FINAL: Mercer 14, Vermont 12
MACON, Ga. – Vermont women's lacrosse (3-4) overcame a pair of two-goal deficits, but Mercer (5-2) struck late for a 14-12 victory on Sunday afternoon.  
 
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Box Score
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Catamounts opened the scoring and jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first nine minutes of the contest. Dani Paterno and Maris Large were the Vermont goal scorers early in the opening frame.
• Mercer responded with five unanswered goals to take a 6-2 lead. Eva Thorn recorded a hat trick in the first half before Ava Vasile snapped the Bears' five-goal streak.
• Vasile led the Cats' late first-half charge with a pair of goals in the final 6:30 of the frame. The rookie recorded her 19th goal of the season with four seconds left in the half to trail 7-5 at the break.
• Erin Kloostra and Paterno tied the game at 7-7 in the first seven minutes of the second half. The Bears and Catamounts then exchanged three goals each over the next 10 minutes.
• Mercer grabbed a 12-10 lead with 10:46 remaining, but Vermont responded with goals from Mackenzie Bolt and Riley Halloran. Halloran's fourth of the season tied the game at 12-12 with 9:14 left in regulation.
• Haily Rhatigan and Lily put the Bears back up by two for the final goals of the afternoon. Rhatigan's game-winner came with 8:06 remaining. Mercer held off UVM's final push after Morin's goal with 7:04 left.

NOTES

• Vasile's hat trick came on five shots. The freshman also picked up one ground ball and captured four draw controls.
• Large, Bolt, and Paterno each scored twice for the Catamounts. Large also had a team-high five shots for UVM.
• Sophie McLaughlin recorded seven saves in net for Vermont.

UP NEXT
Vermont returns to action on Wednesday (Mar. 11) when it visits Kennesaw State. The game is scheduled for a 12:30 p.m. start.