March 30, 2010
Evanston, Ill. – Since the 2003 season, traveling to Evanston, Ill., has not been fun for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team. Since winning the first two games of the series with Northwestern, the Irish have dropped nine straight games to the Wildcats, including six straight at Lakeside Field.
On Tuesday night, it was more of the same as Notre Dame fell behind early and could never get back in the game as the Irish dropped a 15-5 decision at Northwestern. Since winning the first-ever meeting at Evanston, Ill, Notre Dame has now lost six straight at Northwestern.
Notre Dame was led offensively by senior attack Gina Scioscia who scored twice and added an assist for a three-point game. Shaylyn Blaney, Kate Newall and Betsy Mastropieri added single goals for the Irish in the game.
Danielle Spencer and Shannon Smith paced the Northwestern attack with four goals each. Spencer added three assists for seven points and Smith had a pair of helpers for six points. Erin Fitzgerald added three goals while Katrina Dowd, Alexandra Frank, Lacey Vigmostad and Jessica Russo chipped in one goal each in the victory.
The win improves top-ranked Northwestern to 8-0 on the season while Notre Dame falls to 5-3 for the year. The loss was the first of the season for the Irish on the road as they fall to 3-1 away from home. Notre Dame is now 2-9 all-time against Northwestern.
Averaging over 17 goals per game, the Wildcats wasted little time as they scored six straight goals in a span of 19:33 to build a 6-0 lead. Spencer and Smith scored two goals each in the run with Dowd and Fitzgerald getting their first goals of the game.
Notre Dame broke through on the scoreboard at 9:31 when Blaney beat Wildcat goalkeeper Brianne LoManto on a free-position shot to make it 6-1.
Smith, Russo and Fitzgerald made it 9-1 heading into halftime and Newall beat the horn with her second goal of the season with one second left on the clock for the 9-2 score at the break.
Northwestern got the first two goals of the second half with Fitzgerald getting her hat trick at 24:12 while Frank scored her only goal at 22:27 for an 11-2 lead.
Scioscia answered back with a pair of goals at 16:51 and 14:32 to cut the Wildcat lead to 11-4 but that was as close as the Irish would get.
Goals by Spencer (11:25), Smith (7:55) and Vigmostad (7:42) made it 14-4. Mastropieri closed out the Notre Dame scoring with her second of the year with 1:44 left in the game. Spencer closed out her four-goal game with 1:02 left in the game for the final score of 15-5.
Northwestern out shot Notre Dame by a 29-21 margin in the game. LoManto finished with 11 saves in the game while Notre Dame’s Ellie Hilling made six saves for the Irish.
Notre Dame continues its three-game road trip this Saturday, April 3 when the Irish travel to Georgetown for a 1:00 p.m. game against the Hoyas. They then travel to Baltimore, Md., on Monday, April 5 for a 12:00 p.m. contest with Loyola (Md.).
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 - F#14 Notre Dame (5-3) 2 3 - 5#1 Northwestern (8-0) 9 6 - 15
ScoringFirst Half:Time Team Score Goal Assist26:42 NU 0-1 Danielle Spencer24:54 NU 0-2 Shannon Smith Danielle Spencer24:00 NU 0-3 Erin Fitzgerald Jessica Russo19:16 NU 0-4 Shannon Smith (2) Danielle Spencer (2)15:18 NU 0-5 Danielle Spencer (2)10:27 NU 0-6 Katrina Dowd Shannon Smith 9:31 ND 1-6 Shaylyn Blaney Free-position shot 8:15 NU 1-7 Shannon Smith (3) 7:29 NU 1-8 Jessica Russo Danielle Spencer (3) 5:21 NU 1-9 Erin Fitzgerald (2) 0:01 ND 2-9 Kate Newall Gina Scioscia
Second HalfTime Team Score Goal Assist24:13 NU 2-10 Erin Fitzgerald (3)22:27 NU 2-11 Alexandra Frank Shannon Smith (2)16:51 ND 3-11 Gina Scioscia14:32 ND 4-11 Gina Scioscia (2)11:25 NU 4-12 Danielle Spencer (3) 7:55 NU 4-13 Shannon Smith (4) Katrina Dowd 7:42 NU 4-14 Lacey Vigmostad Alexandra Frank 1:44 ND 5-14 Betsy Mastropieri 1:02 NU 5-15 Danielle Spencer (4)
Goalkeepers:Notre Dame: Ellie Hilling (60:00 min; 15 goals against; 6 saves)Northwestern: Brianne LoManto (60:00 min; 5 goals against; 11 saves)
Total Shots: Notre Dame: 21; Northwestern: 29Ground Balls: Notre Dame: 21; Northwestern: 24Draw Controls: Notre Dame: 8; Northwestern: 13Caused Turnovers: Notre Dame; 9; Northwestern: 11