LYNCHBURG, Va. — The No. 5 University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse kicked off their road stretch with a 12-5 victory at Liberty Thursday afternoon to improve to 12-2 on the season and extend their win-streak to seven games.
Abby Maichin got the Irish scoring started Thursday afternoon with a pass from Jackie Wolak behind the net just 46 seconds into play.
The Irish kept the momentum going after a pair of caused turnovers led the the ball back in the offensive end. Once again, Wolak posted up behind the net and found Meghan O’Hare for the 2-0 tally.
Notre Dame scored again moments later to take the 3-0 lead off a shot from Kasey Choma at 8:23 of the opening quarter.
Wolak continued to write her name into Irish history with her third assist of the day to mark her 300th career point for the Blue and Gold. The goal came from Ahern for her first of the day to give the Irish the 4-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.
Choma gave the Irish the five-goal lead with 1:45 to play in the opening frame off a free potion shot for her second goal of the day.
Wolak and Ahern connected for their second goal of the day, with just one second left on the clock to give Notre Dame the 6-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Flames got on the board just 2:27 into the second frame to cut the Irish lead to 6-1.
Maichin and O’Hare each scored their second of the game partway through the second quarter to improve the Irish lead to 8-2, a score that would hold through the end of the quarter.
The Flames would score the first goal of the second half to cut the Irish lead to 8-3 after a scramble for the ball in the Notre Dame offensive end resulted in Liberty possession.
Kathryn Morrissey gave the Irish the six goal lead back after accepting a pass from Fran Frieri. As she fell backwards, Morrissey got the shot off to make it a 9-3 game.
Awarded a second free position on the day, Choma wasted no time ripping a shot on goal for her third of the day and a perfect two-for-two from the eight meter arc.
Liberty scored off the free position after a strong defensive effort wound down the shot clock.
The Flames scored again at the buzzer to make it a 10-5 contest heading into the final quarter Thursday afternoon.
After assisting on two Ahern goals in the first quarter, Wolak scored her first of the day, with Ahern on the assist to give the Irish the 11-5 lead with 7:04 to play in the contest.
Kate Timarky capped the day with a free position goal with just 10 seconds left in regulation to give the Irish the 12-5 win.
KEY STATS
- Jackie Wolak continued to etch her name in the records book, picking up her 300th career point with an assist on Madison Ahern’s first goal which gave the Irish the 4-0 lead. It was Wolak’s third assist of the day. She added one more before the end of the opening quarter four a four point frame.
- The nationally renowned draw control unit held the 5-0 advantage to start the game, with the team’s leader on the draw owning four of those controls herself. The team finished the day with a 15-4 edge at the circle, led by Denes with 10.
- The Irish forced 15 caused turnovers in the contest, led by Olivia Dooley with a career-best six causes for Notre Dame.
- With five points in the contest, Wolak led the team in the category as she registered a goal and four assists.
- Kasey Choma led the team in goals with a hat trick performance, including two off the free position.
- Lilly Callahan picked up her 12th win of the season and boasted a .545 save percentage in the win with her six saves in the cage. The senior also recorded one caused turnover and two ground balls in the game.
UP NEXT
The Irish continue their Virginia road trip at ACC rival Virginia Tech on Saturday at noon.