michigan 8
No. 8 Penn 17, Georgetown 6
No. 11 Denver 15, Louisville 6
No. 12 Stony Brook 20, Ohio State 7
Dartmouth 15, No. 13 UMass 11
No. 15 Loyola 16, Johns Hopkins 7

Other Scores

American 21, Saint Francis 12
Army 16, Columbia 7
Brown 12, Bryant 7
Cornell 13, Villanova 11
Drexel 16, Manhattan 8
East Carolina 20, Wofford 5
Furman 12, Fresno State 11
George Mason 20, William and Mary 11
Hofstra 18, Bucknell 5
Monmouth 11, Sacred Heart 5
Mount St. Mary's 11, George Washington 10
Old Dominion 17, Winthrop 15
Penn State 13, Lehigh 9
Richmond 16, Radford 3
Robert Morris 18, Kent State 7
Rutgers 13, Delaware 11
Saint Joseph's 13, Towson 12
UMBC 11, Virginia Commonwealth 7
Wagner 19, Quinnipiac 10
Virginia Tech 20, Liberty 5
Yale 16, La Salle 12