March 29, 2003
Blacksburg, Va. – The 14th-ranked Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team snapped its two-game losing streak with an important 16-13 BIG EAST road win at Virginia Tech’s Moseley Field on Saturday afternoon.
Meredith Simon (Jr., Flemington, N.J.), Danielle Shearer (Sr., Hampstead, Md.) and Eleanor Weille (Sr., Garden City, N.Y.) combined for 10 of Notre Dame’s 16 goals on the afternoon as the Irish improve to 3-3 overall and 2-0 in BIG EAST play. The loss dropped Virginia Tech to 1-8 on the year and 0-3 in league play.
Virginia Tech was led offensively by Katie Madden (three goals, one assist) and Lindsey Welch (three goals) who each had three goals. Lauren Kenney, Sam Sybert and Katie Threadgold each had two goals on the afternoon.
Simon scored four goals and added an assist while Shearer had six points on three goals and three assists in the win. Junior midfielder Abby Owen (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) continued her hot play with four points (two goals and two assists) and Weille added three goals to pace the offensive attack.
Weille, Owen, Shearer and Anne Riley (Sr., Marblehead, Mass.) staked the Irish to a 4-1 lead less than six minutes into the game. The never-say-die Hokies, who cut the lead to one-goal six times in the game, got goals from Lauren Kenney and Katie Threadgold to cut the lead to 4-3 with 19:28 left in the first half.
The two teams traded the next six goals to give the Irish a 7-6 lead with 12:47 left in the half. Weille, Riley and Owen sent Notre Dame to halftime with a 10-6 lead as they each picked up a goal in the final six minutes.
Virginia Tech duplicated Notre Dame’s first half start by scoring four of the first five goals of the second half. Kenney got her second of the game, Lindsey Welch scored twice and Katie Madden got her second of the contest to offset Simon’s second goal to make it 11-10 with 21:36 left in the game.
Shearer’s third goal of the day made it 12-10, but Sam Sybert got her second of the game for the Hokies just over a minute later to make it 12-11. Simon scored twice and Weille added her third of the game to give the Irish a 15-12 lead with 7:39 left in the game. Welch closed out her hat trick with 1:27 left and Mary McGrath (Fr., Bryn Mawr, Pa.) closed the scoring with 45 seconds left for the final margin of 16-13.
The Irish were outshot on the day with the Hokies getting 32 shots to 27 for Notre Dame. Senior goalkeeper Jen White (Annapolis, Md.) played 33 minutes in the game, playing parts of each half, making four saves while giving up seven goals. Sophomore Carol Dixon (So., Pennsauken, N.J.) also saw action in each half, playing 27 minutes while making nine saves and giving up four goals. Virginia Tech’s Jamie McGraw made seven saves while giving up 16 goals in the loss.
Notre Dame will play its third consecutive BIG EAST road game on Wednesday, April 2, when the Irish visit Syracuse for a 7:00 p.m. game versus the eighth-ranked Orangewomen at the Carrier Dome.
Game Summary
First-Half ScoringTeam Time Score Goal AssistND 28:43 1-0 Eleanor Weille Danielle ShearerND 28:30 2-0 Abby Owen Lauren FischerVT 27:49 2-1 Katie Threadgold Sam SybertND 25:00 3-1 Danielle ShearerND 24:31 4-1 Anne Riley Danielle Shearer (2)VT 20:54 4-2 Lauren KenneyVT 19:48 4-3 Katie Threadgold (2)ND 19:23 5-3 Danielle Shearer (2) Angela DixonVT 19:08 5-4 Sam Sybert Katie MaddenND 16:39 6-4 Lauren Fischer Danielle Shearer (3)VT 15:24 6-5 Katie MaddenND 13:41 7-5 Meredith Simon Abby OwenVT 12:47 7-6 Deanna Cannon Stephanie JonesND 6:05 8-6 Eleanor Weille (2) Angela DixonND 4:22 9-6 Anne Riley (2)ND 0:02 10-6 Abby Owen (2)
Second-Half ScoringTeam Time Score Goal AssistVT 27:22 10-7 Lauren Kenney (2) Deanna CannonVT 22:51 10-8 * Lindsey WelchND 22:51 11-8 Meredith Simon (2)VT 22:19 11-9 Katie Madden (2)VT 21:36 11-10 Lindsey Welch (2)ND 21:25 12-10 Danielle Shearer (3)VT 20:41 12-11 Sam Sybert (2) Lauren KenneyND 17:58 13-11 Meredith Simon (2)VT 12:40 13-12 Katie Madden (3)ND 11:20 14-12 Eleanor Weille (3) Meredith SimonND 7:39 15-12 Meredith Simon (4)VT 1:27 15-13 * Lindsey Welch (3)ND 0:45 16-13 Mary McGrath Abby Owen
* indicates free position goal
Scoring: 1st 2nd FinalNotre Dame (3-3, 2-0) 10 6 16Virginia Tech (1-8, 0-3) 6 7 13
GoalkeepersND: Jen White (33:00 minutes, 7 goals against; 4 saves) Carol Dixon (27:00 minutes, 6 goals against; 9 saves)Virginia Tech: Jamie McGraw (60:00, 16 goals against, 7 saves)