March 24, 2010
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team has been living dangerously through the first six games of the 2010 season. Close games, overtime games, come-from-behind games have been the norm in the early going. On Wednesday afternoon it came back to bite the Irish as Vanderbilt gave them a taste of their own medicine as they rallied from a four-goal, second-half deficit to defeat Notre Dame, 10-9 at Arlotta Stadium.
Hannah Clark’s goal with 4:14 left in the game gave Vanderbilt its only lead of the day as the Commodores rallied from an 8-4 deficit with less than 28 minutes left in the game for the victory.
Junior Kailene Abt led the Irish with three goals while Gina Scioscia and Ansley Stewart scored two each for Notre Dame. Shaylyn Blaney and Maggie Sullivan had one each for the Irish who led 7-4 at halftime.
Katherine Denkler paced the Vanderbilt attack with four goals on the afternoon. Sarah Downing joined Clark with two goals in the game and Ally Carey and Carter Foote had one each.
The loss dropped No. 11 Notre Dame to 4-2 on the season while No. 12 Vanderbilt moves to 6-3 overall. The Commodores lead the all-time series against the Irish with a 10-5 mark in 15 seasons. The loss snapped Notre Dame’s two-game winning streak.
The Irish got off to a fast start in this game, scoring the first three goals of the game in a span of 3:47. Stewart started the scoring for the Irish when she converted a feed from Maggie Tamasitis at 28:42 for a 1-0 Notre Dame lead.
Abt would get the next two goals for the Irish as she scored twice in a 38 second span at 26:51 and 26:13.
The Commodores finally broke through the Notre Dame defense, scoring the next three goals in under six minutes.
Denkler sandwiched a pair of goals at 23:03 and 18:40 around one by Sarah Downing (20:21) to even the score at 3-3 near the middle of the first half.
The Irish bounced back from the three-goal run by the Commodores by scoring four of the final five goals in the opening half. Blaney put Notre Dame ahead 4-3 at the 13:59 mark with a free-position goal. Abt made it 5-3 with 12:48 left in the half when she took a feed from behind the Vanderbilt net from Stewart.
Clark scored her first goal of the game at 9:21 to make it 5-4 before Sullivan and Scioscia scored at 8:29 and with 2:20 left in the half to give the Irish a 7-4 lead at the intermission.
Out of the break, Notre Dame made it a four-goal lead with 28:26 left in the game as Stewart beat Vanderbilt goalkeeper Natalie Wills with a Scioscia assist for her second goal of the game and an 8-4 lead.
From there, the tide changed, as the Commodores would get six of the final seven goals to rally for the win.
Downing (her second) and Carey cut the lead to 8-6 with goals at 27:53 and 25:47 to make it 8-6. From there, no one would score again until the 10:44 mark as each team would have several scoring chances that would end in saves or turnovers for the attack.
Foote made it an 8-7 score with her lone goal of the game with 10:44 left in the game. The Irish got a single goal at 10:19 from Scioscia to make it a 9-7 game but that marker would be the last of the game for the Irish.
Denkler closed out her four-goal game with a pair 47 seconds apart with 5:45 and 4:58 left in the game to tie the score. Clark would prove to be the hero for the Commodores when she beat Notre Dame goalkeeper Ellie Hilling on a free-position shot with 4:14 left in the game.
Vanderbilt controlled the draw only to turn it over with 3:53 left in the game. With 3:26 left in the game, Stewart was awarded a free-position shot that Wills stopped to preserve the 10-9 score.
The Commodores ran the clock down to 24 seconds when they turned it over, giving the Irish one last chance. Wills again was equal to the task as she stopped a shot by Abt with 12 seconds left to save the win.
Notre Dame out shot Vanderbilt, 25-20, in the game. Wills finished with 11 saves in the game while Hilling made six saves for the Irish.
The two-game home stand for Notre Dame continues on Saturday, March 27 when the Irish open the BIG EAST opener in a 3:00 p.m. game against Louisville at Arlotta Stadium.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 - F#12 Vanderbilt (6-3) 4 6 - 10#11 Notre Dame (4-2) 7 2 - 9
ScoringFirst Half:Time Team Score Goal Assist28:42 ND 1-0 Ansley Stewart Maggie Tamasitis26:51 ND 2-0 Kailene Abt26:13 ND 3-0 Kailene Abt (2)23:03 VU 3-1 Katherine Denkler20:21 VU 3-2 Sarah Downing18:40 VU 3-3 Katherine Dengler13:59 ND 4-3 Shaylyn Blaner Free-position shot12:48 ND 5-3 Kailene Abt (3) Ansley Stewart 9:11 VU 5-4 Hannah Clark 8:29 VU 6-4 Megan Sullivan Maggie Tamasitis (2) 2:20 ND 7-4 Gina Scioscia
Second HalfTime Team Score Goal Assist28:26 ND 8-4 Ansley Stewart (2) Gina Scioscia27:53 VU 8-5 Sarah Downing Anastasia Adam25:47 VU 8-6 Ally Carey10:44 VU 8-7 Carter Foote Allie Frank10:19 ND 9-7 Gina Scioscia (2) Maggie Tamasitis (3) 5:45 VU 9-8 Katherine Denkler (2) 4:58 VU 9-9 Katherine Dengler (3) 4:14 VU 9-10 Hannah Clark (2) Free-position goal
Goalkeepers:Vanderbilt: Natalie Wills (60:00 min; 9 goals against; 11 saves)Notre Dame: Ellie Hilling (60:00 min; 10 goals against; 6 saves)
Total Shots: Vanderbilt: 20; Notre Dame: 25Ground Balls: Vanderbilt: 20; Notre Dame: 21Draw Controls: Vanderbilt: 11; Notre Dame: 10Caused Turnovers: Vanderbilt; 9; Notre Dame: 9