April 26, 2018
By Matt Paras
DURHAM, N.C. – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team (10-8) battled back from a five-goal halftime deficit to defeat No. 4 seed Virginia (9-9) 11-10 in the ACC quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium. The Irish held Virginia to a season-low one goal in the second-half to fuel their comeback.
Coach Halfpenny’sThoughts
On the Irish resolve in the second half:
“We talked a lot about being together for 60 minutes. We wanted to showcase our growth and play hungry and identified our major keys to the game. One of them was giving our career-best effort in our fundamentals which I think we did a great job locking in during the final 15 minutes. They took care of the possessions and winning the ground ball battle and draw control battle was massive in the second half. I think when we buckled down and checked back in to our fundamentals and our keys to the game, we found our success.”
“Another piece to that was our ability to put shots on cage during the second half. That really motivated us to give the career-best effort right until the end of the game. Make no mistake, our team understood how important this game was. Winning a first round ACC game is really important just to get that experience alone and validate how far we have come.”
“We showed outstanding resolve for 60 minutes. Coming back from a five-goal deficit is incredible and they made plays. We made so many plays down the stretch and they came from everybody. Andie made plays, Savannah made plays, Bridget made plays, the entire defensive line made plays. Makenna Pearsall played out of her mind on her birthday and Bridget was the answer we needed. She made the plays we needed, especially in the final five minutes and we were able to equalize, take the lead and then held them off. It is survive-and-advance time and I couldn’t be prouder of this gritty, gritty group.”
How It Happened
The Irish got on the board first after Andie Aldave scored coming off the assist from Nikki Ortega.
The Cavaliers responded with three quick goals and Notre Dame called timeout to regroup. Following the timeout, Savannah Buchanan scored for the Irish. Another Cavalier run followed the Buchanan goal, as they scored three straight free position goals.
Molly Cobb ended the Cavalier run with her first goal of the game and cut the deficit to 6-3. Buchanan tallied her second of the game on the ensuing possession and it was a two-goal game with nine minutes left in the half.
Virginia had another three-goal run leading into the half and took a 9-4 lead after the opening 30 minutes of play.
In the second half, things turned around for the Irish thanks to some strong defensive play.
The Irish held the Cavaliers off the scoreboard for the first 15 minutes of the half and ripped off four straight goals to cut the deficit to one. Kathleen Roe and Buchanan scored while Maddie Howe added two and it was a 10-9 game with 16:38 left in regulation.
Following a Virginia goal, the Irish answered right back with the goal from Katie Enrietto off the assist from Jessi Masinko. After the goal, neither team was able to put anything on the scoreboard for an eight-minute span. After a Bridget Deehan save, the Irish called timeout with 4:30 left, trailing by one.
Out of the timeout, Aldave got a free position opportunity and took advantage. She beat Vander Kolk for her second goal of the game and tied it up at 10-10 with under four minutes to play.
On the ensuing possession, it was Aldave again who came up huge for the Irish. She scored on the free position to give the Irish an 11-10 lead with 2:42 left. It was the first lead for the Irish since they were up 1-0 in the beginning of the game.
Two saves by Bridget Deehan down the stretch sealed the 11-10 comeback win for the Irish and they booked a trip to the semifinals. It is the third time in school history that they have advanced to the ACC semifinals.
Stat Leaders
- Bridget Deehan made nine saves on the afternoon and limited Virginia to just two goals in 36 minutes of action. Deehan tied a career high with four ground balls.
- Savannah Buchanan tied a season high with three goals.
- Andie Aldave scored tied the game late and scored the game winner for the Irish. She had three goals for her sixth hat trick of the season.
- Hannah Proctor scooped up four ground balls, her fourth game with three or more.
- Kathleen Roe tallied a team-high three caused turnovers. It was her sixth game with three or more.
Up Next
The Irish will face off with the No. 1 seed Boston College (18-0) tomorrow night in the semifinals. The game is scheduled for a 5 pm ET start and will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra.
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Matt Paras, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since January 2018. In his role, he coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse and cross country/track & field programs. A native of Warwick, Rhode Island, Paras is a graduate of the University of Louisville where he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Sport Administration. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, he worked at Vanderbilt University as the sports information contact for the women’s soccer and lacrosse programs.