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Vanderbilt Tops Notre Dame, 10-9, In Overtime Thriller 3/9/2005 NASHVILLE – Sophomore Jennifer Tapscott scored an unassisted goal late in the first overtime period, and the Vanderbilt lacrosse team held on for a 10-9 victory over Notre Dame Wednesday at the VU Lacrosse Complex. Junior attacker Kate Hickman scored the Commodores first four goals and sophomore Kendall Thrift contributed five points on a goal and four assists to lead the Vanderbilt attack. Senior goalkeeper Ashley Bastinelli made 12 saves behind a tough VU defensive effort. Vanderbilt opened an early 4-1 lead in the first 10 minutes on a quartet of Hickman scores, three of which were assisted by Thrift. Goals from Thrift and sophomore Nicole Pugno extended Vanderbilt’s lead to 6-2 in the 23rd minute. The Irish would score three goals in the closing minutes of the half, however, to pull within one, 6-5, at the break. Freshman Margie Curran assisted on a Tapscott goal to open the second half scoresheet. But Notre Dame would score the game’s next three goals to take its first lead of the match, 8-7, in the 43rd minute. A free position goal from senior Meg Spies brought the Dores back to 8-8, and freshman Ashley Paschall scored the go-ahead goal in the 54th minute off a feed from junior Bryn Sedlacek. One minute later, Notre Dame’s Caitlin McKinney netted her fourth point — an unassisted goal that tied the game at 9-9. In the first overtime period, Vanderbilt worked the ball around for nearly two minutes before Tapscott went to goal. The Stone Ridge (Washington, D.C.) product found the back of the net for the eventual game winner. Vanderbilt possessed the ball for half of the second overtime period, but a late turnover gave the ball back to the Irish. Notre Dame would not get a shot off in the closing seconds, as a number of ND drives were thwarted by the Commodore defense. Freshman Sasha Cielak led Vanderbilt with three caused turnovers, while senior Kim Gianis picked up four ground balls. Vanderbilt narrowly won the battle in the center circle, claiming 12 of the game’s 23 draws. Hickman and Cielak came up with three draw controls each. The Irish were led in scoring by reserve Brittany Fox, who contributed three goals and an assist. Mary Carpenter had two goals for Notre Dame, with additional scores coming from Heather Ferguson and Jackie Bowers. The goals for Vanderbilt’s Pugno and Paschall were their first collegiate tallies. |
