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FINAL SCORE: UMass 16, Vermont 7 | Box Score
AMHERST, Mass. – Junior captain
Vanessa VanderZalm scored a team-high three goals, but Vermont fell to UMass by a final of 16-7 in non-conference women's lacrosse action at McGuirk Stadium on Wednesday. The Minutewomen improved to 11-1 on the year following the win, while the Catamounts dropped to 9-5 overall.
Hannah Murphy led all scorers in the contest with six points (4 g, 2 ast), while Amy Tiernan and Holly Turner each added three-goal performances.
Vermont was able to manage seven goals on a Massachusetts team that leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 4.82 scores per game coming into the contest. VanderZalm led the attack with three scores and rookie
Elena McWright added a pair of tallies to pace UVM.
Rachel Vallarelli was credited with the win in goal for UMass following a seven-save effort, while Vermont goalie
Meg Hopkins took the loss despite making nine stops.
VanderZalm tallied the Catamounts' opening goal of the contest early in the first half to even the game at 1-1, before UMass netted back-to-back scores by Murphy and Turner to take a two-goal advantage.
The Minutewomen outscored UVM 5-2 in the remainder of the half to open an 8-3 advantage heading into the break. Murphy and Tiernan led the attack with a pair of goals each during the run.
Alex Bernier and VanderZalm registered goals for Vermont in the opening six-plus minutes of the second period to cut the Catamounts' deficit to 9-5 with just under 24 minutes to play.
Following a three-goal run by UMass, McWright and
Bailey Saneman tallied a goal apiece in the ensuing five minutes to close the UMass lead to 13-7 at the 12:12 mark.
The UMass defense held strong down the stretch, and the attack added three insurance goals to close out the 16-7 victory for its 11
th win of the year.
Vermont hosts ninth-ranked Stony Brook in an America East matchup this Saturday (April 11) at 11 a.m. Live video of the contest will be streamed for free via CatamounTV.com.
