The 13th-ranked Vanderbilt women’s lacrosse team used a stifling defense and monster performances from some of their seniors as they defeated the seventh-ranked Duke Blue Devils 11-10.
The seven seniors were honored before the match during a warm and sunny afternoon at the Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex, and the victory gave the squad a school-record 12 regular-season victories.
“I couldn’t be happier for our seven seniors, to have them go out of their last regular season like that,” said head coach Cathy Swezey. “It’s huge for us to beat a perennial power like Duke, and to do it at home on Senior Day is even bigger. Our girls have gotten better every time they’ve taken the field.”
The Commodores (12-4 American Lacrosse Complex) used a relentless and disciplined defense to keep the Blue Devils (9-5) offense at bay. Duke’s attackers appeared flustered and hurried during many of their offensive sets, even though they dominated the time of possession and out-shot the Commodores 27-17, including a 17-7 margin in the second half. Senior defenders Sasha Cielak, Michele Slotke and Heather Koutrakos were all key to the suffocating defensive presence.
“We have exceptional match-up defenders so we match up who we think are the biggest threats for opposing teams. We also have defenders who are great at backing the man-to-man defense up,” Swezey said. “Then we’ve got (senior goalkeeper) Brooke Shinaberry in the goal making stops. She’s just in another realm right now, and the ball must look like a beach ball to her.”
Shinaberry continued to be a force in the net for the Dores as she faced down multiple shot barrages from the Blue Devils. She finished the game with 12 saves and only 10 goals allowed. Her performance continued a trend as she has saved more than 55 percent of the shots she faced during the second half of the season, and it’s no coincidence that the team has won seven of those eight matches.
A large and vocal crowd was treated to an exciting match as both teams exhibited their toughness and athletic prowess on the field. Both squads jockeyed for position inside and became increasingly frustrated with the other teams’ defense.
“The game was really physical today,” Cielak said. “The refs called the game a lot tighter in the second half, but it was tooth and nail the whole time. That’s the kind of game I like, though.”
Duke’s Carolyn Davis opened up the scoring three minutes into the game, but two goals within a minute of each other by Vanderbilt’s freshman Katherine Denkler and sophomore Sarah Downing gave the Dores a 2-1 lead. Duke’s Davis responded with two more scores to give the Blue Devils a 3-2 advantage, but the Dores tallied five of the next six scores to race out to a 7-4 lead, still in the first half. The Dores held a 7-5 half-time lead. The first half was an intensely physical contest, and Swezey noted how big a rivalry this game was.
“These are two teams that like to go at it a little bit,” Swezey said. “We’ve got a bit bigger chip on our shoulder about them then they do about us because we’ve played them close many times without winning. It got to be a very physical game once they realized how talented we were.”
Davis, who finished with four goals on seven shots, struck again for Duke to open the second half and cut the lead to one. Just when it looked like the momentum was turning against the Dores, junior Cara Giordano and seniors Ashley Paschall and Margie Curran scored in quick succession for the Commodores to push the lead back to 10-6 with 23:33 left.
After the teams exchanged goals in the middle of the half, the Blue Devils kept things interesting near the end. They scored three goals in a five-minute stretch to pull within 11-10 with just less than five minutes remaining, setting up a furious finish as Vanderbilt held possession for much of the final three minutes. A turnover with 15 seconds left gave the Blue Devils one final chance, but their last-second shot sailed wide of the net, and the Commodores could finally exhale.
The Commodores finished the regular-season having won seven of their last eight following a tough mid-season stretch when they last three straight contests. Combined with their defeat of Notre Dame earlier in the week, the Dores have beaten two top-10 opponents in a row as they head to the ALC tournament in Evanston, Ill., in two weeks. Pairings for the tournament have yet to be announced, but a potential rematch with top-ranked and three-time defending national champion Northwestern looms large for the Commodores.
