NCAA lacrosse: Top-seeded Florida women beat Albany

Shannon Gilroy scored twice and top-seeded Florida advanced to the second round of the NCAA women's lacrosse tournament with a 6-4 victory over Albany (N.Y.) on Saturday.

Brittany Dashiell added a goal for the Gators (18-2), who will host the winner between Towson and Penn State on May 19. Florida moves on to the round of eight for the second consecutive year after falling to Duke 13-9 in last season's tournament.

The Gators jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first half and led for the entire game.

Florida goalie Mikey Meagher made five saves.

Jess Antelmi scored a pair of goals for Albany (12-6) and helped cut Florida's advantage to two goals on her final score with 4:23 remaining.

The Great Danes limited the Gators - the nation's leader in scoring margin - to a season-low 12 shots on goal.

Penn State upends Towson

TOWSON, Md. (AP) -- Haley Ford and Molly Fernandez each scored three goals, and Penn State surprised eighth-seed Towson 15-8 Saturday in the opening round of the NCAA women's lacrosse tournament.

Making their first appearance in the tournament since 2005, the favored Tigers were ousted by a Penn State team led by former Towson coach Missy Doherty.

Penn State (12-6) went up 5-1 in the first half, led 6-5 at the break and pulled away by scoring the first five goals of the second half.

Dana Cahill had six saves, Theresa Zichelli scored twice and Maggie McCormick had a goal and three assists for the Nittany Lions, who will next face top-seed Florida, who opened with a 16-4 win over Albany on Saturday.

Kelly Custer, Andi Raymond and Ashley Waldron had two goals apiece for Towson (16-4).

Northwestern beats Notre Dame

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) -- Erin Fitzgerald scored three goals and defending national champion Northwestern defeated Notre Dame 12-7 on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA women's lacrosse tournament.

Taylor Thornton and Lacey Vigmostad each added two goals for the second-ranked Wildcats (18-2) who took charge of the game in the second half and rebounded from a 14-7 loss to No. 1 Florida last week in the American Lacrosse Conference final.

Both of Northwestern's losses this season are to the Gators.

Northwestern will host the winner of Sunday's game between Duke and Virginia in the quarterfinals next weekend. The Wildcats have won six of the past seven NCAA titles, missing only in 2010.

Betsy Mastropieri and Kaitlyn Brosco each had two goals for Notre Dame (13-5), which went 5-5 down the stretch after starting the season 8-0.