SOUTH BEND, IND. – The #20 Fighting Irish went to battle against the #1 North Carolina Tar Heels, but ultimately fell after 14-13 after an outstanding performance.
Jackie Wolak led the Irish with four goals on the day. Kasey Choma, Mary Kelly Doherty, and Madison Mote all helped the Irish with two goals each. Maddie Howe, Madison Ahern, and Hannah Dorney each tallied one goal.
Kelly Denes led the Irish with seven draw controls and Doherty tallied six. Dorney led the way with three caused turnovers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame struck first when Howe buried the first goal less than one minute into the game. After back-to-back Tar Heel turnovers, Doherty was able to capitalize and score to give the Irish a 2-0 lead. Continuing to build on the momentum, Ahern tallied the third goal of the game. Mote scored the fourth goal of the game with the Irish tallying four goals on five shots. Notre Dame won the third straight draw control and then had Doherty convert to jump out to a 5-0 lead. At the end of the first quarter, the Irish had only allowed two North Carolina goals for a 5-2 lead.
The second quarter opened with North Carolina scoring three straight goals to tie things at five. A North Carolina goal came after a Notre Dame turnover to give the Tar Heels the lead 6-5. Denes won the draw for the Irish, and Wolak immediately responded for Notre Dame after North Carolina took the lead by two goals. North Carolina would go on to finish out the quarter with three more goals to go into halftime with a 10-6 lead.
Coming out of halftime, North Carolina tallied two more goals before Choma would find the back of the net after a ground ball pickup from Dorney. After a draw control win from Doherty would then lead to Wolak to tally the eighth goal of the day to trail 12-8. Dorney would then add to the tally along with Choma to end the third quarter trailing by three goals, 13-10.
The final quarter opened with Mote finding the back of the net in the first three minutes of the quarter. Wolak added to the tally to bring the score within one, 13-12. A North Carolina goal would push them ahead again, until Wolak would bring it within one again for an eventual final score 14-13.
The Irish will await their NCAA Tournament fate in the selection show on Sunday, May 8, at 9 p.m. ET.
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