Feb. 24, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Freshman Cortney Fortunato of the No. 12 Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team was named the national Rookie of the Week on Monday by WomensLax.com.
The Northport, N.Y. native was crucial to the Irish’s 8-7 win over then-No. 12 Stony Brook on Saturday night, having a hand in five of Notre Dame’s eight goals, scoring four herself and assisting on another. Amongst the four strikes was what held up as the game-winner. Fortunato also filled out the stat sheet nicely with four ground balls, two caused turnovers and one crucial draw control. The draw control came after Stony Brook scored to close to within a goal at 8-7 with 1:41 to play. Fortunato grabbed the ball off of the draw and the Irish were able to maintain possession for the next 1:37 and claim the victory.
Fortunato, a three-time All-American in high school, has a team-high 13 points (nine goals and four assists) in just three games played thus far for the Fighting Irish. She has netted the game-winning goal in both of Notre Dame’s (2-1) victories and ranks second on the team with both seven ground balls and seven draw controls.
The Irish are back in action on Thursday night as they travel to Chapel Hill to face No. 1 North Carolina (4-0), the defending national champion.