Pitt
Women's Lacrosse
Louisville
April 2, 2018
By Matt Paras
NOTRE DAME, Indiana – The Irish are back in South Bend this week to face off with one of the school’s oldest rivals. No. 20/21 Notre Dame (6-6) is set to host Michigan (5-7) Tuesday night with opening draw at 7pm ET. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra.
DATE: April 3, 2018
TIME: 7 p.m. (ET)
LOCATION: Loftus Sports Center (Notre Dame, Ind.)
BROADCAST: ACC Network Extra
LIVE STATS:
TWITTER: @NDWomensLax
Tuesday’s matchup with the Wolverines will be the third meeting all-time between the two schools and Notre Dame holds a 2-0 record. Last season, the Irish defeated the Wolverines 12-5 up in the Big House. Samantha Giacolone made 12 saves and head coach Christine Halfpenny coached in her 100th game at Notre Dame.
The Irish are coming off a tough 13-12 loss to No. 5 North Carolina this past weekend at Kenan Stadium. A tale of two halves best described Saturday’s contest as the Irish had another strong opening half against a top-10 opponent.
Notre Dame held the Tar Heels to two first half goals, their fewest in a half this season. Giacolone made nine saves on 11 shots and the Irish forced seven Tar Heel turnovers in the opening 30 minutes of play. Molly Cobb and Nikki Ortega both had two goals in the first half to help build a 6-2 lead for the Irish.
In the second half, North Carolina’s offense responded to take their first lead of the game midway through the half. The deficit reached 13-9 for Notre Dame with seven minutes remaining but the Irish had one final push in them.
Notre Dame scored two goals from Savannah Buchanan and one from Cobb in over a minute span to cut the deficit to one with 1:49 left. After forcing a North Carolina turnover, the Irish were unable to tie the game and fell 13-12.
Scouting the Wolverines
Michigan brings a 5-7 record into Tuesday’s matchup and are 1-2 in the Big Ten this season. The Wolverines dropped their weekend matchup to No. 2 Maryland 16-9 on Saturday. Adriana Pendino leads the team in goals (27) and points (29) on the season. Michigan has used three goalies this season with Mira Shane seeing a majority of the time. She has played in 10 games and holds a 3-3 record.
Michigan has played two common opponents of the Irish so far this season. The Wolverines fell to Jacksonville 14-9 and Northwestern 16-7. The Irish defeated Jacksonville 17-6 back in February and will face Northwestern this coming Sunday.
–ND–
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.