March 24, 2012
Box Score | Post-Game Kids Clinic 
NOTRE DAME, Ind. –Playing its first home game since Feb. 25, the sixth-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team ushered in the BIG EAST docket with a 13-11 win over Louisville Saturday at Arlotta Stadium.
Senior Maggie Tamasitis continued to set the table for the Irish (7-0, 1-0 BIG EAST), leading the way with a six-point day (2g-4a). Lindsay Powell paced the Irish in the goal column, tallying four, while McKenzie Brown added two and Jaimie Morrison, Kaitlyn Brosco, Megan Sullivan and Lauren Sullivan each found the net once. Junior Ellie Hillingkept her perfect record intact in the cage, saving eight shots on the day including five in the first half.
Nikki Boltja led the attack for Louisville (2-6, 0-1 BIG EAST), finding the back of the net four times. Cat Gordon and Janaye Dzikewich added two goals, while Colleen O’Malley, Jamie Redding and Casey Pepperman all added single tallies. Danielle Pawliw took the loss for the Cardinals, allowing 12 goals while stopping 11 shots. She now carries a 2-5 record on the season.
The Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match and eventually extended the margin to 5-1 with 17:34 left to play in the first half. It marked the first time on the season that the Irish have not scored first in a game and the four-goal advantage for Louisville also represented the biggest deficit faced by Notre Dame on the year.
After Irish head coach Christine Halfpennyused a timeout to stop the Cardinals momentum, Notre Dame proceeded to go on a 9-0 run to take a 10-5 lead in the contest. Powell, Newall and Brosco scored back-to-back-to-back tallies to cut the lead to 5-4 before Tamasitis scored her two goals with :57 seconds remaining in the first half and :19 seconds into the second half to give the Irish their first lead of the match at 6-5.
Notre Dame built on that lead with a pair of free-position goals from M. Sullivan and Powell and traditional markers from Brown and Powell to force Louisville to call timeout trailing by five goals and having not scored for 23:09 of game time. Louisville outscored Notre Dame 6-3 over the final 23:55 of the contest, but the fourth goal of the day by Powell and the eventual game-winning goal by Brown with 3:46 on the clock secured the Irish win.
Notre Dame returns to action next weekend as it hits the road for a pair of BIG EAST tilts. The Irish square off with Rutgers Friday at 4:00 p.m. (ET) before heading to Loyola (Md.) for a Sunday showdown at 1:00 p.m.
**IRISH NOTES**
** Notre Dame improved to 7-0 on the year, representing one of only two undefeated teams remaining in Division I along with Northwestern.
** Maggie Tamasitisextended her point-scoring streak to 44 consecutive games with her assist with 4:24 remaining in the first half. She finished the game with four helpers and two goals. It also marks the fifth game this season in which she has recorded at least five points.
** Lindsay Powellhas now recorded a hat trick or better in six of the first seven games of the year and has recorded four or more goals twice.
–ND–