No. 20 Vanderbilt upset the No. 2 women's lacrosse team 8-6 Wednesday afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee., giving the Commodores their highest-ranked win in school history.
"I am so proud of these girls today for working their butts off in the game," said Vanderbilt head coach Cathy Swezey of her Commodores. "They earned this win and deserved it outright. Our defense was strong and our offense was smart. They kept their heads in the game and never let the intensity die down."
Vanderbilt never trailed in the second half after going into halftime with a 3-3 deadlock. After the intermission, however, Vanderbilt was able to take control much on the strength of goalkeeper Ashley Bastinelli who recorded 14 saves on the day.
Commodore Lauren Cornett was the bane of Duke's defense, compiling three goals on the day. Five other Vanderbilt players scored a single goal.
The contest was the third time the two schools have met during the 2002-2003 school year, as the teams squared off during the fall season and the preseason. Each game was held at Duke, and each game was extremely competitive.
Harking back to last season, when the Blue Devils dispatched Vanderbilt twice - in the regular season 11-7, and in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament 10-5 - the two teams had hotly contested matchups.
Nonetheless, the loss severs a six-game winning streak for the Blue Devils, who are now 9-2 on the year. They will conclude their four-game road trip with a showdown at ACC rival and fourth-ranked Virginia.
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