CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The No. 16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-0, 1-0) remain undefeated to start the 2026 season as they downed the No. 25 Harvard Crimson (0-1) on the road Sunday afternoon in a 10-7 victory. The Irish picked up their second road win and their third ranked win of the season.
Junior Kate Timarky had herself a day, matching her career-high of five goals in the win. Timarky had a hat trick in the second quarter alone, scoring three straight goals for the Irish.
Maura Irish, Charley Bacigalupo, Franny O’Brien, Grace Maroney, and Madison Rassas all scored a goal in the win.
M. Irish also dished out three assists, recording a career-high four points, career-high four caused turnovers, and a career-high four ground balls. She was followed by Maroney with two assists, tying her career-high.
Abby Lyons and Franny O’Brien each caused three turnovers apiece, with O’Brien also recording a career-high five ground balls. Goalkeeper Ceci Patterson finished the day with four saves and picked up her fourth win of the season.
Harvard had the hot hand to start as they aggressively looked to score in their season opener. The Crimson posted a 4-0 lead at the end of the first period, with their run extending into the second period as they led 6-0 at 7:56 in the second quarter.
The momentum would soon shift to the Irish, where they would eventually go on to score 10 unanswered goals. Notre Dame countered Harvard’s 6-0 start with a run of their own with Timarky leading the offensive charge in the remainder of the first half.
The Irish closed out the second period with three straight goals from Timarky to make it 3-6 at halftime. Notre Dame held the Crimson scoreless in the third period, extending their 3-0 run from the second quarter to an 8-0 run after the third as they scored five more goals in the period.
M. Irish opened the third with a man-up goal and was followed by Timarky to bring it within one. Maroney’s goal at 4:16 would tie it up at 9-all before Timarky’s fifth goal gave Notre Dame their first lead of the game at 2:08. Bacigalupo would close out the period as her goal made it 8-6 heading into the fourth.
Franny O’Brien scored the first goal of the fourth, taking it coast-to-coast for her first goal of the season. Rassas would score the final Irish goal of the day to make it 10 straight Notre Dame goals for a 10-6 advantage over the Crimson.
Still looking to close the gap, Harvard would net one last goal, which would be their only goal of the second half as they had last scored at 7:56 in the second period.
The Irish would close out the win, 10-7, for an undefeated 4-0 start to the year as they picked up their second road win.
UP NEXT
The Irish resume ACC play on Feb. 22 as they host No. 12 Virginia at Arlotta. The game will be broadcast on ACCN at 4 p.m.