April 5, 2010
Baltimore, Md. – For the second game in a row, the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team fell behind in the first half, put together a strong rally in the second half and then took the lead. This time though there was a happy ending as the Irish rallied from a four-goal deficit to defeat 13th-ranked Loyola (Md.), 11-10, on Monday afternoon at the Ridley Athletic Complex.
In seven of their first 10 games this season, the 14th-ranked Irish have gone to overtime in two of them and have had five others decided by one or two goals. Notre Dame is 2-0 in overtime and now is 3-1 in games decided by one goal and 5-2 in games decided by two or less.
Junior attack Ansley Stewart scored with six seconds left on the clock to snap a 10-10 tie to break a two-game Irish losing streak and give Notre Dame a crucial BIG EAST victory. On Saturday, at Georgetown, the Irish trailed by five goals, rallied to take a second-half lead but dropped a 12-10 decision to the Hoyas. On Monday, the Irish fell behind 6-2 in the opening half, rallied to tie, and then lost the lead before Stewart’s late-game heroics.
Senior attack Gina Scioscia led the Notre Dame rally with a five-point game, scoring a pair and adding three assists. Sophomore Maggie Tamasitis added four points with three goals and an assist while junior Shaylyn Blaney scored three second half goals to help put the Irish in front. Megan Sullivan, Betsy Mastropieri joined Stewart with single goals while Kailene Abt assisted on three goals in the opening half.
Junior Grace Gavin lead the Greyhounds with five points (3g, 2a) while Abby Rehfuss scored three goals, Cara Filippelli scored a pair and Emily Gibson and Meg Decker chipped in one each for Loyola.
The win improved the Irish to 6-4 overall and 2-1 in BIG EAST play while the Greyhounds fell t 8-4 on the year and 2-1 in conference action. The win gives Notre Dame a 5-0 all-time record against Loyola.
“We really needed this one,” said Irish head coach Tracy Coyne.
“We’ve been in so many tight games recently without much to show for it (one-goal loss to Vanderbilt, two-goal loss to Georgetown). “Today, they decided they couldn’t be satisfied with another close game. They decided losing wasn’t an option.”
The Monday afternoon contest started much the way Saturday’s game at Georgetown did as the Greyhounds scored six of the first eight goals to build a 6-2 lead with eight minutes left in the first half. Rehfuss scored two of her three goals while Gavin, Filippelli, Decker and Gibson were adding single goals. Abt set up Scioscia at 21:49 and then Tamasitis at 17:31 to make it 6-2 in favor of Loyola with eight minutes left in the first half.
Tamasitis had her hand in the final two goals of the half, setting up a goal by Mastropieri with 6:24 left to make it 6-3 and then converting a pass from Scioscia with 2:04 left to make it 6-4 at half time.
In the second half, Notre Dame’s defense led by junior Jackie Doherty (six ground balls, four draw controls and four caused turnovers) took charge of the game, limiting Loyola to just six shots in the final 30 minutes.
Scioscia cut the score to 6-5 with a free-position goal at just 18 seconds into the half. Gavin answered with back-to-back goals for the Greyhounds less than a minute apart at 26:52 and 25:56 to make it 8-5.
Blaney, Scioscia and Tamasitis then took over the second half, helping the Irish to five consecutive goals at to turn a three-goal deficit into a 10-8 lead.
Blaney scored her first two goals of the game at 23:04 and 21:47 to make it 8-7. Scioscia notched her first of three second half assists when she set up Sullivan for her 11th goal of the season to make it 8-8 with 15:46 left in the game.
Scioscia found Tamasitis in front and she beat goalkeeper Kerry Stoothoff with 13:01 on the clock to give the Irish their first lead of the game at 9-8. Blaney then scored her third straight unassisted goal with 12:09 left for a 10-8 Notre Dame lead.
The Greyhounds made one last rally. Rehfuss closed out her hat trick at 9:25 when she beat freshman goalkeeper Ellie Hilling to make it 10-9 and Filippelli’s second goal of the game off a free-position shot made it 10-10 with 4:38 left in the game.
Loyola controlled the ensuing draw and worked for a good shot on Hilling. The Irish goalkeeper who had just four saves in the game, saved the biggest for last as she took her turn being the hero, stopping Filippelli’s close in shot with 1:40 left in the game to preserve the tie.
The Greyhounds forced a turnover off the shot and came back for one last chance only to run into Doherty who, off a double team, took the ball away from Rehfuss with 17 seconds left. She quickly moved the ball to Abt in the center of the field who hit Scioscia with a perfect pass crossing into the Loyola zone. Scioscia found Stewart near the goal and fed her in front where she beat Stoothoff with the game winner.
“What a wild ending,” said Coyne.
“Ellie (Hilling) makes a great save with 1:49 left to keep the game tied. Just as fast, we turn it over and they have another chance. Jackie (Doherty) was all over the place out there and she basically decided she wasn’t going to lose and came up with the ball off the double team.”
Coyne continued, “She got it to Kailene (Abt) who made a perfect pass to Gina (Scioscia) in stride. Gina had space and could have taken the shot herself but she went to Ansley (Stewart). I thought Ansley had great composure in front and made two moves on the keeper before bouncing a shot past her.”
Notre Dame out shot Loyola, 26-17, in the game. Hilling finished with her four saves while Stoothoff had 11 for the Greyhounds.
The Irish return home to start a three-game homestand. On Friday, April 9, Notre Dame will play host to Villanova in a 4:30 p.m. game at Arlotta Stadium. On Sunday, April 11, the Syracuse Orange will visit Notre Dame for a 1:00 p.m. contest. Both games will be available for live video streaming at und.com.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 - F#14 Notre Dame (6-4/2-1) 4 7 - 11#13 Loyola (Md.) (8-4/2-1) 6 4 - 10
ScoringFirst Half:Time Team Score Goal Assist25:06 LOY 0-1 Grace Gavin Ana Heneberry21:49 ND 1-1 Gina Scioscia Kailene Abt21:34 LOY 1-2 Cara Filippelli Grace Gavin18:30 LOY 1-3 Abby Rehfuss Emily Gibson17:31 ND 2-3 Maggie Tamasitis Kailene Abt (2)16:01 LOY 2-4 Abby Rehfuss (2) Caroline Hager12:28 LOY 2-5 Meg Decker 8:00 LOY 2-6 Emily Gibson Grace Gavin (2) 6:24 ND 3-6 Maggie Tamasitis (2) Kailene Abt (3) 2:04 ND 4-6 Betsy Mastropieri Maggie Tamasitis
Second HalfTime Team Score Goal Assist29:42 ND 5-6 Gina Scioscia Free-position goal26:52 LOY 5-7 Grace Gavin (2)25:56 LOY 5-8 Grace Gavin (3)23:04 ND 6-8 Shaylyn Blaney21:47 ND 7-8 Shaylyn Blaney15:46 ND 8-8 Megan Sullivan Gina Scioscia13:01 ND 9-8 Maggie Tamasitis (3) Gina Scioscia (2)12:09 ND 10-8 Shaylyn Blaney (3) 9:25 LOY 10-9 Abby Rehfuss (3) 4:38 LOY 10-10 Cara Filippelli (2) Free-position goal 0:06 ND 11-10 Ansley Stewart Gina Scioscia (3)
Goalkeepers:Notre Dame: Ellie Hilling (60:00 min; 10 goals against; 4 saves)Loyola: Kerry Stoothoff (60:00 min; 11 goals against; 11 saves)
Total Shots: Notre Dame: 26; Loyola: 17Ground Balls: Notre Dame: 18; Loyola: 17Draw Controls: Notre Dame: 14; Loyola: 8Caused Turnovers: Notre Dame; 12; Loyola: 10