Feb. 22, 2017
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Vanderbilt Lacrosse team (1-1) went on the road for the first time this season to take on the No. 20-ranked Louisville Cardinals (4-1). The game was back and forth the entire way and it came down to the final possession. Louisville’s Hannah Koloski buried the game-winning goal with 4.9 seconds remaining to claim the win for the Cardinals.
Even after losing a close game, head coach Cathy Swezey saw some positives from the team.
“I thought we showed great character in the game,” Swezey said. “We got off to a fast start up 4-1 and we thought we were going to be riding high but Louisville went on a run to take control of the game. At the end of the game, I thought our team remained very coachable. I felt that we that they executed really well and got the looks we wanted but just did not have enough time.”
Vanderbilt started fast off the first draw with senior Jill Doherty opening the scoring for the Commodores on the first possession. Louisville tied the game shortly after and then the Commodores scored three straight goals from MacKenzie Lange, Kayla Peterson and Julie Blaze.
Louisville called a timeout after the `Dores built the 4-1 lead and quickly scored three straight goals in a little over a minute and a half to tie the game at 4. Going into the half, it was Jill Doherty again to score and give the `Dores a 5-4 halftime lead.
The beginning of the second half was all Louisville. They tied the game less than a minute into the second half and then ripped off four straight goals to build the lead to 9-5 with 21:03 remaining in the game.
The Commodores were not done yet, Kayla Peterson stepped up and scored two quick goals to bring the deficit down to two at 9-7. Then Julie Blaze fired a shot on goal and Brittany Read made the save but Blaze didn’t quit and scooped up her own rebound and scored to make it a one-score game with 15:06 left.
Louisville answered with a goal of its own to bring the game to 10-8 and once again, Kayla Peterson stepped up when it mattered most. She scored with 4:59 left off the assist from Doherty to make it a 10-9 game. Then a little more than two minutes later, Julie Blaze tied the game at 10 with her third goal of the game.
Following the goal from Blaze, Louisville won the draw control and the team’s exchanged turnovers and ultimately Louisville gained possession and called timeout with 40.7 seconds remaining. They drew up their final play and Koloski made her run at goal and put it in the back of the net with 4.9 left.
Kayla Peterson led the way for the Commodores on offensive with a team-high four goals. Doherty had a complete game with two goals, two assists, two ground balls, two caused turnovers and a team-high four draw controls. Junior Margaret Fee had a great game on the back-line with two draw controls, two ground balls and one caused turnover.
The Commodores won’t have much time off before they are back on the field again. They travel down to Greenville, S.C. this weekend to take on Furman on Sunday. That game will start at 11 am CT.
