March 25, 2008
Hempstead, N.Y. – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team traveled to Hempstead, N.Y., for a weekday game with the Hofstra Pride. In the end, it was a pair of Long Island natives that led the Irish to a 14-13 win at James M. Shuart Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
After being held off the scoreboard in the first half, junior Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) kept Notre Dame in the game in the second half as she scored four times in a 12:35 span. Freshman Shaylyn Blaney (Stony Brook, N.Y.) then scored the tying and winning goals in a 54-second span in the last five minutes of the game to give wipe out a 13-12 Hofstra lead and give the Irish a 14-13 victory. Gina Scioscia (So., Summit, N.J.) and Jane Stoeckert (Jr., Mendham, N.J.) joined Blaney with two goals while Caitlin McKinney (Sr., Lafayette Hill, Pa.), Heather Ferguson (Sr., Newtown Square, Pa.), Shannon Burke (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) and Kailene Abt (Fr., Huntington, N.Y.) scored single goals for Notre Dame.
Lauren Whitcomb led the Pride with four goals in the game as the Pride gave the Irish all they could handle. Corrine Gandolfi, Stephanie Rice, Ashley Jones and Sandy Wasserbach had two goals each. K’Leigh Vanaman rounded out the Hofstra scoring with a single goal.
The win improves Notre Dame to 7-3 overall while Hofstra falls to 3-5 on the season. The Irish return to BIG EAST play on Saturday, March 29 when they travel to Storrs, Conn., for a 1:00 p.m. game against the Connecticut Huskies.
The Pride served notice early that Notre Dame better be ready to play as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes on two goals by Whitcomb and one by Gandolfi by the 20:02 mark.
McKinney picked up her lone goal of the game at 15:42 to cut the lead to 3-1. During this time, the Irish had several scoring chances but missed wide-open nets or hit the post or were stopped by goalkeeper Maisie Osteen who had 15 saves in the game, including nine in the first half.
A free-position goal by Jones at 13:33 moved the Pride back to a three-goal lead at 4-1 but also seemed to get the Notre Dame offense’s attention as the Irish would score three times in a 2:21 span to tie the game at 4-4.
Abt (13:01) made it 4-2 and Stoeckert got her first of the afternoon less than a minute later at 12:04. Burke, who had a career-high seven draw controls in the game, tied the game at 10:40 when she converted a Heather Ferguson feed for her fifth goal of the season.
Hofstra answered back with a pair of goals by Wasserbach (10:23) and Whitcomb (her third) at 7:50 to take a 6-4 lead.
Again the Irish answered with a three-goal run as Ferguson, Stoeckert (her second) and Scioscia put Notre Dame on top, 7-6, with 1:19 left in the half. Hofstra then closed out the half with Vanaman tying the game at 7-7 with 40 seconds left on the opening half clock.
The two teams traded the first three goals of the half as the Pride took a 9-8 lead, getting goals from Gandolfi and Rice while Scoiscia picked up her second of the night for Notre Dame.
That’s when Byers took over. The attack standout scored twice in a 14-second span, scoring on a free-position shot at 22:07 and then converting a Blaney pass at 21:53 to put the Irish in front, 10-9. Wasserbach tied the game at 10 with a free-position shot at 9:51 only to see Byers give the Irish another one-goal lead with the help of Scioscia.’
Ashley Jones scored her second goal of the game at 10:13 to make it 11-11, before Byers scored her fourth of the game off a McKinney feed at 9:32 for her 42nd goal of the year and a 12-11 lead.
The Pride answered that goal with a pair of goals in 1:15 by Rice (8:16) and Whitcomb (her fourth) at 7:01 to put Hofstra in front, 13-12.
Blaney took over from there, scoring at 5:06 and 4:12 to give the Irish a 14-13 edge. Neither team would score from there as Notre Dame was able to stall for most of the remainder of the half to seal the victory.
In the game, the Irish out shot the Pride by a 39-20 advantage. Erin Goodman (Jr., Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) had five saves for the Irish in the win.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 - F#13 Notre Dame (7-3/1-1) 7 7 - 14Hofstra (3-5) 7 6 - 13
First HalfTime Team Score Goal Assist27:01 HOF 0-1 Corrine Gandolfi24:21 HOF 0-2 Lauren Whitcomb Jen Bach20:02 HOF 0-3 Lauren Whitcomb15:42 ND 1-3 Caitlin McKinney13:33 HOF 1-4 Ashley Jones Free-position shot13:01 ND 2-4 Kailene Abt12:04 ND 3-4 Jane Stoeckert10:40 ND 4-4 Shannon Burke Heather Ferguson10:23 HOF 4-5 Sandy Wasserbach Katie Hertsch 7:50 HOF 4-6 Lauren Whitcomb 7:15 ND 5-6 Heather Ferguson Caitlin McKinney 4:24 ND 6-6 Jane Stoeckert Caitlin McKinney 1:19 ND 6-7 Gina Scioscia Jillian Byers 0:40 HOF 7-7 K'Leigh Vanaman
Second HalfTime Team Score Goal Assist29:03 HOF 7-8 Corrine Gandolfi27:50 ND 8-8 Gina Scioscia24:04 HOF 8-9 Stephanie Rice Free-position shot22:07 ND 9-9 Jillian Byers Free-position shot21:53 ND 10-9 Jillian Byers Shaylyn Blaney19:51 HOF 10-10 Sandy Wasserbach Free-position shot15:55 ND 11-10 Jillian Byers Gina Scioscia10:13 HOF 11-11 Ashley Jones Lauren Whitcomb 9:32 ND 12-11 Jillian Byers Caitlin McKinney 8:16 HOF 12-12 Stephanie Rice Free-position shot 7:01 HOF 12-13 Lauren Whitcomb 5:06 ND 13-13 Shaylyn Blaney 4:12 ND 14-13 Shaylyn Blaney
Goalkeepers:Notre Dame: (Erin Goodman; 60:00 min; 13 goals, 5 saves)Hofstra: (Maisie Osteen; 60:00 min; 14 goals, 15 saves)
Total Shots: ND - 39; HU - 20Groundballs: ND - 13; HU - 16Draw Controls: ND - 21; HU - 8Caused Turnovers: ND - 10; HU - 7