Women's Lacrosse
Stanford
Pitt
Louisville
April 25, 2018
By Matt Paras
DURHAM, N.C. – Following the 16-7 win on Senior Day, the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team (9-8) has turned its focus to the postseason as the ACC Tournament is about to begin. The Irish will open up tournament play Thursday afternoon when they take on No. 4 seed Virginia (9-8) in the quarterfinals at Koskinen Stadium.
DATE: April 26, 2018
TIME: 2 p.m. (ET)
LOCATION: Koskinen Stadium (Durham, N.C.)
BROADCAST: ACC Network Extra
TWITTER: @NDWomensLax
This will be the fifth appearance for the Irish in the ACC Tournament and they hold a 2-4 record. They have advanced to the semifinals twice in 2015 and 2016. This will be the second time the Irish and Cavaliers face off in the ACC Tournament. They met in the quarterfinals back in 2015 and Notre Dame defeated Virginia 7-6 in Charlottesville.
Last Time Out
The Irish jumped all over the Aztecs early in the first half. After the score was deadlocked at 2-2, Notre Dame shut the Aztecs down and did not allow another goal in the first half.
During that span, the Irish ripped off five straight goals to take a 7-2 lead into the half. Jessi Masinko tallied two goals in the first half and the Irish forced the Aztecs into 13 turnovers.
The second half was more of the same for the Irish as they put up the first four goals of the half and extended their lead to 11-2. Following a timeout, the Aztecs finally broke through and scored at the 18:26 mark. Notre Dame was able to hold the Aztecs off the scoreboard for a span of 33:24, which was their second longest scoreless streak for an opponent this season.
Following the San Diego State goal, the Irish scored four of the next five goals to take control of the game and limit any chance for the Aztecs to gain momentum.
Masinko tied a career-high with five goals and Maddie Howe added five points of her own (three goals, two assists). It was the eighth hat trick of the season for Howe, which leads the team.
The Irish held their opponent to fewer than 10 goals for the eighth time this season and they are 7-1 in those games.
Scouting the Cavaliers
Virginia enters Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup with a 9-8 record and finished conference play at 4-3 to earn the four-seed in the tournament. They fell in their regular season finale 16-12 on the road against Virginia Tech. In the regular season matchup between the two schools, Virginia defeated Notre Dame 17-10 back on March 17. Howe tallied a career-high four goals and Savannah Buchanan totaled four points in the loss. The series history between the two teams is tied at 3-3 and this is the second meeting all-time on a neutral field.
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Matt Paras, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since January 2018. In his role, he coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse and cross country/track & field programs. A native of Warwick, Rhode Island, Paras is a graduate of the University of Louisville where he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Sport Administration. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, he worked at Vanderbilt University as the sports information contact for the women’s soccer and lacrosse programs.