April 14, 2017
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt lacrosse team returns home after a tough two-game road trip and is looking to put that behind them when they face Temple Saturday afternoon. Tomorrow’s game will be Senior Day for Eliza Clemens, Jill Doherty, Callahan Kent, MacKenzie Lange, Caroline Peters and Abby Quirk. The six seniors will be honored before the game with the ceremonies beginning at 12:45 pm CT.
Tomorrow’s game is pivotal for the Commodores in their hunt to make the BIG EAST Tournament once the regular season concludes. Currently sitting two games out of fourth place, a win tomorrow would greatly help their chances of making a trip to Philadelphia at the beginning of May.
Head coach Cathy Swezey understands the importance of tomorrow’s game but wants the team to be focused, execute the game plan and not think about more than just the game.
“We are just playing the game,” said Swezey. “We have had two games in a row that we have not played to our ability and I know they should have been better games for us. The last thing this team needs is pressure and we just want them to go out and compete. The last two days of practice have been that, focusing on the game, loving the game and just being the athletes that I know they are.”
The last two games have not been easy for the Dores, as they faced two of the top teams in the conference and another one will be in town this weekend. Swezey talked about how no matter what the odds are, this team does not give up and that won’t change going into tomorrow’s game.
“This team never gives up,” Swezey stated. “In the Denver game, they were going on all cylinders for the entire 60 minutes, never stopped trying and that is what we are made of this year. We have a lot of courage and we go after it and they have not flattened out at all.”
This season, the Dores have six players that have scored in double-digits. Julie Blaze leads the team with 28 goals followed by Kayla Peterson with 26. Then Jill Doherty is third with 24 goals on the year, followed by Emily Mathewson (16), Melanie Becker (13) and Caroline Peters (12). Doherty leads the team in draw controls (61), points (46), ground balls (22), assists (21) and tied for the team lead in caused turnovers (14). She has 83 assists in her career, which is just six away from breaking the all-time mark at Vanderbilt that was set by Sarah Downing.
Defender Margaret Fee is tied with Doherty in caused turnovers with 14 and is second on the team in ground balls with 19. In the cage, all three Commodore goalies have seen time this season. Callahan Kent has amassed a 4-3 record with 40 saves and 9.28 goals against average. Lily Argyle has a 1-1 record with 30 saves in seven games this season. Madison Foglio has a 1-2 record and made 18 saves in six appearances.
Temple enters Saturday’s contest 12-2 on the season and 5-1 in conference play. They are coming off a 19-7 win at home over Butler this past Wednesday. Overall, the Owls own the all-time series with the Commodores 2-1. Last season, Temple defeated the Commodores 7-3 on April 9 in Philadelphia.
Senior attacker Brenda McDermott does it all for the Owls. She leads the team in points (60), goals (31), assists (29) and is third on the team in ground balls (26), draw controls (18) and caused turnovers (11). Senior Morgan Glassford holds the team lead in draw controls with 62 and ground balls with 41.
In the cage, the Owls have used two goalies throughout the season. Freshman Maryn Lowell leads the way with a 9-1 record, 85 saves and 10.60 goals against average. Redshirt freshman Kelsea Hershey has a 3-1 record with 20 saves and 13.44 goals against average.
Gates will open at the Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex for tomorrow’s game at 12 pm CT. For fans that will not be able to make the game, it will be broadcast on Facebook Live via the Vanderbilt Athletics Facebook page. You can also keep up with the game via Game Tracker here. For all things lacrosse, follow @VanderbiltLax on Twitter and Vanderbilt Women’s Lacrosse on Facebook.