NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A total of 10 Commodores scored goals as the 11th-ranked Vanderbilt women's lacrosse team thumped American Lacrosse Conference rival Johns Hopkins, 18-8, Saturday at the VU Lacrosse Complex.

Vanderbilt (7-3, 2-1 ALC) won by double-figures for the third straight game, and notched its fifth consecutive victory overall since a March 11 loss at No. 3 Duke. The Commodores have won four of their last five matchups against the Blue Jays (4-8, 0-2 ALC) over the past three seasons.

Junior Sarah Downing led all scorers with four goals and two assists, while classmate Carter Foote also contributed a hat-trick to the Commodores' cause. Freshman goalkeeper Natalie Wills made 12 saves to earn her seventh victory of the season against only one loss.

The Commodores came out of the gate firing, scoring goals from senior Cara Giordano, Foote and Downing to lead 3-0 in the first two minutes. Vanderbilt would score the game's first seven goals and lead by no fewer than five the rest of the way.

Vanderbilt was dominant in the center circle, controlling 18 of 27 draws for the game. Freshman Ally Carey had a game-high four draw controls to go with two goals and two assists.

Also scoring for the Commodores were juniors Anastasia Adam, Laura Keenan and Allie Frank, sophomore Katherine Denkler and Emily Franke, and freshman Alex Priddy.

Reserve Rachel Ballatori was the only player to score multiple goals for Hopkins. JHU goalkeeper Lizzie O'Ferrall made 10 saves off the bench in the second half.

Vanderbilt will close out its regular season with three of four games on the road. The Commodores travel to New Hampshire this week for a game on April 8 before heading to Columbus, Ohio, to face league rival Ohio State on April 12. Vanderbilt will then welcome Notre Dame to Nashville for Senior Day on April 15.

VU's regular season wraps up at Cornell on April 21. The American Lacrosse Conference Tournament will be hosted by Penn State in University Park, Pa., May 2-4.

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NASHVILLE, TN - The 11th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores scored the game's first seven goals en route to an 18-8 win over visiting Johns Hopkins Saturday afternoon in American Lacrosse Conference action. The Blue Jays have now lost four straight and slip to 4-8 overall and 0-2 in the ALC. The Commodores improve to 7-3 overall with their fourth straight win and 2-1 in the ALC.

The Commodores needed just 10:15 to put the game's first seven goals on the board as six different players scored in the opening run. Junior Brett Bathras (Severna Park, MD/Severn School) finally snapped the run and put Hopkins on the board when she scored an unassisted tally with 17:31 to play. Freshman Rachel Ballatori (Rochester, NY/Brighton) then found the cage off an assist from freshman Candace Rossi (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) and the lead was down to five at 7-2 with 9:46 remaining in the half.

Ally Carey and Allie Frank answered with back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart to push Vanderbilt's lead back to seven at 9-2. Junior Paige Ibello (Cockeysville, MD/Maryvale Prep) scored off a feed from freshman Colleen McCaffrey (Mount Sinai, NY/Mount Sinai) with just 19 ticks on the clock as the Commodores took a 9-3 lead into the half.

Coming out of the break, freshman Alyssa Kildare (Massapequa Park, NY/Farmingdale) scored unassisted just 3:01 to make it a five-goal game. Vanderbilt answered with four straight from four different players to push its lead back to nine at 13-4. The teams then traded goals over the next 10 minutes as Hopkins could get no closer than 15-7 with 11:28 left in the game. The Commodores strung together three goals, including a pair from Carter Foote, to push out to an 18-7 lead. Junior Angela Hughes (Manchester, MD/North Carroll) closed out the scoring with just 1:45 remaining to account for the 18-8 final.

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2009-04-04