March 9, 2016
DENVER, Colo. — The Vanderbilt lacrosse team leaves the Mile-High City with their fourth victory of the year, as the Commodores defeated the Denver Pioneers 12-7 at the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
“This was a really important win for us coming off the loss against Stanford,” said head coach Cathy Swezey. Our team really stepped up and played with confidence despite the loss, so we’re really proud of them. We felt the individual matchups we made definitively made the difference tonight and everyone stuck up in their matchups.”
Now boasting a 4-2 record, VU spread the wealth around Wednesday afternoon with six different student-athletes securing goals for the black and gold. Mallory Schonk led the squad on the attack with four goals on five shots on goal, her third 3+ goal performance this season.
Three Commodores, Kelly Chandler, Jill Doherty, Alexa Kunowsky, all scored two goals for the Dores. Doherty also gave two vital assits in Wednesday’s competiton, with the first helping Vanderbilt lessen their deficit at 6-5 and the second assist tying the score for the fourth time, 7-7.
For the third game in a row, Vanderbilt went on a second half tear. This go around the Commodores couldn’t be touched by the opposition, earning six unanswered goals in span of 14 minutes.
“I think offensively having that balances attack is critical… it was one of the things that we needed to see happen for us; just more of a team concept, rather than individuals trying to step up. I think that’s what happened, and I think we showed great composure, which made a difference.”
The battle for draw control was hotly contested all afternoon, with Kunowsky leading the squad with three of the `Dores 10.
Led by goalie Callahan Kent, the Vanderbilt defense played well as a defensive unit, shutting down the Pioneers leading scorer, only allowing Reese two goals on the night. Kent, had another great outing the cage for VU, with 11 phenomenal saves. Kent now has a total of 65 saves on the year in six games started.
“The first thing I have to say about our defense is about the person who started it all, our goalie Callahan Kent. Cal absolutely had an amazing game, and she’s having an unbelievable season. But she got the first stop of the game of the first possession, and just ran with it. She had a hell of a game. We had Margaret Fee on No. 28 (Christa Reese) and she did a really nice job of slowing her down and shutting her down.”
Vanderbilt looks forward to returning home this weekend, where the squad hosts Penn State Nittney Lions Saturday, March 12th, at 11:30 am. Admission is free for all fans with action taking place at the Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex.
