Irish With An 18-6 Dominant Win At UC Davis

DAVIS, Calif. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-4, 1-3) are leaving California a perfect 2-0 on the week as they defeated the UC Davis Aggies (2-6, 0-0) 18-6 on Saturday afternoon. 

It was a dominant performance in the second half as the Irish outscored the Aggies 7-0 in third quarter and 4-0 in the fourth.

The Irish were led by Madison Rassas, who recorded her fifth hat trick of the season, finishing with four goals and an assist for five points on the day. Emma Murphy also netted a career-high four goals in her second hat trick of the season. Ava Kristynik won an impressive career-high 13 draw controls for the Irish.

Franny O’Brien, Katie Mallaber, and Fran Frieri each recorded two goals a piece. Kate Timarky and Wynter Jock each scored a goal as well. 

Shannon Earley also had a career first as the freshman netted her first goal in an Irish uniform in the win, and Anna Kenny netted her first goal of the season for the final Notre Dame goal of the day. 

The Aggies offense struck first as they scored at 9:05 for a 1-0 lead to start, but an Emma Murphy free position would even the score 1-1. 

Morrissey dished it to Timarky for another Irish goal with 3:42 remaining, but the Aggies answered to tie it up yet again. Mallaber netted one last goal in the first quarter to give Notre Dame a 3-2 lead heading into the second. 

Franny O’Brien knocked down the free position to open up the next quarter, but UC Davis matched with two quick goals to make it 4-all with 11:11 left in the half. While Frieri netted a goal to put Notre Dame back in front at 5-4, the Aggies scored less than a minute later to even the slate yet again. 

Tied at 5-5, the two squads continued to swap goals as Rassas sent home her first goal of the day before UC Davis responded with another one of their own to make it 6-all at 3:36. This would be the final Aggie goal of the day.

Rassas netted her second goal to give the Irish a 7-6 advantage heading into the second half. 

The Irish offense was dominant in the third quarter as they outscored the Aggies 7-0 in the period.

Frieri scored her second goal of the day as she sparked the offense for the Irish to start the third. Mallaber scored on the free position and was followed by another Murphy goal to extend Notre Dame’s lead 10-6 to force the Aggie timeout for a 3-0 run. 

The scoring frenzy continued as Frieri assisted Rassas to complete her hat trick. Murphy, Rassas, and Jock closed out the third with three more goals to take a 14-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Irish scored four more unanswered goals in the final period as O’Brien and Murphy netted their second and fourth goals of the day, respectively. Rassas assisted Earley in her first career goal to make it 17-6 with 9:55 remaining. Kenney sealed the deal, knocking down her first goal of the season and the final goal of the day as the Irish were victorious, 18-6.

UP NEXT 

After two games on the road, the Irish are back at home this week as they take on Harvard on Wednesday, March 19 at 2:30 p.m. on ACCNX.