CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The No. 16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-0, 1-0) remain undefeated as they took down the No. 3 Boston College Eagles (0-2, 0-1) on Friday night, pulling off the upset with a 12-9 victory to open ACC play. A huge fourth quarter surge powered the Irish to the three-goal road win, shutting out the Eagles 6-0 in the fourth.
“I’m proud of this team and the way they have been working to realize their potential,” said Head Coach Chris Halfpenny. “It was a quick turnaround from opening weekend to today, and this team was ready for the challenge. I can’t say enough about the combo of this freshmen class and our returning group. We’re all having a lot of fun.”
The Irish were led by freshman Grace Maroney, recording her first career hat trick in the win. She was followed by Meghan O’Hare, Kate Timarky, and Madison Rassas with two goals apiece. Timarky also led the team with three ground balls.
Freshman Maura Irish scored two goals as well, while also leading the team with five draw controls. Freshman Uma Kowalski finished with four draw controls and graduate student Julia Carr finished with a team-best two caused turnovers. Freshman goal keeper Ceci Patterson recorded eight saves and her third win of the season.
Who else to score the first Irish goal than Maura Irish, her fourth goal of the year, as she took advantage for the man-up goal to put the Irish on the board early.
While the Eagles answered to tie it, the Irish responded with a goal from Meghan O’Hare, scoring on the Boston College turnover. She was followed by Timarky, whose goal gave the Irish the 3-1 advantage with 8:41 remaining in the first period.
Boston College scored three straight goals to take the 4-3 lead at the end of the first.
In the second period, the Eagles scored their fifth goal on a free position shot rebound to extend the lead, 5-3. Boston College followed with another goal to make it a three-goal game, but Maroney sent home her first goal of the day to bring the Irish back within two. The Eagles would put away one last goal in the half to lead 7-4 at halftime.
The Irish and Eagles exchanged goals in the third period, netting two goals a piece to remain a three-goal game heading into the fourth. However, the last Eagle goal of the game would end up being their last goal in the third with 2:20 left. Trailing 6-9 heading into the final period, the Irish dominated, shutting out the Eagles 6-0 in the last 15 minutes of play.
Back-to-back goals from Rassas would kick things off, sparking the Irish offense. She was followed by Maroney’s third goal of the night to tie it up at 9-all with 11:14 remaining.
M. Irish dished it to Charley Bacigalupo to put the Irish back in front for the first time since the first period. M. Irish followed with another goal of her own to make it 11-9.
Leading by two with just under two minutes left, Timarky sealed the deal as she rebounded the ground ball on a missed shot to cap off the win, 12-10.
UP NEXT
The Irish are back in action on Sunday, Feb. 15 to take on the No. 25 Harvard Crimson at 12:00 p.m.