April 8, 2018
By Matt Paras
EVANSTON, Illinois – The No. 20/21 Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team (7-7) had another opportunity Sunday afternoon against a top-10 team when they took on No. 9/8 Northwestern (11-3). The Irish battled in the first half and hung around with the experienced Wildcats. Northwestern took control of the game in the second half after scoring seven of eight goals and the Irish fell 20-10.
How it Happened
Northwestern raced out to an early 7-1 lead in the first half after winning a majority of the draw controls.
Notre Dame began to cut into the deficit thanks to some strong defensive play. The Irish were able to cause turnovers and collect the ground balls to regain possession and those possessions led to offensive opportunities.
The Irish began to cash in on those opportunities, starting with Diana Kelly‘s goal at the 11:21 mark. After a Northwestern goal, Maddie Howe answered with two goals in a two-minute span to cut into the Wildcat lead. Molly Cobb scored the final goal of the half and the Irish only trailed 9-5 at half.
Notre Dame forced nine first half turnovers from the Wildcats and won the ground ball battle 14-9 in the opening 30 minutes.
Jessi Masinko scored the first goal of the second half on a free position opportunity and brought the deficit down to 9-6. Northwestern scored two quick goals but Andie Aldave answered at the 25:29 mark to make it an 11-7 game.
That was the closest the Irish got in the second half as Northwestern took control of the game by scoring seven of the next eight goals to extend their lead to 10.
Howe added her fourth goal of the game and Savannah Buchanan tallied her first in the final few minutes of the game.
Notre Dame recorded a season-high 28 ground balls on the afternoon and forced the Wildcats into 19 turnovers. It was the most turnovers by an Irish opponent this season.
Stat Leaders
- Maddie Howe tied a career high with four goals. It is the fourth time this season she has scored four times. She leads the team with 30 goals on the year.
- Bridget Deehan came on in relief and made a career-high 11 saves.
- Hannah Proctor tied a career high with five grounds balls and set a career high with three caused turnovers. She tallied five ground balls for the second time in the last three games.
- Kathleen Roe set a career high with four ground balls and four caused turnovers.
Up Next
The Irish will return to campus for their final ACC conference game of the regular season. The Irish will take on Duke next Sunday at Arlotta Stadium. Opening draw is scheduled for 1 pm ET and will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra.
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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.