Vanderbilt Lacrosse (2-3) continued its five-game homestand Friday afternoon, this time taking on the Cincinnati Bearcats (4-3). The Commodores ran away with a 22-10 victory, snapping a two-game losing streak. Nancy Halleron led all scorers with seven goals and Bailey Lower scored a career-high six goals. Vanderbilt outshot Cincinnati 37-18 and forced 15 Bearcat turnovers en route to its victory.
First Quarter
Cincinnati took the opening draw and attempted to settle into its offense swiftly. But on the first entry pass near the crease, Anna Taraboletti stripped a Bearcat of the ball, collected it off the ground and ran the entire length of the field on her own. From there, she found Shea Panzik to her left, who rifled a shot past Bella Kerr for the Commodores’ opening goal.
The Commodores then took control of the next draw and immediately put pressure on the Bearcats. Although Vanderbilt momentarily lost control of the ball, Lexie Wolf turned it right back over, giving Hayden Miller the chance to find Lower on a cut to make it 2-0. A Cincinnati foul gave Vanderbilt a free-position shot on the ensuing possession, with Taraboletti stepping up and firing a goal past Kerr.
Although Cincinnati struck back with a goal of its own, Vanderbilt kept its foot on the gas. The quick and endless movement of the Commodores’ offense kept Cincinnati unbalanced, and again, Lower scored a goal off a miraculous cut, this time assisted by Brooke Baker.
Vanderbilt spent much of its time in the latter half of the first quarter on the defensive end, where the Commodores continuously repelled the attacks of the Bearcats. Emme Martin made a fantastic save on a free-position shot by Cincinnati’s Hailey Simpson, and the Commodores forced a handful of Bearcat mistakes. The Bearcats finally broke through with less than a minute to go as Paige Counts scrambled for a ground ball near the crease and slipped a shot by Martin. By the end of the first, Vanderbilt led 4-2.
Second Quarter
To start the second, both teams exchanged turnovers, the latter being a Vanderbilt offside that resulted in a green card. Still, the Vanderbilt defense dug its feet into the ground and after Amiyah Turner outhustled a Bearcat for a groundball, the Commodores responded. After bringing the ball into the offensive third, Vanderbilt tossed the ball around until a Bearcat lost track of Halleron, who took one step and hurled a shot into the left side of the net to make it 5-2.
Within two minutes, Vanderbilt added two more goals by utilizing the same cuts and exterior passes. Halleron scored the first of the two and then Baker found Lower, who dropped the angle of her stick and put in her third goal of the match. After taking the next draw, Vanderbilt kept tossing shots at Kerr, additionally forcing two turnovers to retain possession in the opposing third. Eventually, Panzik took it around the back of the crease and outran her defender, tossing in the Commodores’ eighth goal in the top right corner. Within seven seconds of the next draw, Vanderbilt scored again, this time by Molly Krestinski.
The Commodores cruised through the rest of the second quarter and kept Cincinnati solely on the defensive by playing off its fouls and mistakes. Vanderbilt continued to pile it on and by the end of the first half, Vanderbilt led 12-2.
Third quarter
Cincinnati and Payton Kozina broke the Vanderbilt scoring run on its first possession in the second half following a Halleron turnover. The Commodores answered with haste, forcing a Cincinnati turnover that led to a Halleron goal with an assist by Lower. The Bearcats replied with two goals within one minute of one another, with a fired-up Paige Counts scoring the second to make it 13-5.
The two sides then exchanged a goal apiece, although Vanderbilt continued to dominate possession and at the draw. Cincinnati refused to give up and immediately pressed forward. The Bearcats utilized two straight Commodore turnovers and two green cards on Runske and Taraboletti to score twice in less than a minute and a half.
Halleron interrupted the Cincinnati scoring run as she linked up with Lower, pushing the Commodore lead to 15-8. Vanderbilt added one more goal with thirty seconds left on a Baker free-position goal.
Fourth quarter
Vanderbilt returned to its prior form in the fourth quarter. Within two minutes of the quarter starting, Vanderbilt won three straight draws and scored three times, one goal coming from Panzik and two from Halleron. Morgan Handzel struck back for the Bearcats, dashing through the defense and being the recipient of a great pass by Paige Selhorn right in front of the crease. But, as what became the norm in this contest, Vanderbilt had an answer and freshman Regan Torrisi earned the first goal of her college career. Later on, after a Cincinnati goal, senior Garrison Morrill scored her first goal of her college career as well. Ultimately, Vanderbilt would walk away with the 22-10 win.
Next up, Vanderbilt will take on Eastern Michigan at home on Wednesday, Mar. 4 with opening draw set for noon.
