April 25, 2001

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 18th-ranked Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team built a 12-3 halftime lead to match its season record for wins with an 18-12 victory over visiting Ohio State on Wednesday at Moose Krause Stadium. The win marked a successful debut for the Irish in their first game in the national rankings. Senior Lael O’Shaughnessy and junior Natalie Loftus each turned in five-point performances for Notre Dame, which improves to 9-4 with the victory — equaling the win total of the ’99 9-6 team. The Irish close out their home schedule and look for their first 10-win season against BIG EAST foe Rutgers at 1:00 p.m. on Sun., April 29, at Moose Krause Stadium.

Nine different players scored for the Irish, who never trailed in the game. Freshman Meredith Simon tallied two of her three goals in the first 13 minutes to help Notre Dame built an early 6-1 lead. After Ohio State’s Megan Mirick cut the lead to 6-2 at 11:30, the Irish used four goals from Loftus, junior Alissa Moser, sophomore Danielle Shearer and junior Tina Fedarcyk in a span of 3:13 to build a 10-2 advantage.

Erin Anderson brought the Buckeyes within 10-3 at 4:04 before Loftus scored her second of a game-high four goals at 2:31. O’Shaughnessy gave the Irish a 12-3 halftime lead with 37 seconds left in the first half.

Back-to-back goals by Ohio State’s Tracey Bounds helped the Buckeyes start the second half on a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 13-7 with 19 minutes remaining. Freshman Kassen Delano began a third four-goal run, as the Irish built their biggest lead, 17-7, with 13:40 left. Ohio State responded with a four-goal spurt of its own before the teams traded goals in the final 1:01.

Irish sophomore goaltender Jen White made six saves in allowing nine goals in 52:23 of action. Senior Tara Durkin allowed three goals and recorded one save in 7:37. Ohio State’s Megan Barnett made 14 saves in allowing 18 goals in 60 minutes of action.

Team Scoring

Ohio State 3-9 12

Notre Dame 12-6 18

Individual Scoring (goal-assist)

OSU: Megan Mirick (2-3), Erin Anderson (3-0), Amy Tulk (2-1), Celeste Cianfrani (1-2), Tracey Bounds (2-0), Shannon Wilson (1-1), Lauren Cochran (1-0).

ND: Natalie Loftus (4-1), Lael O’Shaughnessy (3-2), Meredith Simon (3-0), Danielle Shearer (2-1), Kassen Delano (2-0), Anne Riley (1-1), Tina Fedarcyk (1-0), Maureen Henwood (1-0), Alissa Moser (1-0).

Team Stats

OSU: total shots – 23, free position shots – 4, shots on goal – 19, saves – 14 (Megan Barnett), draw control – 12.

ND: total shots – 39, free position shots – 4, shots on goal – 35, saves – 7 (Jen White – 6, Tara Durkin – 1), draw control – 20.