April 28, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – On a day where eight Notre Dame women’s lacrosse senior student-athletes were recognized on the field pregame, the No. 6 Irish scored early and often in a 22-2 blitzing of league foe Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon at Arlotta Stadium.
After falling 17-7 at No. 1 Northwestern on Wednesday, the Irish came out on fire against the Bearcats as they put in 17 goals in the first half. Notre Dame opened with four goals in the first 5:01 of the game and didn’t let up as it went on an 11-0 run for the remainder of the first half after Cincinnati scored two goals in four minutes to make it 6-2.
The Bearcats scored their two goals at 24:35 and 20:25 of the first half, but couldn’t find the back of the cage for the rest of the game as Notre Dame shut out Cincinnati 5-0 in the second half.
Leading the way in the goal column for the Irish were three players who recorded a hat trick in junior Jenny Granger and sophomores Lauren Sullivan and Lindsay Powell. Scoring two goals was senior Kelly Driscoll and juniors Jaimie Morrison and Betsy Mastropieri. Chipping in one goal were seniors Maggie Tamasitis, Megan Sullivan, Jordy Shoemaker and Brittany Mallory, junior McKenzie Brown and sophomores Julia Giorgio and Kaitlyn Brosco. The goals for Giorgio and Mallory were the first of their career, while the goal for Shoemaker, who starts at defense for the Irish, was the first since 2010.
Tamasitis also tallied six assists, including five in the first half, to up her BIG EAST-leading total to 56.
In addition to her three goals, Granger also dished out an assist, collected two ground balls and two draw controls and caused a team-leading three turnovers. Freshman Barbara Sullivan scooped up a team-leading five draw controls and caused two turnovers.
All three Notre Dame goalies saw action in the contest as junior Ellie Hilling allowed a pair of goals in the first half, before yielding to freshman Allie Murray and junior Adele Bruggeman, who combined to shut out the Bearcats in the second half.
On the day, the Irish out-shot the Bearcats, 38-6, and collected nine more ground balls (17-8) and 10 more draw controls (18-8). Not helping its cause, Cincinnati had 20 more fouls than Notre Dame (30-10) and seven more turnovers (15-8).
The day was filled with records for the Irish. These included:
– In wrapping up their 13th win of the season, the Irish moved into a tie for third place in school history for wins in a season. The 2009 team won 16 games, while the 2006 won 15. The 2002 team also won 13.
– The 22 goals tied a Notre Dame record for most goals in a home game as the Irish also tallied 22 in wins over Canisius on Feb. 15, 2008 and over Ohio on March 11, 2000. The 22 goals were the most since a 22-7 win at Duquesne on Feb. 14, 2009, and ties for the second-most goals in a game in school history.
– In holding the Bearcats to only two goals, the Irish moved into a tie for third for fewest goals allowed in a game in school history. Notre Dame shut out Villanova (16-0) on April 9, 2010, allowed one goal in an 11-1 win over Loyola (11-1) on March 25, 2007 and allowed two goals in wins over Davidson (18-2) on April 9, 1999, at Rutgers (9-2) on April 28, 2002 and Canisius (18-2) on March 25, 2006.
– The 20-goal margin of victory is the most in school history and the most since the Irish beat Ohio, 22-3, on March 10, 2000.
– Tamasitis tied her own school record with six assists in a home game. She also recorded six against Stanford (Feb. 19, 2012) earlier this year and Connecticut (April 16, 2011) last season. Tamasitis is tied with Gina Scioscia, who recorded six against Rutgers on March 17, 2009.
– The Boyertown, Pa., native also tied her own school record with five assists in the first half. She had five helpers in a win over Stanford (Feb. 19, 2012) earlier this year.
– Tamasitis also set a BIG EAST record with her 31st assist in conference games this year. The old record was held by Syracuse’s Katie Rowan, who had 29 in 2009.
Before the game Notre Dame honored eight senior student-athletes and senior manager Christian Roach for their efforts both on and off the field for the women’s lacrosse program. The eight players honored were Kristin DeRespiris, Kelly Driscoll, Brittany Mallory, Flannery Nangle, Kate Newall, Jordy Shoemaker, Megan Sullivan and Maggie Tamasitis.
The Irish (13-3, 6-2 BIG EAST) will now head to Syracuse, N.Y., as the No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Championship, where they will open up play in the semifinals on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. against No. 2 seed and defending champion Loyola (Md.). The game will be broadcast nationally live on CBS Sports Network.
–ND–