April 27, 2003
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team ran their current winning streak to three games on Sunday afternoon at Moose Krause Stadium breaking open a tight game late in the second half on the way to a 13-6 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
On Notre Dame’s Senior Day, the Irish class of 2003 dominated the game as senior Danielle Shearer (Hampstead, Md.) turned in a seven-point game, scoring six goals with one assist, and senior Angela Dixon (Pennsauken, N.J.) added five points (two goals, three assists) to lead the Notre Dame attack. Senior goalkeeper Jen White (Annapolis, Md.) made nine saves on the day while holding Rutgers to six goals in the game.
Shearer’s day highlighted her brilliant career as she became Notre Dame’s all-time goal scorer (127 goals) and point leader (191 career points). The All-American and Tewaarton Award candidate passed 2001 grad Lael O’Shaughnessy, who had 122 goals and 190 points in her career.
Kate Slotman led Rutgers offense with three goals and Cal Wojdyla added a pair of goals for the Scarlet Knights.
The victory improves the Irish to 7-7 overall and 4-2 in the BIG EAST and clinches third place for the Irish. Rutgers falls to 12-4 on the year and 3-3 in the BIG EAST league standings.
Shearer dominated the first half scoring five of her six goals. After Wojdyla gave the Scarlet Knights a 1-0 lead with a goal 4:58 into the contest, Shearer ran off the next three goals to give Notre Dame a 3-1 lead. Slotman cut the lead to 3-2 with her first goal of the game with 12 minutes left in the half.
Shearer’s fourth goal with 10:48 left in the half gave the Irish a 4-2 lead but Rutgers tied the game on a free-position goal by Melissa Mosey and Slotman’s second goal with 9:01 left in the half.
Kelly McCardell (Sr., West Chester, Pa.) put the Irish ahead to stay with 4:53 left in the half as she converted Dixon’s third assist of the half for a 5-4 Notre Dame lead. Shearer added her fifth goal of the half with 1:32 left in the half to send the game to halftime with the Irish in front 6-4.
Dixon upped that lead to 7-4 just 1:20 into the second half with her first goal of the afternoon. Rutgers answered back with goals by Slotman (22:27) and Wojdyla (14:55) to cut Notre Dame’s lead to 7-6. From there, the Irish offense took over scoring the final six goals of the game. Shearer’s sixth goal with 12:23 left in the game gave the Irish a two-goal cushion.
Mary McGrath (Fr., Bryn Mawr, Pa.) made it 9-6 with 6:01 left before Crysti Foote (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) scored two goals 41 seconds apart (2:44 and 2:03) to give Notre Dame an 11-6 lead.
Anne Riley (Sr., Marblehead, Mass.) and Dixon each added a goal in the final 34 seconds to give the Irish the 13-6 win.
On the game, the Irish outshot Rutgers by a 28-21 margin. Sophomore Lyndsey Feldman made nine saves for the Scarlet Knights.
The Irish close out the regular season on Friday, May 2 when they travel to Nashville, Tenn., to face the Vanderbilt Commodores. That game will start at 7:00 p.m. (CDT).
Game Summary
First-Half ScoringTeam Time Score Goal AssistRU 25:02 0-1 Cal Wojdyla Melissa MoseyND 24:41 1-1 Danielle ShearerND 22:53 2-1 * Danielle Shearer (2)ND 18:03 3-1 Danielle Shearer (3) Angela DixonRU 12:00 3-2 Kate Slotman Melissa MoseyND 10:48 4-2 Danielle Shearer (4) Angela Dixon (2)RU 9:43 4-3 * Melissa MoseyRU 9:01 4-4 Kate Slotman (2)ND 4:53 5-4 Kelly McCardell Angela Dixon (3)ND 1:32 6-4 Danielle Shearer (5)
Second-Half ScoringTeam Time Score Goal AssistND 28:40 7-4 Angela Dixon Meredith SimonRU 22:27 7-5 Kate Slotman (3)RU 14:55 7-6 * Cal Wojdyla (2)ND 12:23 8-6 Danielle Shearer (6)ND 6:01 9-6 Mary McGrath Meredith Simon (2)ND 2:44 10-6 Crysti Foote Danielle ShearerND 2:03 11-6 Crysti Foote (2)ND 0:34 12-6 Anne RileyND 0:19 13-6 Angela Dixon (2) Crysti Foote
Scoring: 1st 2nd FinalRutgers (12-4/3-3) 4 2 6Notre Dame (7-7/4-2) 6 7 13
GoalkeepersRutgers: Lyndsey Feldman (60:00 minutes, 13 goals against, 9 saves)Notre Dame: Jen White (60:00 minutes, 6 goals against, 9 saves)
Shots on GoalRU 21ND 28
Free Position ShotsRU 2 for 4ND 1 of 5
Ground BallsRU 4ND 23
Draw ControlsRU 6ND 14