CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 14/16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-5, 6-4) fell 9-12 to the No. 10/10 Clemson Tigers (14-4, 7-3) in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals on Friday evening.
Emma Murphy and Meghan O’Hare each recorded a hat trick in the win, scoring Notre Dame’s first six goals of the night. O’Hare also recorded two ground balls, two caused turnovers, and two draw controls.
No other player tonight had more points or assists than Charley Bacigalupo. The freshman tied her career-high of five points and dished out a career-high four assists, while also chipping in a goal for the Irish.
Madison Rassas finished the night with two goals and an assist for three points and also recorded three ground balls and two draw controls.
Defensively, Franny O’Brien finished the night tying her career-high of five caused turnovers and grabbed three ground balls. Lila O’Brien recorded two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
O’Hare put the Irish on the board to start as Maroney dished it to her on a cut down the middle to make it 1-0 at 8:23. The Tigers, however, would tie it up shortly after on a free position goal to make it an even 1-all with 4:11 remaining in the first period. Clemson would net one more goal in the period to take a 2-1 advantage over the Irish heading into the second.
It was a battle of the defenses yet again, as both teams were scoreless through the first five minutes of the second until the Tigers scored again at 9:44. Clemson would score their second goal of the period to put the Irish down 1-4, but Notre Dame wasn’t going anywhere.
Murphy ripped off back-to-back goals with the first goal finding the back of the net with three seconds left on the shot clock. The other was a free position goal to bring the Irish within one at 3-4.
While Clemson scored their fifth goal of the day with 1:38 remaining, the Irish found themselves down two in the closing minutes of the half. With 17 seconds left, Bacigalupo found O’Hare on a cut down the middle to make it a one-goal game.
Rassas won the final draw control of the period to give Notre Dame one more offensive possession in the half where it found the stick of Bacigalupo yet again. She dished to Murphy on the left wing who scored as the buzzer sounded to cap off her first-half hat trick and tie it up at 5-all heading into halftime.
The momentum shifted in the second half as Clemson would score five straight goals to open the third quarter to make it 5-10 with 5:10 remaining in the period. O’Hare would score the solo Irish goal of the third to make it 6-10 heading into the fourth.
Rassas scored the first goal of the final period to bring Notre Dame within three, but the Irish and Tigers would go on to swap goals the remainder of the game.
With Bacigalupo scoring at the 8:22 mark to make it 8-11, the Tigers answered yet again with another goal to extend their lead back to four. Rassas would go on to score her second goal of the night, and the final goal of the game, with 3:26 remaining as the Irish fell 9-12 in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals.