SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 7 Fighting Irish dropped a tight 11-9 decision against No. 1 Maryland at Arlotta Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Three Notre Dame players finished with two goals, as Griffin Westlin, Pat Kavanagh and Wheaton Jackoboice each found the back of the net twice.
The Irish defense held the Terrapins to its lowest goal output of the season despite coming up short in defeat. Arden Cohen and Carson Cochran each caused two turnovers in the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame scored on the game’s opening possession when Eric Dobson found Westlin to make it a 1-0 contest early. Defense dominated the first 15 minutes of play as the Irish took a 2-1 lead into the second quarter.
The Terrapins managed to control the second quarter and opened up a 5-3 lead until Westlin was able to cash in on a man-up opportunity with just under a minute left in the quarter to make it a one-goal game at 5-4 heading into the halftime break.
The visitors came out and put the pressure on the Irish early, scoring three goals in the first two minutes of the second half to extend their lead to four at 8-4, their largest lead of the day.
The Irish clawed back into the game, scoring three of the final four goals of the period, including two in the final minute to cut the Maryland lead to two at 9-7 with just 15 minutes left in regulation.
Jackoboice scored his first goal of the afternoon to open the scoring in the fourth frame and make it a one-score game at 9-8, however, the Terrapins scored just under four minutes later to extend the lead back to two with 9:11 on the clock.
Jackoboice wasn’t done, as he ripped a shot past the Maryland goalkeeper on the extra-man opportunity to once again cut the lead to just one at 10-9 with just under seven minutes left. The Irish had multiple chances to level the game but were unable to find the equalizer and Maryland added one more goal in the final five minutes to escape South Bend with an 11-9 win.
NOTRE DAME STAT OF THE GAME
Notre Dame’s rope unit had a great afternoon, as the Irish registered a perfect 25-for-25 in the clearing game.
UP NEXT
The Irish hit the road for the first time this season to take on another Big Ten foe in No. 5 Ohio State at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 12 in Columbus, Ohio. The game will air on BTN.
— ND —