March 25, 2007
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – After narrow losses and mounting frustration against top-ranked teams, Vanderbilt (5-3, 1-1) finally came out victorious, knocking off American Lacrosse Conference rival and sixth-ranked Penn State, 9-7, Sunday at Holuba Hall.
“This wasn’t just about this year, this was about three years of coming so close and not being able to get over the hump,” said head coach Cathy Swezey. “They have a great team every year, and it feels so good to finally beat them.”
The Commodores struck first on junior Margie Curran’s goal two minutes into the game. Penn State (6-2, 0-1) answered back with two goals by junior Jessi Lieb less than a minute apart to give the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead.
From that point on, however, Vanderbilt dominated the first half. Four unanswered goals by seniors Nicole Pugno and Ali Lemons, Curran, and freshman Anastasia Adam gave the Commodores a 5-2 lead at halftime. With her two first half goals, Curran extended her team lead to 20.
Penn State staged a rally at the beginning of the second half, scoring three times in the first seven minutes to tie the game at five. Coach Swezey responded by calling a time-out, which proved to be enough to settle the Commodores down.
“I just told them to be calm,” said coach Swezey. “We knew this rally was going to happen, so the key was to calm ourselves down and play the way we had in the first half. If we could do that, I knew we would be just fine.”
Senior Kendall Thrift broke the tie with her 13th goal of the season with 16:55 remaining, only to have Penn State answer with a goal of its own less than a minute later. Sophomore Cara Giordano once again gave Vanderbilt the lead at 7-6 with 13:35 to play, which once again was answered by the Nittany Lions less than a minute later.
Fitting, then, that in the biggest victory in three years, it was a senior who stepped up when the team needed it most. Pugno would score the final two goals of the game, including the gamewinner with 8:18 to play, and Vanderbilt was able to control possession and run out the clock. The large crowd of Commodore fans helped the team count down the final seconds, and the drought was over.
“It’s such an incredible feeling right now,” said Pugno after the win. “We have come so close so many times, and finally we were able to get it done. I can’t describe it. We’ve played well two games in a row, so hopefully that streak will continue for a while.”
It was an evenly played contest throughout, as both teams managed 21 shots. Junior goalkeeper Brooke Shinaberry recorded eight saves in the win for Vanderbilt. The Commodores also won the ground ball battle 20-13. With the victory, Vanderbilt puts itself right back in the mix of the American Lacrosse Conference, but this game was much more than just a notch in the win column.
“We came into this game viewing it strictly as a conference game,” said coach Swezey. “More than anything it feels good to get our first conference win under our belt. But this also was a huge victory for our girls and our program.”
The Commodores return home this week for two games against Pac-10 opponents. First up for Vanderbilt is a meeting with Cal on Wednesday afternoon. Game time is 5 p.m. CT at the Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex.
