March 18, 2017
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — The Vanderbilt Commodores (4-2, 1-0) traveled to Philadelphia to begin conference play and looked to claim its first win over Villanova in school history.
The Commodores didn’t make it easy on themselves as they faced two five-goal deficits but they did not quit all afternoon and kept coming back. The `Dores took their first lead of the game with 6:49 remaining and would not look back and defeated Villanova (1-6, 0-1) 14-12.
Following the game, head coach Cathy Swezey was very proud of the resolve the team had to come back and win at the end of the game.
“I am so proud of our team and our ability to come back today,” said Swezey. “The game had a lot of runs – and thankfully we got the one at the end. Our shooting percentage improved in a big way and Emily Mathewson had a huge breakout game. We are excited we had a challenge like this before we head to Hopkins.”
To open the game, the Wildcats came out firing and scored six of the first seven goals of the game and put the `Dores in an early 6-1 deficit with 16:49 left in the first half.
The `Dores would regroup and start to get back into the game. Emily Mathewson and MacKenzie Lange would score back-to-back goals to bring the deficit down to three and force Villanova to call a timeout with 8:10 remaining.
Kayla Peterson would get the final goal of the first half with 5:06 remaining and the `Dores would trail by two, 6-4 at the break.
In the second half, the Wildcats would once again come out hot and take advantage of all the opportunities. Villanova would score the first three goals of the half and extend its lead back to five goals at 9-4 with 24:30 remaining in the game.
The `Dores would once again have an answer. They would score three straight goals from Mathewson, Julie Blaze and Jill Doherty in under a minute to bring the `Dores within two at 9-7.
Villanova would call a timeout to regroup but the `Dores would not let up. Mathewson, the Garnet Valley, Pa. native, would come up with two straight goals to tie the game for the `Dores with a little over 20 minutes remaining in the game.
The Wildcats would answer the `Dores run with three goals of their own over a five minute span to take a 12-9 lead with 15:21 left in the second half.
The Commodores would have one final run in them and what a run it was. Julie Blaze started it off with two goals in a matter of a minute and a half to make it a one-goal game at 12-11 with 12:19 left.
Freshman Avery Hoelting would keep it going and tie the game for the `Dores. She scored her first goal of the game with 9:49 and the score was tied at 12.
Hoelting would have another chance just 10 seconds later but Villanova would make the save. The Commodores would get the ball back after blocking the Villanova shot. After the clear, Mathewson would find Lange in the crease for the goal and it would give the `Dores their first lead of the game, 13-12 with 6:49 remaining.
Villanova would call a timeout but the `Dores would keep possession by winning the ensuing draw control. Just a minute and a half later, it was Blaze with her fourth goal of the game and the `Dores had a 14-12 lead with 5:22 left.
That would be the final goal of the game as the Commodores stood tall on defense and claimed their first win over Villanova in school history 14-12.
Offensively, Emily Mathewson led the way in the homecoming game for the Commodore freshman. She scored a season-high five goals and dished out three assists on the afternoon. Julie Blaze scored four goals of her own and won five draw controls.
Defensively, Frankie Angeleri and Lily Argyle had team-highs in ground balls with three apiece. Margaret Fee tallied two ground balls, caused two turnovers and won a draw control.
In the cage, Argyle earned her first career start for the Commodores. She made nine saves on the afternoon, included a couple key saves down the stretch to preserve the Commodore lead.
The Commodores will have a quick turnaround before they are back on the field again. They will hit the road again on Wednesday to conclude their six-game road trip. The `Dores will play their final non-conference game of the season when they take on Johns Hopkins at 12 pm CT.
