CLEMSON, S.C. — The University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team showed they were all fight Friday night as they defeated ACC foe Clemson, 14-13, in overtime on the road.
The Irish won the opening draw with MK Doherty coming up with the loose ball at the circle. Despite not being able to capitalize on the first possession of the game, Lilly Callahan stopped a free position attempt on the other side of the field to keep it scoreless early in the game.
The Tigers eventually broke the scoreless game at 11:53 of the first quarter with a free position goal, beating Callahan for the 1-0 tally.
A Tiger pass was intercepted by Doherty to send play back into the Irish offensive end where Clemson was called for a shooting space violation and Madison Ahern took advantage, evening the score 1-1 with 7:54 to play in the opening quarter.
Shortly after the Irish tally, the Tigers got one back to retake the lead. Clemson was awarded another free position shot halfway through the frame but Callahan made the stop and play resumed. The Tigers eventually took advantage of the powerplay opportunity to make it 3-1 in favor of the home team with 5:44 still to play in the first quarter.
Meghan O’Hare got the Irish back within one, scoring on a free position shot to make it a 3-2 game before Ali McHugh won the following draw to set the Irish up for the tying goal at 3:23. Kasey Choma fired a rocket of a shot into the net on her free position attempt to make it a 3-3 goal.
Clemson reclaimed the lead with 58 seconds left in the quarter to take the 4-3 lead into the second frame.
The Tigers struck again just 34 seconds into the second quarter to take the 5-3 lead early in the middle frame.
Jackie Wolak danced from behind the net before firing a shot into the top right corner to draw within a goal early in the second quarter.
A pair of goals from Ahern gave the Irish their first lead of the night, making it 6-5 with 7:49 of the second quarter. After a long official review the second consecutive goal for the graduate attacker was confirmed.
Wolak’s second of the evening extended the Irish lead to two goals as she buried her shot out front of the net for her 30th goal of the season.
Callahan made a series of saves in the Irish cage following the Wolak goal to keep it a two-goal game but the Irish could not convert on the other end of the field, giving the Tigers one last possession to end the half. A green card against the Irish put them down a woman in the waning seconds of the frame and they took advantage with just 10 seconds to play in the half.
Clemson tied it up just 33 seconds into the second half to make it a 7-7 game with 14:27 to play in the quarter and the two teams back at even strength. The Tigers then took the lead with a shot from right atop the crease to make it an 8-7 game with just over two minutes elapsed in the third quarter.
Kathryn Morrissey evened the tally back at 8-8 with a follow through shot, scooping up the loose ball in front of the crease and burying a shot top down to knot it back up.
Following the Morrissey goal, Callahan made a crucial save in the cage at the opposite end of the field to keep the score knotted.
The Irish took the 9-8 lead with a goal from Choma before the graduate net her third of the game to extend the lead to two goals with 2:20 to play in the third quarter.
After a pair of assists on the consecutive Choma goals, Wolak scored her third of the game to give the Irish the 11-8 lead in the closing minute of the third quarter to cap the team’s four-goal third quarter run to take the lead into the final frame.
Choma further extended the Irish lead with a behind-the-back goal off a pass from Ahern.
The Tigers snapped the Irish run with a goal at 4:10 of the fourth quarter to make it 12-9 as the Irish held onto their three-goal lead with just over 10 minutes left in regulation. Clemson scored again just 75 seconds later to bring the Tigers within two of the Irish lead with 9:35 to play in the frame.
Clemson scored again off the free position to bring themselves within one of the Irish but Kelley Denes entered the contest and lobbed a draw up to MK Doherty for the draw control win and possession back in Notre Dame’s offensive end.
The Tigers tied it up at 12-12 off a free position goal with 5:31 to play in regulation before a media timeout was taken and the two teams had a short break.
The Irish reclaimed the lead off a goal from Wolak, assisted by Arden Tierney, to take the 13-12 lead.
Denes won the ensuing draw control to give the Irish the edge but the ball was turned over following the successful clear and the Tigers capitalized to tie it up again.
The Irish won the next draw following the Clemson goal but could not convert on the free position attempt and Lilly Callahan was forced to make a huge save on the defensive side of the ball. Doherty picked up the loose ground ball to give the Irish possession with less than 90 seconds to play.
With the ball in their sticks, the Irish called timeout with 1:19 to play in regulation and the score still knotted, 13-13.
The Irish fired one last shot on goal but it was stifled and the teams headed to a sudden death overtime frame – their first of the season.
A mad scramble for the draw to start overtime resulted in the Tigers eventually coming up with the ball deep in their defensive end.
The Irish defenders buckled down and worked the shot clock down to under 10 seconds before an errant pass from the Tigers was scooped up by the Irish gave them a shot on the other end of the field.
Neither team was able to score in the first half of overtime and another draw control was needed for the second set of three minutes.
The Tigers won the second draw of overtime but Franny O’Brien forced the turnover deep and give the Irish the ball back with two minutes to play. The Irish called timeout with 1:32 to play in the second part of the overtime session to draw up a play with 47 seconds left on the shot clock.
It was Doherty who eventually found the back of the net with 52 seconds to play for her third-consecutive game winning goal with under a minute to play in regulation or overtime.
With the win, the Irish improve to 8-2 on the season with Callahan owning every decision in the cage thus far.
KEY STATS
- MK Doherty continues to cement her name in the Irish record books with her third game-winning goal in the last nine days to give Notre Dame the win. In her last three games, Doherty has secured the win for her team in the final minute of regulation or overtime as the team now owns an 8-2 record in 2024.
- With her second goal of the day, Jackie Wolak hit 30 goals on the season and averages 3.20 goals per game through 10 games played this season. The team’s leading scorer boasts 47 total points on the year after six at Clemson Friday night.
- Madison Ahern’s hat trick in the opening half Friday was her sixth of the season and she now boasts 26 goals on the year.
- With 10 saves in the contest, Callahan finished the night with a .435 save percentage and her second double-digit save count in as many games.
- The win was the team’s first at Clemson as Friday marked Notre Dame’s first trip to Clemson, South Carolina in program history to face the Tigers.
- Doherty led the team with six draw controls on the night as the Irish won 13 total in the contest.
- With two ground balls a piece, Doherty and Grace Weigand combined for the team-lead in the category while seven individuals caused a turnover in the contest.
- Wolak’s six points in the contest led the team while Choma and Wolak combined for eight goals between the two, with the duo tying each other for the team-high four goals.
UP NEXT
The Irish close out their road stretch with a trip to Mercer Sunday in Macon, Georgia. The meeting will be the first non-neutral site game between the Irish and the Bears after meeting for the first time in program history last season in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The game between Notre Dame and Mercer is set for noon.