Box Score (PDF) | Highlights

LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's lacrosse team fell in its final home game of season, 23-9, to the Vermont Catamounts on Sunday afternoon.

"It was a bit of a tough game defensively for us," said Head Coach Carissa Medeiros. "We tried to make the adjustments throughout the game, but for some reason it just wouldn't click. However, I'm proud of our offense for scoring the most goals in a half and scoring the most goals for us in a game."

The first half turned into a game of runs with the Catamounts (10-6, 3-2) taking a 2-0 lead in the opening three minutes of play.

Emily Wright (Avon, Conn.) scored her first tally of the game with 26:23 remaining in the first half, to get the River Hawks (0-15, 0-5) on the board.

Vermont responded with four goals in a 10-minute span to take a 6-1 lead with 14:44 on the clock. Wright added her second goal of the game 30 seconds after to get UMass Lowell within 6-2. She completed her hat trick three minutes later, and Devon McKercher (Vestal, N.Y.) notched her first goal at 10:04 of the first. Jesse Jay  (Amherst, N.H.) recorded assists on both goals. McKercher's tally cut the River Hawks' deficit to 6-4.

Jay earned her third assist of the half on McKercher's second goal of the half to cut the lead to 10-5 with 3:12 remaining in the first 30 minutes.

Vermont scored twice in the final 1:49 to take a 12-5 lead into the break. Courtney Cole recorded a first-half hat trick for the visitors.

After the Catamounts opened the scoring in the second half with a goal 55 seconds in, McKercher added her third goal of the afternoon 2:43 into the half.

Vermont would use a eight-goal span to open up a 21-6 advantage with 17:03 to play in regulation. Micaela Sanborn (Chelmsford, Mass.) scored on a man-up opportunity with 14:37 to play to stop the run.

Including that goal, UMass Lowell would outscore the Catamounts 3-2 during the final 14:37 of play. Jenn Guen (Braintree, Mass.) added her second goal of the season with just under four minutes left in the half. McKercher would add her fourth, and the team's second man-up goal of the day with 2:07 to play.

McKercher (4g, 0a) and Jay (0g, 4a) led the River Hawk attack, each recording four points and setting new career-highs. Wright added to her team lead in goals, as she now has 18 on the season.

Vanessa VanderZalm (5g, 1a) had a game-high six points, and both Cole and Alison Bolt scored three times for the guests.

Courtney Barrett (South Burlington, Vt.) made 10 saves in 43:24 of playing time, and Meg Hopkins made nine saves for the win.

UMass Lowell wraps up its non-conference schedule with a 7 p.m. tilt at Harvard on April 22.