CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team fell in the ACC Tournament semifinals, 9-7, Friday night in a strong defensive effort between the Irish and the Boston College Eagles.
Madison Ahern got the scoring started after a strong defensive stand on both ends of the field early in the first quarter. The graduate attacker fired a shot low on the BC goalkeeper, giving the Irish the 1-0 lead with 10:22 to play in the opening frame.
The Eagles tied it up over two minutes later to make it a 1-1 contest as they reached the first media break of the night.
BC won the ensuing draw, their first of the night, but the Irish came up with the ground ball off a blocked Eagles shot and regained possession. The Irish could not convert on the opportunity and the Eagles reclaimed the ball. While killing off the yellow card, the Eagles eventually capitalized to take their first lead of the game with 3:13 to play as the Irish found themselves down 2-1.
The Eagles extended their lead moments later off a free position goal to make it a 3-1 game with just over two minutes to play in the frame.
Kasey Choma and Jackie Wolak connected on a highlight reel play late in the first quarter with Wolak finding Choma in front of the crease who buried it past Dolce to make it a 3-2 game. The score would hold through the first horn signaling the end of the first quarter.
A series of caused turnovers by both the Irish and the Eagles kept the score stagnant through 10 minutes of the second stanza. The Eagles eventually broke the scoring drought when they were awarded a free position shot with 4:25 to play in the second quarter.
Winning the draw control following the BC tally, Kelly Denes became the stand alone program leader at the circle, recording her 368th career control with the Irish and etching her name in the history books.
The Irish drew within a goal with 1:53 remaining in the half after MK Doherty capitalized on a free position shot while on the powerplay to make it a 4-3 contest.
Notre Dame drew a foul late in the first half but the clock expired before they could capitalize and they went into the halftime break trailing by one.
Jackie Wolak scored her first of the day to tie the contest up 4-4 at 12:11 of the third quarter.
The Eagles took advantage of a free position shot shortly after to retake the lead and capitalized once more on the FPS late in the third quarter to take the two-goal lead as the Irish trailed 6-4 with 4:04 to play in the frame.
Wolak’s second of the contest came off the free position to draw the Irish within one of the Eagles with 1:55 to play in the third quarter.
BC answered shortly after with a shot that beat Callahan up top to make it a 7-5 contest with under 10 seconds to play in the frame.
Despite forcing a turnover and gaining possession in the waning seconds, the Irish were unable to get down field before the end of the quarter and headed into the fourth quarter trailing by two.
The Eagles opened the fourth quarter scoring as the Irish faced their largest deficit of the game to that point, trailing 8-5 early in the frame. Boston College scored again with 13:00 left to take the 9-5 lead over the Irish.
Ahern’s second of the day got the Irish back in the scoring column and made it a 9-6 contest with 8:55 to play.
On the other end of the field, Ali McHugh came up with a ground ball after an Eagles’ shot ricocheted off the post. With under eight minutes to play and trialing by three, the Irish called timeout on the recovery.
Kathryn Morrissey found the scoreboard with 5:19 to play in regulation to draw the Irish back within two goals.
With 1:30 left in regulation Madison Ahern intercepted a pass in the Irish offensive end on a failed clear attempt for the Eagles to keep the second-seeded team’s hopes alive as ND trailed 9-7.
The Irish put up a valiant effort in the final 90 seconds of play, attempting multiple shots as time wound down but were unable to convert and ultimately fell to the Eagles, 9-7, in the ACC semifinal matchup.
The second-ranked Irish move to 15-3 on the season and are forced to wait another season for their chance at the first ACC Championship berth in program history.
KEY STATS
- Starting in the midfield for the Irish Friday night Kasey Choma officially broke the program record for games played, dressing in her 83rd consecutive contest for the Blue and Gold.
- With her second draw of the first half, Kelly Denes became the program’s all-time leader at the circle as she recorded her 368th career draw control. The senior draw specialist finished the day with four draw controls and improved to 131 on the season. She is now four shy of tying her career best in a single season, set last year during the 2023 campaign.
- The Irish forced seven turnovers in the contest, two of which were courtesy of Olivia Dooley who led the team in the category for the second straight tournament game. With three ground balls, Dooley also boasted a team-best in the category and finished her time in the 2024 ACC Tournament with eight ground balls and six caused turnovers.
- Lilly Callahan picked up five saves in the contest and recorded one ground ball.
- With two goals and an assist, the team’s leading scorer Jackie Wolak now owns 54 goals and 38 assists on the season for 92 points.
UP NEXT
The Irish will now have a week before learning of their NCAA postseason fate. The No. 2 Irish team are in the hunt to host and await the committee’s selection show on Sunday, May 5 at 9 p.m.