April 8, 2018
MILWAUKEEâ€â€Vanderbilt lacrosse took a one-goal lead in the final seconds of the first half, but struggled to score in the second half of a 13-11 loss to Marquette on Sunday afternoon.
Senior attacker Kayla Peterson scored her 100th collegiate goal for the Commodores (8-5, 3-2 BIG EAST) in the loss to the first place Golden Eagles (9-4, 5-0 BIG EAST).
Peterson is the 13th player in program history to score 100 career goals, dating back to the team’s inception at the Division I level in 1996. The senior from Hagerstown, Md. scored one goal in each half to reach the century mark.
“I’m really happy for her and all the things she does for our program,” Vanderbilt head coach Cathy Swezey said. “She’s obviously a great attacker and it’s a great milestone that she reached today.”
Marquette jumped ahead 3-0 in the first eight minutes of the game before the Commodores bounced back with five straight goals. Two saves by Grace Bell, while the Commodores were a man-down, highlighted a nine minute and 53 second shutout stretch for the Vandy defense.
“At the start of the game, I think we might’ve just had too much nervous energy,” Swezey said. “I thought we were playing a little bit frantic. We took a timeout just to get our feet under us and relax a little. Once we did that, we went on a run that I think really made the change in the first half.”
VU’s first seven goals came from seven different goal scorers, and the game was tied 7-7 into the final minute of the first half. Vanderbilt drew two yellow cards against Marquette in the last 15 seconds of the half, and Melanie Becker scored a man-up goal on a free position shot with one second remaining in the period, putting the visitors ahead 8-7 at the break.
Vanderbilt could not ride the momentum from that late goal, failing to score for the first 23 minutes of the second half and falling behind 12-8 as the Golden Eagles scored five straight goals.
Elizabeth Scarrone‘s second goal of the game finally got the Commodores back on the board with 6:16 left in the second half. Peterson’s milestone goal less than a minute later got the Dores within two, and Gabrielle Fornia scored off Emily Mathewson‘s fifth assist of the game to narrow the deficit to one at 12-11 with 4:29 left. That’s as close as the comeback drew, with the Golden Eagles hanging on to win by two.
“The draw control was a real issue for us for a big part of the game,” Swezey said. “They got huge momentum off the draw early in the second half and then, when we did have our offensive possessions, we just didn’t shoot as well.”
Mathewson led the Dores with six points in the loss, and her five assists are a new personal-best. Becker, Fornia, Peterson and Scarrone finished with two goals each.
Defensively, Melissa Hawkins limited BIG EAST scoring leader Grace Gabriel to just two goals, while Frankie Angeleri caused two turnovers and corralled two ground balls. Margaret Fee led VU with four draw controls. Bell made six saves in goal in her fifth straight start.
“[Fee] had a really strong game, Frankie as well and [Hawkins], obviously, against their big-name player,” Swezey said. “All three of them played exceptionally well. Grace backed them up and made some big saves when she needed to.”
The Commodores return home Saturday for a Senior Day matchup with Georgetown at the Vanderbilt Soccer/Lacrosse Complex. Opening draw is at 1 p.m., with Senior Day festivities beginning at 12:40 p.m. Admission is free and the first 300 Vanderbilt students at the game receive a free Comfort Colors tank top.
