Blanding Records Four Points in 13-9 Loss to Vermont

Saturday, April 24

Durham, N.H.

6 PM

University of New Hampshire

3-6, 2-5AE

Vermont

5-5, 5-3AE

Vermont

New Hampshire

Photo by: Larissa Biette

4/24/2021 9:38:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

Taylor Dudek and Meghan Doyle Combined to Record Nine Ground Balls and Five Caused Turnovers

DURHAM, N.H. – Senior Elizabeth Blanding (Pittsford, N.Y.) recorded two goals and two assists, but the University of New Hampshire women's lacrosse team was defeated 13-9 by the University of Vermont at Wildcat Stadium on Saturday night.

The two assists matched a career high for Blanding, and the four points are a season high. Senior Julia Neyland (Boxborough, Mass.) recorded two goals and an assist for three points, while freshmen Mackenzie MacEachern (Bedford, N.H.) and Olivia O'Connor (Hopkinton, Mass.) both finished with a goal and an assist.

Junior goalkeeper Issy Torres (Elmhurst, Ill.) was credited with seven saves. The defensive effort was led by juniors Taylor Dudek (Amherst, N.H.; five ground balls, two caused turnovers) and Meghan Doyle (Pittsford, N.Y.; four ground balls, three caused turnovers).

UVM was led offensively by Dani Paterno (2g, 3a) and Ava Vasile (3g, 1a); goalie Sophie McLaughlin had eight saves.

UNH is now 3-6 overall and 2-5 in America East, and is scheduled to return to action April 28 against Stony Brook University. Vermont improved to 5-5, 5-3.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Elizabeth Blanding_042421_6423

First Half

McLaughlin made five saves in the opening 10 minutes to keep the game scoreless. At the other end of the field, Vermont's offense recorded two shots wide and UVM committed five turnovers.
Sophomore Liv Dunn (Newbury, Mass.) finished a feed from O'Connor to give UNH a 1-0 lead at 19:44.
That proved to be the Wildcats' only lead of the game.
Vasile's player-up goal at 17:45 tied the score at 17:45 and Taylor Mullen's tally gave UVM a 2-1 lead at 12:21.
New Hampshire tied the score, 2-2, at 9:50 when Blanding, from the left doorstep, found O'Connor in front for the goal.
Vermont ended the half on a 4-0 run to take a 6-2 lead into halftime.
Dani Paterno put the visitors back in front, 3-2, just 63 seconds after Blanding's tally and then Grace Giancola extended the advantage to 4-2 at 5:09.
Vasile scored another player-up goal at 3:20 and struck again on a free position with eight seconds on the clock.

Second Half

Neyland's 22^nd goal of the season, set up by Blanding, trimmed UNH's deficit to 6-3 at 28:32.
UVM pushed the margin to five goals, however, on tallies by Meghan O'Connor at 24:53 and Riley Halloran at 22:04.
Leonard ripped a shot into the goal at 19:47 to lift the Wildcats within 8-4.
Halloran scored a player-down goal at 16:46 and the Catamounts converted a player-up opportunity into Taylor Mullen's goal and a 10-4 lead at 12:23.
Senior Gabby Masseur (Nashua, N.H.) scored her second goal in as many games to cut the margin to 10-5 at 11:00.
Neyland set up freshman Kailee Woods (Rocky Point, N.Y.) at 8:51, but UVM controlled the ensuing draw and McKenzie Ballard scored 18 seconds later to reestablish a five-goal advantage, 11-6, at 8:23.
The sudden flurry of goals continued with Blanding's unassisted goal at 8:04 to trim the deficit to 11-7.
UNH had three offensive possessions, but they ended with a turnover, shot wide and a save by McLaughlin to keep the margin at four.
Vermont netted goals 38 seconds apart – Giancola at 2:17 and Paterno at 1:39 – to quickly push the lead to 13-7.
MacEachern and Blanding scored in the final minute to close the scoring.

Game Notebook

Vermont recorded the slimmest of advantages, 26-25, in shots with a 20-17 edge in shots on goal.
The Catamounts also finished with the edge in ground balls (20-19) and draw controls (13-11).
UNH committed two fewer turnovers (17-19).
The Wildcats were 22 of 23 on clear attempts, whereas Vermont was 19-for-24.
UVM scored three player-up goals as well as a player-down goal; UNH had neither.
The Catamounts scored on 1 of 3 free-position shots; the Wildcats converted their only free-position shot into a goal.

UNH Notebook

Leonard extended her point streak to 25 games with her goal. She has 45 goals and 31 assists for 76 points (3.04 per game) during the streak.
Dudek's five ground balls matched a career high done three times previously.
Neyland tied her best of two assists for the second consecutive game.
Blanding's two goals equaled her season high.
O'Connor recorded her first career assist and matched her personal best of two points established vs. Merrimack College.
Junior Delaney Pratt (Lafayette, Colo.) finished with a game-high five draw controls.
UNH has a 2-2 home record with a split of 2-1 at Wildcat Stadium and 0-1 at Tucker Field.

Series Notebook

UNH has a 33-10 lifetime record against Vermont.
The Catamounts swept the season series; they were 13-4 victors at Virtue Field on March 13.
UVM has a 6-4 edge the past 10 meetings.
Prior to 2020, when the teams did not play because of the COVID-abbreviated season, UNH and Vermont played 37 consecutive years spanning the 1983-2019 seasons.

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