March 28, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sarah Downing and Carter Foote scored a combined nine goals as No. 11 Vanderbilt cruised to 22-7 win over Binghamton at the VU Lacrosse Complex Saturday. Two Vanderbilt players recorded first-half hat tricks as Vanderbilt (5-3, 1-1 ALC) put on a massive offensive display against the Bearcat defense, holding a 39-13 advantage in shots.
The 22-goal outing is the largest point total for the Commodores in a single game since they netted 22 against Denver on April 16, 2000. It also marked the first time all season that Vanderbilt had three players score at least three goals in a game (Downing 5, Foote 4, Alex Priddy 3).
The Commodores got on the board first as Sarah Downing placed one in the back of the net just 2:27 into the game. Binghamton (2-7, 0-1) quickly responded with a goal of their own as Beth Moore tied the game up at 1-1 with 26:47 remaining in the first half.
Following the tied, VU scored four consecutive goals, including two more by Downing to grab the 5-1 lead with 17:54 remaining in the first half. Downing, the team’s leader in goals, needed only 11 minutes to record a hat trick. Downing tallied three of Vanderbilt’s first four goals on the day.
Vanderbilt took a 13-4 lead into the half-time intermission as six Commodores recorded goals in the opening stanza, led by Downing’s four and Foote’s three. Katherine Denkler added two while Courtney Kirk, Emily Franke and Alex Priddy tallied one.
VU’s starting goalkeeper, Natalie Wills picked up the win in the net, improving to 4-1 on the season. Wills allowed seven goals in the win while Rachel Woolford added some quality minutes in relief as she closed out the final 21:30 in goal for the Commodores.
The `Dores came out of intermission the same way they closed out the first half, tallying the second half’s first five goals, jumping out to a 14-goal lead (18-4) with 20:37 remaining in the match. Foote and Downing added its fourth and fifth goal of the day as they were set up perfectly on assists from Ally Carrey and Courtney Kirk.
Individually, VU was led by Downing’s eight points (five goals, three assists). Kirk recorded six points with a pair of goals to go along with a team high four assists. Foote finished with four points on four goals while Carey, Franke, Priddy all tallied three.
Lis Zuern and Beth Moore led Binghamton with two goals apiece while Emily Miller posted 10 saves for the Bearcats.
Vanderbilt will continue its home slate on Monday, March 30 as it plays host to Delaware at 4 p.m. from the VU Lacrosse Complex.
