Feb. 25, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Trailing 5-4 with nine minutes to go in the first half to Duquesne, the No. 15 Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team went to work scoring 12 of the next 13 goals, including nine in a row during the second half, to pull away from the visiting Dukes, 17-7, in Saturday afternoon action at Loftus Sports Center.
The Irish produced a balanced attack on offense as nine players scored goals, led by a trio of players with three goals each. Junior Betsy Mastropieri and sophomores Lindsay Powell and Margaret Smith each found the back of the net three times, while junior Jaimie Morrison and sophomore Kaitlyn Brosco each scored twice. Brosco also dished out a pair of assists.
Junior Ellie Hilling (2-0) picked up the win in goal for Notre Dame, as she registered six saves in 60 minutes of action. A fierce Irish defense registered 11 caused turnovers for the game, while forcing Duquesne into 14 total turnovers. Notre Dame held an 18-11 advantage in ground balls, with senior Megan Sullivan scooping up four and Smith collecting three. Smith also had five draw controls and two caused turnovers to go along with the three goals as she turned in a strong game all over the field.
Notre Dame started off with a 2-1 lead behind goals from Powell and senior Maggie Tamasitis. However, the Dukes rallied, scoring three consecutive goals in a six-minute span to take the 4-2 lead. From there it was all Irish, as Notre Dame added seven goals over the final 14 minutes, including two in the final 25 seconds of the half, to take a 9-6 lead into the locker room.
The second half was controlled by Notre Dame, as the squad found the back of the net seven more times in the first 20 minutes to extend its lead to 16-6. A Duquesne goal at 7:19 ended a streak of nine consecutive goals for the Irish since the 24 second mark of the first half.
The Irish (2-0) hit the road for the first time this season next Sunday when they meet No. 14 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, in a 1 p.m. contest.
NOTES
Despite being face guarded much of the contest, Tamasitis still managed to extend her consecutive games with a point streak to 39 games with a first half goal.
Having missed two of her first three seasons with a knee injury, senior Flannery Nangle made the most of her first minutes since 2010 on Saturday, scoring her second career goal in the second half of Saturday’s win.
Lindsay Powell continued her hot shooting, scoring three more goals to up her season total to eight.
Notre Dame improved to 8-0 all-time against Duquesne. Saturday’s 10-goal margin was the largest since a 16-4 win in 2008.
–ND–