TOWSON, Md. – Towson University women's lacrosse team dropped a 14-8 decision to Vanderbilt on Wednesday afternoon.  

The two teams were only separated by three goals (8-5) going into halftime, but a six-goal second half gave the Commodores the edge to secure the 14-8 victory.  

Freshman Halley Koras recorded her third consecutive hat trick with goals in the second and fourth quarters. Blair Pearre added two scores while Kerri Liucci, Milana Zizakovic and Kerri Thornton also scored one goal apiece.  

Pearre, the former Under Armour All-American, has now scored at least two goals in 26 of 30 games at the collegiate level. She now has 89 career goals and is quickly approaching the program's top 20 scoring list.  

With three draw controls, Pearre now sits seventh all-time with 121 career draws. She is now eight behind Nikki Marcinik with 129. 

The Black & Gold were a perfect 17-for-17 on clears, their third unblemished performance this season. The team in turn held the Commodores to 16-of-23 clear attempts with seven failed clears.  

Records   

• Towson – 2-5 (0-0 CAA)   
• Vanderbilt – 6-3 (0-0 AAC)   

How it Happened   

• Vanderbilt, who is currently receiving votes in the ILWomen/IWLCA poll, struck first but Pearre had the answer, scoring back-to-back goals just 12 seconds apart to give Towson the 2-1 edge. The Commodores came back with four consecutive goals to take the 5-2 lead.  
• Liucci added a free position goal with under a minute to go in the first quarter to make the score 5-3. 
• Vanderbilt went on another three-goal run to start off the second and go ahead, 8-3. The Tigers rallied with scores from freshmen Koras and Milana Zizakovic before halftime to cut the deficit, 8-5. '
• The Commodores scored the only two goals of the third period to stay in control, 10-5. They added one more at the start of the fourth before Koras cashed in on a free position goal.  
• Kaitlin Thornton found sister Kerri Thornton for a score to end another two-goal spurt from Vanderbilt, 13-7. The two teams traded one final score each as Katilin Thornton found Koras this time with just over 30 seconds left in the contest.  

Key Stats 

• Goalkeepers Carly Merlo (3) and Lindsay Posner (2) combined for five saves in the cage.  
• Clarke and Pearre paced the squad with two ground balls each.  
• With assists on the final two goals of the game for the Tigers, Kaitlin Thornton set a new season high and came up just one helper shy of her career best.  
• In addition to the score, Liucci also tallied a season high two ground balls and two caused turnovers.  
• Zizakovic led the Black & Gold with four draw controls while Pearre added three.  

Inside the Numbers    

• Koras recorded her third consecutive hat trick on Wednesday as she has scored three or more goals against UMBC (March 9), Penn State (March 15) and Vanderbilt (March 23). She now leads the Tigers with 18 total goals.  
• Towson has been perfect on clear three times this season against Mount St. Mary's (17-for-17), Loyola (16-for-16) and now Vanderbilt (17-for-17). The team is 104-for-115 on clear attempts through seven games this campaign for a 90.4 percent success rate. 
• Olivia Malamphy matched Liucci with a team-high two caused turnovers to match her career high. She has recorded two caused turnovers four times this season and nine times in her collegiate career.  

Next Game   

Towson will welcome Georgetown to Tiger Field on Saturday, March 26 at 1 p.m.