NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The 10th-ranked Commodore women's lacrosse team dropped its third straight game Saturday, falling to visiting New Hampshire, 10-7, on a stormy afternoon at the Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex.

Heavy rain and wind made field conditions somewhat sloppy throughout most of the game. With a one-goal lead midway through the second half, New Hampshire moved into a stalling offense and would score a pair of late goals to ice the game. The final three-goal margin was the largest lead of the game for either team.

Vanderbilt took its only lead at 1-0 when sophomore Sarah Downing opened the scoring five minutes into the game. New Hampshire's patient attack would tally two unassisted goals in the next five minutes to take a 2-1 advantage. VU senior Margie Curran, who moved into second place all-time in points at Vanderbilt on Wednesday, tied the game at 2-2 less than a minute later.

New Hampshire outscored Vanderbilt, 5-3, in the final 12 minutes of the first half to take a 7-5 advantage into the break. The second half saw a drastic deceleration as weather conditions worsened. Junior Cara Giordano got the Commodores within a goal with 20 minutes left off an assist from Curran.

When the Wildcats regained possession, Vanderbilt's defense pressured out to try and cause a turnover. The Commodores allowed UNH's Susie Piotrkowski to score a pair of goals in the final 10:30, while Wildcats goalkeeper Ashley Miller used a total of 12 saves to keep her team ahead.

Senior Sasha Cielak caused three turnovers and picked up five ground balls as the VU defense gave the Commodores a chance to comeback, but Vanderbilt's attack was stoned by Miller. The Commodores converted only 2-of-7 free-position shots on the day.

Saturday's game was the second of a four-game homestand for the Commodores. Vanderbilt will welcome Cornell (March 17) and Penn State (March 23) to Nashville in the coming week.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ashley Milley (Sudbury, Mass.) recorded a season-high 12 saves and Michaela Hardy (Reading, Mass.) tallied four points to lead the University of New Hampshire women's lacrosse team to Saturday afternoon's 10-7 non-conference victory against 10th-ranked Vanderbilt University at Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex.

UNH, with its second road win of the season against a team ranked No. 10 in the national poll (Yale, 8-7, on March 5), won its fourth consecutive game to improve to 5-2. Vandy is now 5-3.

Hardy finished with two goals and two assists. Moira Talbot (Marblehead, Mass.), Susie Piotrkowski (Franklin, Conn.) and Maureen Wark (Yarmouth, Maine) also tallied two goals, and Wark also had an assist for a career-high three points. Ashley Durepo (Concord, N.H.) extended her goal-scoring streak to seven games with a single goal, and Shaunna Kaplan (Framingham, Mass.) also had a goal.

Milley played the initial 39:42 of the game and exited for 3:59 following a Commodores time out with 20:18 remaining in the second half. Nikki Hume (North Hampton, N.H.) made her collegiate debut and did not yield a goal in her brief relief stint; she was not credited with a save. VU goalie Brooke Shinaberry made six saves.

Trailing 7-5 at halftime, Vanderbilt quickly pulled within one goal on Margie Curran's goal at 29:33 of the second half. Talbot potted her second goal of the game at 27:14 to reestablish a two-goal advantage of 8-6. Cara Giordano trimmed the deficit to 8-7 at 20:18 and the home team called time out.

UNH maintained that lead until Piotrkowski scored an unassisted goal at 10:30. Milley preserved UNH's two-goal lead of 9-7 by denying Curran at 3:01 and Laura Keenan at 2:10. Piotrkowski struck again at 1:10 to give the ‘Cats a 10-7 cushion and Milley made two saves in the closing minute – against Keenan with 52 seconds to play and Allie Frank on a free-position with 37 on the clock – to secure the win.

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2008-03-15