April 22, 2010
Columbus, Ohio – The Notre Dame women lacrosse team has lived on the edge all season so there was no reason to stop on Thursday afternoon when the Irish pulled out a 12-11 win over Ohio State at Jesse Owens Stadium. Maggie Tamasitis scored the game winner with just 24 seconds left on the clock for the big road win for Notre Dame.
In nine of the first 14 games this season, the Irish have gone to overtime twice, played in six one-goal games and had all nine decided by two goals or less. Notre Dame is 2-0 in overtime, 5-1 in one-goal games and 7-2 in games decided by tow or less.
Before Tamasitis could provide her late-game heroics, junior midfielder Shaylyn Blaney did her best to keep the Irish in the lead, scoring five goals, including four goals in the second half. She has now scored 14 goals in her last five games. Senior attack standout Gina Scioscia scored three goals and added an assist for a four-point game with Kailene Abt getting two goals and Ansley Stewart scoring once along with Tamasitis.
The Buckeyes got a big afternoon from Alayna Markwordt who had two goals and three assists for a five-point game. She was followed by top scorer Kelly Haggerty and Gabby Capuzzi who each had three goals and an assist. Jayme Beard scored twice with Olivia Annalora getting on for the game.
The win extended 12th-ranked Notre Dame’s current winning streak to five games and improves the Irish to 10-4 overall with a 5-1 record in the BIG EAST. The 18th-ranked Buckeyes fall to 8-6 overall for the year.
Scioscia’s four-point game gives her 104 goals and 98 assists for 202 career points. She becomes the fourth Notre Dame player to score over 200 points in her career joining Jillian Byers `09, Crysti Foote `06 and Caitlin McKinney `08. With two more assists, the Summit, N.J., native will become the first Irish player to record 100 goals and 100 assists for her career.
Ohio State got off to a fast start in the game, taking a 2-0 lead just 45 seconds into the game as Haggerty picked up her first two goals of the game just 28 seconds and 45 seconds into the game.
The Irish got things settled down less than a minute later as Stewart beat Buckeye goalkeeper Annie Carruthers from in close at 28:27 to make it 2-1.
Scioscia’s first goal of the day tied the game at 25:36 with the teams then alternating goals the rest of the half. Haggerty picked up her hat trick at 24:46 only to see Scioscia set up Abt in front of the goal at 22:34 to make it 3-3.
It would take close to seven minutes before OSU scored again as Beard was set up by Haggerty in front and she fired a shot past Notre Dame goalkeeper Ellie Hilling at 16:48. Scioscia tied the game at 4-4 with her second goal of the half at 14:34.
Notre Dame would take its first lead of the game with 1:22 of the half when Blaney twisted her way through the Buckeye defense to beat Carruthers for a 5-4 Irish lead at the half. The Irish out shot Ohio State, 19-9, in the opening 30 minutes but led by just one goal.
The Buckeyes took care of that lead just 30 seconds into the second half as Capuzzi notched her first of the game with an assist to Haggerty to make it 5-5.
Blaney scored the next two goals of the game to start Notre Dame on a 4-0 run as they opened a 9-5 lead. Unassisted goals by Notre Dame’s goal-scoring leader at 28:47 and 22:24 made it 7-5. Abt weaved through the Buckeyes in front and bounced a shot past Carruthers at 22:05 for an 8-5 lead. Scioscia then closed the run by converting a feed from behind the net from Tamasitis to make it 9-5 with 21:10 left in the game.
That goal seemed to wake up the Ohio State offense as it took its turn and ran off three straight goals to cut the lead to one at 9-8.
Kristen Donahue set up Annalora with a pass from behind the goal at 20:54. Off the ensuing draw that was won by OSU, the Buckeyes raced down the field with Markwordt walking out from behind the goal before spinning in front of Hilling, beating the freshman on a nice play just 28 seconds later at 20:26 to make it 9-7.
Capuzzi cut the lead to one with her second of the game at 19:01 and the lead was 9-8. It would stay that way for five minutes until Blaney beat Carruthers with a free-position shot at 14:26 for the 10-8 advantage.
The Buckeyes answered back at 13:11 with Beard making it 10-9 only to have Blaney take a feed from Stewart before whipping a shot past Carruthers’ stick for her fifth of the game to give Notre Dame a two-goal lead at 11-9.
The Irish were able to protect the lead, playing strong defense as they forced OSU into 21 turnovers in the game. Hilling made two nice saves down the stretch before the Buckeyes would break through again. Markwordt (5:35) and Capuzzi (3:52) tied the game at 11-11, making it anyone’s game.
Jenny Granger controlled the draw and the Irish ran the clock down with Tamasitis coming from behind the goal to the right of Carruthers, moving in front where she tucked a shot inside the right post for the eventual winning goal.
Scioscia then won the final draw of the game and the Irish were able to run out the clock. The Irish out shot Ohio State, 32-21, in the game. Carruthers finished with 13 saves while Hilling made seven for Notre Dame.
The Irish now travel from Columbus, Ohio to Piscataway, N.J., to face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday, April 24 in an 11:00 a.m., BIG EAST game.
** IRISH NOTES **
– The win over 18th-ranked Ohio State improves the Irish to 5-4 this season versus ranked teams.
– Notre Dame’s victory over Ohio State was the 10th of the year for the Irish. They have now put together five consecutive seasons with double-digit wins. The senior class of 2010 joins the 2009 senior class as the only Notre Dame women’s lacrosse classes with double-digit wins in four consecutive seasons.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 - F#12 Notre Dame (10-4/5-1) 5 7 - 12#18 Ohio State (8-6/1-3) 4 7 - 11
ScoringFirst Half:Time Team Score Goal Assist29:32 OSU 0-1 Kelly Haggerty Brittney Zerhusen29:15 OSU 0-2 Kelly Haggerty (2) Gabby Capuzzi28:27 ND 1-2 Ansley Stewart25:36 ND 2-2 Gina Scioscia24:46 OSU 2-3 Kelly Haggerty (3) Alayna Markwordt22:34 ND 3-3 Kailene Abt Gina Scioscia16:48 OSU 3-4 Jayme Beard Kelly Haggerty14:34 ND 4-4 Gina Scioscia (2) 1:22 ND 5-4 Shaylyn Blaney
Second HalfTime Team Score Goal Assist29:30 OSU 5-5 Gabby Capuzzi Kelly Haggerty (2)28:47 ND 6-5 Shaylyn Blaney (2)22:24 ND 7-5 Shaylyn Blaney (3)22:05 ND 8-5 Kailene Abt (2)21:10 ND 9-5 Gina Scioscia (3) Maggie Tamasitis20:54 OSU 9-6 Olivia Annalora Alyna Markwordt (2)20:26 OSU 9-7 Alayna Markwordt19:01 ND 9-8 Gabby Capuzzi (2) Alyna Markwordt (3)14:26 ND 10-8 Shaylyn Blaney (4) Free-position goal13:11 OSU 10-9 Jayme Beard Maghan Beaudrault11:12 ND 11-9 Shaylyn Blaney (5) 5:35 OSU 11-10 Alayna Markwordt (2) Jayme Beard 3:52 OSU 11-11 Gabby Capuzzi (3) Maghan Beaudrault (2) 0:24 ND 12-11 Maggie Tamasitis
Goalkeepers:Notre Dame: Ellie Hilling (60:00 min; 11 goals against; 7 saves)Ohio State: Annie Carruthers (60:00 min; 12 goals against; 13 saves)
Total Shots: Notre Dame: 32, Ohio State: 21Ground Balls: Notre Dame: 21, Ohio State: 18Draw Controls: Notre Dame: 16, Ohio State: 9Caused Turnovers: Notre Dame: 8, Ohio State: 10
— ND —