HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – No. 7-seed Notre Dame fell to No. 2-seed Duke in heartbreaking fashion, falling by a final score of 14-13 in overtime of the NCAA Championship quarterfinals in Hempstead, New York.
Notre Dame was resilient all afternoon, overcoming four-goal and three-goal deficits to send the game into overtime. The Irish had a chance to win the game in the final minute of regulation but were unable to convert any of their chances.
Senior Ryder Garnsey put on an impressive attacking display in his final game in a Notre Dame uniform, recording seven points off four goals and three assists. Brian Willetts also registered a hat trick with three goals while Bryan Costabile and Brendan Gleason each scored twice.
How It Happened
The Irish got off to a slow start against the Blue Devils, as Duke struck for the first four goals of the afternoon. Notre Dame got on the board with just over four minutes left in the first quarter, as Costabile found an open Willetts in front of the crease, who finished low past the Blue Devil goalie to make the score 4-1 after the end of the first frame.
The Irish quickly erased the deficit in the second quarter, scoring the first three goals of the stanza to level the score at 4-4 with 12:29 left in the half. The three Notre Dame goals came from Garnsey, Jackoboice and Willetts.
Unfortunately for the Irish, the tie was short lived, as the Blue Devils answered with three straight scores to go back on top 7-4. Notre Dame managed to score the final goal of the first half, as John Hallenbeck found Garnsey in transition, who found the back of the net from close range to make the score 7-5 in favor of Duke heading into the halftime intermission.
Notre Dame wasted no time getting the attack going in the second half, scoring twice in the first five minutes to tie the contest at 7-7. The tying goal was a highlight-reel play, as Garnsey perfectly executed a crease dive, finishing with a backhand shot to level the score.
Despite coming back to tie the game for a second time, Duke once again responded. The Blue Devils scored three of the final four goals of the third quarter to take an 11-8 lead into the fourth.
For the third straight quarter the Irish started fast. Notre Dame scored the first four goals of the quarter to take its first lead of the day at 12-11. Costabile scored both they tying goal and the one to put the Irish on top with eight minutes left in regulation.
The lead was short lived, as Duke managed to level the score at 12-12 within one minute of Notre Dame’s go-ahead score and then take the lead at 13-12 with two minutes to go.
The Irish dug deep and once again found a way to tie the game, as Willetts scored his third goal of the game off a pass from Garnsey to make the score 13-13 with 1:24 left in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame then had a few opportunities to win the game at the end of regulation but couldn’t get the shots to fall, sending the game to overtime.
The Blue Devils won the opening face-off of overtime and scored the game-winning goal with one second left on the shot clock to register the victory.
Notre Dame Player Of The Game
The Irish received a monster performance from Garnsey, who led the team with four goals. On top of the prolific scoring performance the attackman also recorded three assists to finish with seven points, just one shy of his career high. The senior has recorded a hat trick in each of his last three NCAA tournament games.
Notre Dame Stat Of The Game
The Irish took advantage of their extra-man opportunities, scoring goals on three of four chances.