May 3, 2008

Box Score

EVANSTON, IL - Vanderbilt broke open a 3-3 tie with a 6-1 run as the Commodores defeated the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays 10-7 in the American Lacrosse Conference semifinals Saturday afternoon. Hopkins season ends at 8-9 while Vanderbilt improves to 13-4 and will take on Northwestern in the ALC title game on Sunday. Senior Kadie Stamper (Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright) controlled two draws in the game to break Jamie Larrimore's all-time record of 202.

The first 15 minutes were a back-and-forth affair, with Vanderbilt striking first. Sarah Downing put the Commodores on the board just 2:04 in on a dish from Katherine Denkler. Freshman Brooke Foussadier (Turnersville, NJ/Washington Township) answered for Hopkins, scoring on a free position shot to knot the score at 1-1. Downing found the cage again to put Vanderbilt back on top, but Foussadier responded again, scoring on a dodge down the middle.

Downing put her mark on another Vandy goal, finding Margie Curran for the first of her four goals on the day to make it 3-2. Sophomore Sam Schrum (Pasadena, MD/St. Mary's) then capitalized on a failed Commodores clear, scooping up the ball in the Vandy defensive zone and going straight to the cage. With the game tied at 3-3, Ashley Paschall scored on a free position shot to push Vanderbilt back on top 4-3 and ignite a 4-0 run.

Senior Lauren Schwarzmann (Sykesville, MD/Century) scored her first of the afternoon on a free position shot with just 4:25 left in the half, halting the Commodores run. But the Curran would score once more to end the half as Vanderbilt took an 8-4 lead into the half.

Coming out of the break, Curran quickly pushed the Commodores lead to five. But goals from sophomore Brett Bathras (Severna Park, MD/Severn) and Schwarzmann cut the deficit back to three at 9-6 with just over 20 minutes to play. The pace would slow from there as just two more goals were scored in the final 20:02 of the game. Downing netted her fourth of the day with 11:05 to play after a successful Vanderbilt clear. Schwarzmann would complete her hat trick with just 65 ticks on the clock and that would be all the scoring.

Schwarzmann led Hopkins with three goals on the day, finishing her career with 79 career goals and ranking 10th in JHU Division I history. She also totaled 118 career points, good for eighth in school DI history. Stamper finishes with 203 career draw controls to go with 95 goals and 113 points. Also finishing their careers were seniors Kirby Houck (Baltimore, MD/Garrison Forest), Sarah Gallion (Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright), Katie Dumais (Lutherville, MD/Maryvale) and Erin O'Boyle (Elkridge, MD/Mount De Sales).