CINCINNATI - After falling behind early, 4-0, the University of Cincinnati lacrosse team settled in and began clawing back as they eventually took the lead at halftime and held on to defeat visiting Temple, 12-9, in an American Athletic Conference game played Saturday at Gettler Stadium. The win, which kept the Bearcats undefeated in league play at 3-0, was fueled by the offense coming to life with six different players scoring, including hat tricks from Monica Borzillo and Sam Mlkvy, and the defense standing tall as UC went on an 8-5 run to close the game with the win. The win for UC (9-5) also was the first in the six-game series with Temple (4-9, 1-2 AAC). // QUICK NOTES • Cincinnati improved to 9-5 on the year and 3-0 in the AAC while Temple fell to 4-9 overall and 1-2 in league play • The Bearcats defeated the Owls for the first time in the history of the series, moving to 1-5 all-time against TU • The win marked the second time this year UC has downed a foe for the first after also defeating UConn earlier (1-10 all-time) • The Bearcats have now won six in a row, tying the 2018 team for the longest winning streak in program history • The defense held the Owls to nine goals, marking the fifth game in a row it has held an opponent to nine or fewer in a game • With three regular season games to go, UC has guaranteed its first winning record in program history • The Bearcats now have nine wins, the most in a single season in program history (was eight set last year) • UC has three wins in conference play, the most in a single season, surpassing the two wins in Big East play in 2017 • Those three wins have clinched a spot in the AAC Tournament UC will host later this season (May 2-4) • The two wins at home in conference play also ties the 2017 team for the most in a single season • Borzillo's first goal of the game was the team's fifth, which is also the 1,819th goal in program history that was fittingly scored during UC's bicentennial celebration (founded in 1819) • Borzillo finished with her 10th hat trick of the year and her sixth 'double hat trick' of 2019 as she scored four and assisted on four more • Mlkvy turned in her fifth hat trick of the year and added six draw controls to give her 61 on the season, the most in program history • Giuliana Durso made six saves in the game to record her ninth win of the year, a single-season record for a UC goalie • The Fess Triplets put in work on the defensive end today as the trio combined for eight ground balls and seven of the team's 15 caused turnovers as both Adrianna Fess and Amanda Fess tied for the team lead with three takeaways each • The team fired 39 shots on the day, the ninth-most in a single game and the sixth time UC has taken 39 or more shots in a game in 2019 • The 15 caused turnovers UC tallied ranks as the sixth-most in a game and is the fourth time UC has tallied 15+ in a game in 2019 // HOW IT HAPPENED The Bearcats stumbled out of the gate in the early going as they saw several shots turned away and turned the ball over while Temple opened a 4-0 lead with 15:13 remaining in the opening half. After not scoring in the first half of the opening stanza and after taking a timeout, the Bearcats began to come alive as Amanda Donovan got things going a she fired in a goal off a pass from Borzillo before Mlkvy scored her first on a pass from Donovan, cutting the lead to, 4-2, with 13:46 showing. The Owls answered back with a goal at the 11:05 mark before UC score the final four goals of the half, turning a 5-2 deficit into a 6-5 lead. In that run, Alyssa Adams, Mlkvy, Borzillo and Gianna Napoletano each scored with Napoletano, who shoveled the ball into the goal while being pushed from behind, giving UC its first lead of the day. After the halftime break, the Owls tied it at six all with a goal at the 25:15 mark before UC received back-to-back scores from Borzillo to make it 8-6. But, Temple scored the next two, making 8-8 with 17:46 remaining. From there, however, the Bearcats would go on to score four of the final five goals to take the win. First, Borzillo scored her fourth for the 9-8 lead and the Kylie Nause got on the board with her first for a 10-8 lead. TU make it 10-9 with a goal at 14:01, but UC responded 30 seconds later with Mlkvy getting her hat trick. After a lot of back and forth and saves by both goalies, the Bearcats added the final goal at the 3:49 mark as Adams scored her second before the defense stood tall and kept the Owls off the board the rest of the way for a 12-9 win. // NOTING THE WIN Here is how today's win fits in historically for the program: • The nine wins are the most in a single season, surpassing the eight recorded last year (8-9) • UC is guaranteed a winning record in the regular season, the first in program history • The 3-0 start in league play gives UC its most conference wins in a single season, surpassing the two victories in 2017 • Those two wins in 2017 came at home, which the 2019 team has now tied for home league wins in a season • With a 3-0 league record, UC has clinched a spot in the AAC Tournament it will host (May 2-4), marking the first postseason appearance of any kind in program history for the Bearcats // BIG NUMBERS FOR BORZILLO Borzillo continues to climb the statistical ladder in program history in numerous categories with today helping to add to those totals. With her eight points on four goals and four assists, she tallied her 23rd career hat trick and 10th of the year (in 14 games) while also recording her 12th career 'double hat trick' (3+ goals and 3+ assists in the same game) and sixth of the season. Her eight points tie for the eighth-most in a game at UC and marks the fourth time she has made the list this year while her four assists rank as the ninth-most in a game as well. On a season level, she has tied Laura Simanski's 2009 single-season record for goals with 47 while breaking her own assist mark at 36 (was 34) and adding to her points record, not at 83, making her the first (and only) UC player to have scored 80 points in a season after being the first to reach the 60 and 70 marks. Finally, she now has 97 career assists, leaving her three shy of the century mark. // BICENTENNI-GOAL This year, the University is celebrating its bicentennial after being founded in 1819. Ahead of the season, the program sat on 1,626 goals scored in its history, meaning there was a chance the Bearcats could reach 1,819 goals in the bicentennial year. Well, it happened today as Borzillo's first goal of the game was the team's fifth of the contest, giving the program its 1,819th all-time goal. // ALL-AROUND EFFORT Mlkvy was all over the field Saturday as the junior scored three goals, scooped up four ground balls, collected six draw controls and caused one turnover in the game. Mlkvy's play on offense saw her score her 12th career hat trick and the fifth of the season while also seeing her draw control total rise to 61 on the year, the most in a single season in program history, surpassing the 60 she tallied last year. // DEFENSIVE IN-FESS-TATION The Fess Triplets had a solid day on defense for the Bearcats as the trio combined for eight of the team's 34 ground balls while also accounting for nearly half of the 15 caused turnovers with seven. Adrianna Fess led the charge with five grounds (second-most on the team) and tied for the team lead in caused turnovers with Amanda Fess at three each. The trio also helped hold another opponent to nine goals or less in a game while also holding the Owls' Top 2 goal scorers to three total goals in the game. // DURSO GETTING WINS Durso now holds a 9-3 record on the year, which breaks her own single-season wins record for a goalie that she set last year with eight wins. Durso, who recorded six saves and allowed nine goals on the day, now has 17 wins in her career, which is one shy of the all-time record of 18 earned by Meg Gulmi (2013-16). // NEXT UP The Bearcats are back home next Saturday at 1 p.m. as they are set to play host to Vanderbilt on Senior Day at Gettler Stadium. The game with the Commodores will be the final home contest of the regular season for UC and the final game at Gettler Stadium for the team's four seniors: Maria Collacchi, Donovan, Durso and Jayde Sains.