RICHMOND, Va. – No. 6/8 Notre Dame (1-1) suffered a 9-8 defeat at Richmond on a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon inside Robins Stadium.
Three Irish players posted two goals in the contest, as the Notre Dame attack was led by juniors Brian Willetts and Bryan Costabile and sophomore Connor Morin.
Sophomore goalkeeper Matt Schmidt made 11 saves on the afternoon to keep the Irish within striking distance and the Irish held the opposition to under 10 goals for the second straight week.
How It Happened
The Irish got off to a slow start on Saturday afternoon at Richmond, as the Spiders jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the opening 15 minutes of action. Notre Dame fought back in the second stanza, closing the gap to one with the score 5-4 at the half. Costabile played a large role in cutting the deficit, as the junior scored twice in the final 90 seconds of the half.
The Spiders quickly reestablished themselves in the second half, scoring the first two goals of the third quarter to push their lead to 7-4. Willetts then scored his second goal of the day off a pass from Quinn McCahon to make the score 7-5 heading into the fourth.
Notre Dame’s Timmy Phillips caught an outlet at midfield and then ran all the way to the crease to score his first goal of the season and cut the host’s lead to just one at 7-6 with 13 minutes to go in regulation. Unfortunately for the Irish, Richmond scored twice over the next four minutes to go back up by three at 9-6. Morin scored two straight goals within a minute to again pull the Irish within one at 9-8 with 4:32 left on the clock. However, the Irish were never able to draw even, as the Spider defense stood tall in the final minutes, giving Notre Dame its first loss of the season.
Notre Dame Player Of The Game
After scoring the first two goals of his career in the opener against Detroit Mercy, Morin scored a career-high two goals against Richmond on Saturday. Both of Morin’s goals came in the final six minutes of the game, as the Irish tried to make a comeback.
Notre Dame Stat Of The Game
For the second straight week the Irish caused double-digit turnovers and held the opposition to under 10 goals. The Irish finished with 11 caused turnovers and now have 26 through two games this season.
Up Next
The Irish return home for a marquee non-conference matchup with No. 3/3 Maryland at noon on Sunday, March 3. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
— ND —
The University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team pursues excellence on and off the field through the three pillars in which the program is built: Character, Culture & Community. These three foundational values guide the promise of the program, which is to provide its student-athletes with the most compelling and enriching experience in all of college athletics. Through academics, competition, service and travel, the program aims to immerse its players in situations that enhance their student-athlete experience to help them become the people, students and teammates they aspire to be.
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