March 22, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 11 Vanderbilt women’s lacrosse team (4-3, 1-1 ALC) defeated No. 17 Penn State (4-4, 0-1 ALC) 12-7 Sunday afternoon at Bigler Field.
Laura Keenan and Katherine Denkler gave the ‘Dores a 2-0 advantage with 18 minutes left in the first half, as VU constructed a 4-2 lead entering halftime. The Nittany Lions, however, quickly evened the score at 4-4 five minutes into the second period.
The ‘Dores’ defense proceeded to shut down PSU for the next 15 minutes as their offense tallied five consecutive goals to put the game out of reach.
Vanderbilt outshot Penn State 34-27 for the game, and won 12 of 21 draw controls.
Denkler, Sarah Downing, Ally Carey, Carter Foote and Cara Giordano led the ‘Dores’ offensive attack with two goals each. All five players recorded an assist as well.
Alex Mundy scooped up five ground balls for VU, while Giordano also totaled five. Carey won five draw controls.
Freshman Natalie Wills played the entire game at goalkeeper for Vanderbilt, and registered 13 saves with three ground balls.
The Commodores return home for the first of three games in Nashville against Binghamton at 11 a.m. CT Saturday, March 28.
