March 11, 2017
By Megan Golden
PRINCETON, N.J. — The No. 8 University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team suffered its second loss of the season on Saturday afternoon, falling 14-8 to No. 9 Princeton at Sherrerd Field.
The Tigers (5-0) snapped Notre Dame’s (8-2) eight-game winning streak, which was tied for the third-longest in program history.
How It Happened
Notre Dame opened the game with an early 1-0 lead, but the Irish struggled to maintain their lead throughout the first half. The Tigers quickly erased the deficit, scoring four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead.
Senior Cortney Fortunato scored Notre Dame’s first two goals of the first half, and senior Casey Pearsall and freshman Savannah Buchanan each added goals in the half.
Princeton owned a 7-4 halftime lead and netted four consecutive goals to start the second half. Junior Molly Cobb scored at the 17:40 mark, ending the Tigers run and cutting the Irish deficit to 11-5.
Cobb’s goal began a quick 3-0 Irish run, which included goals from Fortunato and Buchanan. Fortunato’s goal marked her third of the day, giving her 37 career hat tricks.
Cobb netted her second goal of the game with 6:42 remaining, but Notre Dame’s four second-half goals were not enough to overcome the Tigers in a 14-8 loss.
Stat of the Game
The Irish took just 22 shots against the Tigers defense, compared to Princeton’s 34 total shots.
Entering Saturday, Notre Dame had averaged 34.3 shots per game over the past four contests. The Tigers limited the Irish to a season-low eight goals in the game.
Notes
- Notre Dame’s eight-game winning streak ends tied for the third-longest winning streak in program history.
- The Irish lost their first road game (3-1) and first game outdoors (5-1) this season.
- Notre Dame falls to 30-7 in games in which Fortunato has recorded a hat trick.
- After outscoring opponents 65-24 in the second half of the first eight games, Notre Dame has been outscored 15-9 in the second half in its last two games.
- Notre Dame allowed 14 goals for the first time since Northwestern accomplished the feat on February 5.
Coming Up Next
Notre Dame will continue its three-game road trip at No. 15 Towson at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
For a closer, behind-the-scenes look at the Irish women’s lacrosse program, follow @NDWomensLax on Twitter.
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Megan Golden, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since August of 2016. In her role, she coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse and cross country/track and field programs. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Golden is a 2014 graduate of Saint Mary’s College and former Irish women’s basketball manager. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, she worked in public relations with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.