April 15, 2017
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt Commodores (6-7, 3-4) returned home this weekend to take on Temple and keep their BIG EAST tournament hopes alive on Senior Day. The game had a lot of runs and the Commodores led for most of the contest but in the end, Temple had the final run and defeated the Dores 11-10 Saturday afternoon at the Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex.
Head coach Cathy Swezey was proud of the effort the team gave against one of the top teams in the conference.
“The fight and courage we showed on the field was spectacular,” said Swezey. “Frankly, we were up most of game so we fought really hard to maintain that lead and our kids played so hard. We did just come off two tough losses but our girls just didn’t have any quit in them. Whether we are down by 10 or up by two, we see our kids give a consistent performance and that is what we are proud of.”
Temple got the scoring started Saturday afternoon with the goal from Morgan Glassford. She scored at the 27:57 mark of the first period.
The Dores would answer with senior Caroline Peters finding the back of the cage less than two minutes later to tie the game. Then fellow senior Jill Doherty would score to give the Dores their first lead of the afternoon. Doherty put the Dores ahead 2-1 with 24:51 remaining in the first half.
Temple would respond with the first run of the game. They would score the next four goals over a nine-minute period to take a 5-2 lead.
The Commodores would see the 4-0 run by the Owl and raise it by two as they would follow it up with a 6-0 run of their own over a 10-minute span.
Julie Blaze got the run started with her first goal of the game at the 13:46 mark. Kayla Pruitt would score next less than two minutes later to make it a one-goal game. Doherty would find the back of the cage again at the 11:01 mark to tie the game at five off the feed from Melanie Becker.
Kayla Pruitt would score again to regain the lead for the Dores off another assist from Becker. Another Commodore senior would get involved on Senior Day as Abby Quirk would score the next goal to give the Commodores a 7-5 lead with 5:50 left in the half. Becker would score the final goal of the run for the Dores to give them an 8-5 lead with over three minutes left in the half.
Temple would get the final goal of the half from Olivia Thompson with over a minute remaining. The Commodores would take an 8-6 lead going into the break.
The second half started off with great defensive stands from each team. Neither team scored until the 14:22 mark of the second half when Temple finally broke through and made it an 8-7 game.
The Commodores would answer less than a minute later. Kayla Peterson scored her first goal of the game at the 13:27 mark to give the Dores a two-goal lead again.
The Owls would respond with a goal of their own from Carly Demato at the 12:19 mark but the Dores would not stay quiet long. Julie Blaze stepped up again and scored her second of the afternoon at the 11:32 mark and the Dores led 10-8.
That would be the last goal for the Dores on the afternoon as Temple made some crucial saves down the stretch. They would score two goals in a three-minute span to tie the game at 10 with just 5:32 left. Then the Owls would get the game-winning goal from Carly Demato with 1:04 left. The Dores would win the ensuing draw but their final shot was saved by Temple’s Maryn Lowell, her 17th save of the game.
The six Commodore seniors all stepped up Saturday afternoon on Senior Day. Callahan Kent got the start in the cage and came up with nine saves on the afternoon; including three-straight saves in a 15 second span in the second half.
Eliza Clemens was rock solid on the Commodore back-line that kept the Owls scoreless for over 15 minutes in the second half. She finished with two caused turnovers.
Jill Doherty was stellar as usual as she scored two goals, won four draw controls, caused two turnovers and scooped up two ground balls.
MacKenzie Lange was solid in the Commodore midfield. While she couldn’t get her two shots past the Temple keeper, she played a majority of the game and did not commit a turnover or a foul.
Caroline Peters started the scoring off for the Dores and picked up a ground ball on the afternoon.
Abby Quirk would add a goal and assist of her own while picking up three ground balls.
The Dores will have a week off before they are back on the field again. They will travel north to face Cincinnati next Saturday with the game slated for a 5 pm CT start.
