CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The No. 25 Vanderbilt lacrosse team fell by a 17-6 final score in Sunday’s road game versus No. 1 North Carolina at Dorrance Field.
Vanderbilt is now 2-2 on the season with losses at No. 1 UNC and No. 2 Notre Dame.
Coming off a five-goal performance last time out against Central Michigan, Elizabeth Scarrone posted two goals against the Tar Heels (5-0), while goalkeeper Paige Gunning tied her career high with 13 saves for the Commodores.
“I thought we started out ok and traded a couple of goals in the beginning,” Vanderbilt head coach Beth Hewitt said. “At some point in the second half, there was a little bit of a lull, and they got on a little bit of a run where it was hard to dig ourselves out of that hole. I was really proud of the girls. That’s really hard to gain any sort of momentum back at that point, and I really felt like we came together and really fought to the end. That’s all you can ask for out of your team against the No. 1 team in the country.”
UNC flexed its offensive muscle with two goals in the first 6:01 before Scarrone got the Dores on the board with her first goal of the game.
After the Tar Heels answered, Scarrone scored again when she cut to the cage and Maddie Souza hit her in stride to trim the UNC edge down to 3-2 with 21:50 to go before halftime.
Scarrone. Again.
Souza to Scarrone for the goal.
⚓️ 2
🔵 31st » 21:50#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/hWDvunuF8F
— Vanderbilt Lacrosse (@VandyLacrosse) February 28, 2021
A 5-0 run for North Carolina put the score at 8-2 with just over 12 minutes left in the half. Souza halted the UNC run with a free position goal from the right side of the cage. Two more goals for UNC made it 10-3 at the half.
The Tar Heels outscored Vanderbilt by a 7-3 margin in the final 30 minutes.
Sophomore Kayla Rieu scored her first career goal on a free position shot with 21:41 to go in the game after two UNC goals to open the second half.
Trailing late in the game, Kate Murphy and Nellie Blaze tallied goals for the Dores. It was Blaze’s first collegiate goal.
Bri Gross eclipsed 100 career draw controls, finishing with three on Sunday to bring her career total to 101.
That’s 100 career draw controls for Bri Gross 💪#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/H0eNlltZDk
— Vanderbilt Lacrosse (@VandyLacrosse) February 28, 2021
The Commodores will return to Nashville for three-consecutive games at home beginning with a March 3 showdown with Mercer.
