#4/5 Irish Drop #7 Virginia 12-10

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Bridget Deehan matched her career-high with 14 saves and Samantha Lynch scored four goals as No. 4/5 Notre Dame downed No. 7 Virginia, 12-10, on Saturday afternoon at Klockner Stadium.

With the victory, Notre Dame’s third straight road win over a ranked ACC opponent, the Irish improve to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in ACC play.

Andie Aldave netted two goals for Notre Dame while Kasey Choma, Maddie Howe, Kelly Donnelly, Kathleen Roe, Keelin Schlageter and Jackie Wolak each scored once.

Madison Ahern and Hannah Dorney each caused a pair of Virginia turnovers and Howe and Donnelly collected a pair of ground balls.

HOW IT HAPPENED
A flurry of early stops by Deehan kept Virginia off the board and goals by Howe, Aldave and Lynch staked the Irish a 3-0 lead in the first 14:23 of play. 

The Cavaliers responded to even the score at 3-3, but the Irish got markers from Lynch and Donnelly, a coast-to-coast effort by the latter, to take a 5-4 lead at the break.

Deehan stopped nine of 13 shots on goal in the opening 30 minutes to anchor Notre Dame’s defense and keep the Irish in front. 

The Irish opened the second half with five straight goals, including tallies from Wolak, Lynch, Roe, Aldave and Choma, to go up 10-4 with 19:13 remaining.

Lynch’s fourth goal put Notre Dame up 11-5 at the 17:44 mark, but Virginia rallied with a 5-0 run to get back within one at 11-10.

Deehan made a pair of clutch saves with 5:31 and 2:35 remaining to preserve the one-goal lead before Schlageter found the empty net in the closing seconds to clinch the 12-10 victory.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

  • Bridget Deehan matched her career-high with 14 saves on Saturday (3/14/21 at Syracuse).
  • Deehan has racked up 26 saves in her last two outings with a .577 save percentage.
  • Samantha Lynch is up to a team-high 26 goals and 32 points in eight games.
  • Lynch has now collected at least four points in four straight games and seven of eight contests in 2021.
  • Savannah Buchanan is up to a team-best 18 caused turnovers this season.
  • Notre Dame has now won three consecutive ACC road matchups against ranked opponents (3/21 at #19 Louisville, 3/28 at #9 Duke, 4/3 at #7 Virginia)

UP NEXT

  • #4/5 Notre Dame (6-2, 3-2 ACC) returns to Arlotta to take on top-ranked North Carolina next Saturday (April 10).
  • Opening draw at Arlotta is set for 3 p.m. ET and the contest will be televised on ACC Network.

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