March 17, 2013
Despite seven points from senior Carly Linthicum, the Vanderbilt women’s lacrosse team suffered a 20-14 loss to American Lacrosse Conference opponent Penn State Sunday at Holuba Hall.
In a hotly contested game between league rivals, seventh-ranked Penn State used a 7-2 run over the last 17 minutes of the first half to take a five-goal lead to the halftime break. Vanderbilt would climb to within three of the Nittany Lions, but could not its first ALC victory of the season.
Linthicum led all scorers with seven points in the game, netting four goals and adding a season-high three assists. She entered the week among the nation’s top 10 in goals per game, having tallied at least two goals in every game and averaging 3.89 goals per contest.
Junior Abby Wheeler scored her third hat-trick in the last four games and currently ranks second on the team in goals scored. Freshman Kelly Chandler also scored three goals for the Commodores, who notched their second-highest scoring output of the 2013 season.
Other goal scorers for Vanderbilt were senior Olivia Goodman (2) and freshmen Alexa Kunowsky and Mallory Schonk. Penn State featured eight goal-scorers, led by Maggie McCormick’s five tallies.
Vanderbilt held a 20-15 advantage in draw controls, paced by four draw controls each by Kunowsky and junior Alyssa Dunlap. But the Commodores converted on 50 percent of their shots (14 of 28), compared to Penn State’s 67 percent shooting day (20 of 30).
Defensively, junior Brandi Byner led Vanderbilt with two caused turnovers while four Commodores picked up two ground balls apiece. PSU defenders Katie Guy and Madison Cyr each forced four VU miscues on the day.
The Commodores will return to Nashville before making a mid-week trip back to the Keystone State to face Penn on Thursday, March 21. Vanderbilt’s next home game is Tuesday, March 26, when Stanford visits the VU Lacrosse Complex for a 3 p.m. CT matchup.
