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KENNESAW, Ga. – Siena and Marissa Gore started off the 2020 campaign with a pair of hat tricks, but it was not enough to propel the Kennesaw State women's lacrosse team to a season-opening victory as Vanderbilt fired up in the second half to down the Owls 21-11.

How it Happened: The Commodores (2-1) jumped on the Owls (0-1) first with back-to-back goals before Abby Squires netted the first goal of the year for KSU to cut the lead in half at the 26:58 mark. A 4-1 swing gave VU a 6-2 advantage before Siena Gore halted the run with her first of three goals on the day.

Emily Napierala followed suit with a goal of her own less than a minute later to cut the deficit to two, but Vanderbilt responded with a pair of goals to extend its lead out to 8-4 with 15 minutes still to play. A 3-1 run pulled the Owls right back in it, 9-7, as Siena and Marissa Gore along with Squires each netted a goal. The two squads traded a goal in the final three minutes as KSU went into the locker room hot on the heels of the Commodores 10-8.

The second half started off in similar fashion as Vanderbilt recorded the opening two goals before Marissa Gore capped off her hat trick at the 23:23 mark. The Commodores then proceeded to shut the door on KSU, holding the Owls to only one goal over the next 15 minutes as VU extended its lead to 20-10.

Chesslyn Lamar finally got the Owls back on the board, scoring her first goal of the year, with 5:49 left in the game. That would prove to be the last goal of the game for KSU as Vanderbilt netted one more in the final minutes to earn the final score. Vanderbilt out-scored KSU 11-3 in the second half.

Notes: Siena Gore's hat trick marked her 31st career game with three or more goals … Marissa Gore logged her 5th career hat trick … Marissa Gore finished with five points, adding two assists to her three goals … Abby Squires netted two goals … Siena Gore logged six draw controls followed by Marissa Gore and Izzy Palermo with three each … Alex Bunn led the team with four ground balls while recording 10 saves … the Owls finished 1-for-5 on free position shots.

Quotes: Head Coach Laura Maness
On the first half success…
"The first half we followed our scouting report very well. We were finding the shots we wanted to shoot and countering their possessions. We were trading goals in the first half, we were hanging with them, and that's really what we wanted. We had multiple people producing Siena [Gore], Abby Squires both coming out hot and Marissa Gore coming out hot as well. All in all, I think the first half was solid."

On today's takeaways…
"One of the big things we talked about was coming back and starting where we left off last season and not using the first one or two games to get into game shape. I do think we did that, we met that goal. Dr. Lindsey [Schriefer] has been really good with that gameday mentality, and I think they came in mentally ready, so we were happy about that. I think if we come out with the same fire against Gardner-Webb it's going to carry us through. We just need to finish that second half."

Up Next: The Owls will look to carry the lessons from today's season-opener and bounce back hosting Gardner-Webb this Saturday at 12 p.m.