April 21, 2018
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
| Senior Ceremonies
By Matt Paras
NOTRE DAME, Indiana – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team (9-8) sent the 2018 senior class out in style in their final home game at Arlotta Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Irish jumped all over San Diego State in the first half and held the Aztecs scoreless for over 30 minutes. The Irish used that strong defensive play to score 11-unanswered goals and secure a 16-7 win on Senior Day.
Coach Halfpenny’s Thoughts
On the team’s performance in the win:
“Total team-effort from top to bottom. Everybody gave outstanding focus and excellent career-best effort. We identified the hustles stats, draw controls and ground balls, and I was very pleased with the results, especially in the second half holding an 11-4 advantage on the draw. We dominated the ground balls 23-13 and those are two huge pieces to our game. I couldn’t be happier for them to start to see a lot of things they practice every day come together on game day.”
On the senior class today and their time over the four years:
“They have been wonderful. This marks their 45th win and they have had a remarkable four-year journey. They have been our culture, they live it every single day. They are gold standards of our program and are outstanding ambassadors. Today you saw their contributions all over the field.”
“Caroline Doyle had two huge ground balls and played tremendous defense that won’t show up on the box score. Abi Cullinan had two great assists this afternoon. Molly Cobb played great in the midfield and went 2-for-3 on shots which she worked on in practice. Then adding the caused turnover and ground balls were huge today. Lastly, Sydney Cardozo had a big day. She did a great job communicating and executing and couldn’t be happier for her. Two big caused turnovers, a ground ball and of course the great goal.”
“I think they motivated the team, they inspired the team and their constant communication today helped us put out a full 60-minute game.”
How It Happened
Both teams opened up the game with two goals apiece and the score was level at 2-2 following the Aztecs second goal at the 21:50 mark.
After that goal, the Irish settled in and made it difficult for the Aztecs in the offensive zone. The Irish forced the Aztecs into 13 first half turnovers and those possessions turned into offensive opportunities for Notre Dame.
The Irish scored the next three goals in a five-minute span from Kaci Messier, Cardozo and Maddie Howe and held a 5-2 lead with over 12 minutes remaining in the half.
The next goal of the game wouldn’t be scored until the final minute of the half as Jessi Masinko took the pass from Cullinan to score her first of the game. Then in the final seconds, Masinko scored on the free position to give the Irish a 7-2 lead at the half.
In the second half, it was all Irish on the offensive end. They scored the first four goals of the half from Andie Aldave, Nikki Ortega and two from Cobb. Notre Dame built an 11-2 lead and the Aztecs called timeout at the 19:07 mark.
The Aztecs finally broke through on the ensuing possession but the Irish were able to hold them scoreless for a span of 33:24. It was their second-longest scoreless streak for an opponent this season after holding the Blue Devils scoreless for 34:31 in the previous home game.
The Irish scored four of the next five goals to thwart any chance of the Aztecs gaining momentum and put the game out of reach. In the final 15 minutes, Masinko added three more goals to tie her career high with five on the afternoon.
Savannah Buchanan grabbed the final goal for the Irish, her second of the afternoon with eight minutes remaining and the Irish finished off the 16-7 win.
Stat Leaders
- Jessi Masinko tied a career-high with five goals and recorded her second hat trick of the season.
- Molly Cobb filled the stat sheet with two goals, two ground balls and caused a turnover in her final home game.
- Abi Cullinan set a career high with two assists.
- Sydney Cardozo scored her third goal of the season and set a career high with two caused turnovers.
- Caroline Doyle scooped up two ground balls to tie a season high. It was her fifth game this season with multiple ground balls.
- Andie Aldave won a game-high seven draw controls, her 11th game this season with five or more. Aldave also set a career high with three caused turnovers.
- Savannah Buchanan tied a career high with five ground balls. She added two goals, two caused turnovers and won four draws on the afternoon.
Up Next
The Irish will head off to the ACC Championships next week in Durham and take on Virginia in the quarterfinals. Their matchup with the Cavaliers will be on Thursday, April 26, with opening draw set for 2 pm ET.
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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.