EVANSTON, Ill. — Maddie Howe paced the Irish with six goals and seven points as Notre Dame defeated Stanford, 15-9, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament tonight at Martin Stadium.
Andie Aldave also notched five points (2G, 3A) to go with nine draw controls as the Irish improve to 14-4 in the 2019 campaign. The 14 victories tie the 2016 Irish squad for the third-most wins in a single season in program history.
Notre Dame advances to take on Northwestern in the second round of the NCAA Tournament this Sunday, May 12th at 1 p.m. CT in Evanston. Notre Dame is looking advance to the Elite Eight for the fifth time in program history (2016, 2009, 2006, 2002).
Hannah Dorney also notched a hat trick for Irish, while Samantha Lynch added her 49th and 50th goals of the season in the win.
Savannah Buchanan earned five draw controls in addition to Aldave’s nine as the Irish racked up an 18-7 advantage over Stanford in the circle.
Howe, Dorney and junior Kathleen Roe each caused a pair of Cardinal turnovers.
Samantha Giacolone stopped 13 shots, one shy of her season-high, to pick up her 14th victory of the season in goal for Notre Dame.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish opened the scoring 2:10 into play to take an early 1-0 lead. Lynch forced a Cardinal turnover and took it all the way to the goal to give the Irish the first strike.
Howe earned a free position attempt and took full advantage to earn a 2-1 lead with 23:26 left in the half. Howe ripped a second goal, assisted by Dorney, just three minutes later to double the Irish lead.
Aldave picked up a loose ball in front of the Stanford net and the sophomore converted to put the Irish up, 4-1, with 12:13 remaining in the frame. After a Cardinal goal, Aldave scored her second marker of the contest to restore a three-goal advantage for the Irish at the 4:25 mark.
Stanford struck again before Buchanan converted on a woman-up opportunity with 2:27 until halftime to make it a 6-3 score at the break.
Giacolone stopped seven shots in the opening 30 minutes to buoy the Irish defense.
Lynch opened up the scoring in the second half with her 50th goal of the season to put the Irish up 7-3. Aldave then fed Madison Mote, who found the back of the net with 23:27 left to make it an 8-4 Irish lead.
The Cardinal once again got within three, but Notre Dame took control of the contest with a 4-0 scoring run to earn a 12-5 lead with 11:06 left. Howe and Dorney both scored twice during the streak to stake the Irish a seven-goal advantage.
Howe added two more goals in the closing minutes to match her season-high of six markers back on February 22nd at Ohio State. She converted all on four of her shots in the second half.
Dorney completed her hat trick with 3:21 to play to round out the Irish scoring.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Maddie Howe matched her season-high with six goals (Feb. 22 at Ohio State).
- Howe leads the Irish with a career-best 56 goals and 75 points in 2019.
- Andie Aldave extends her single-season Irish record with 144 draw controls this season.
- Samantha Giacolone made at least 10 saves for the sixth time this season. She also crossed the 600 career saves mark in the win.
- Hannah Dorney matched her career-high with three goals (Feb. 24 vs. Kent State) and set a new career-high with four points.
- The Irish have now made the NCAA Tournament on 13 occasions, including berths in seven of the last eight seasons under head coach Christine Halfpenny.
- Notre Dame will look to advance to the Elite Eight for the fifth time in program history with a win against Northwestern on Sunday (2016, 2009, 2006, 2002).
UP NEXT
The Irish (14-4) meet Northwestern (14-4) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament this Sunday, May 12th in Evanston. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET and the contest will be streamed live via BTN2Go. For tickets, click here.