March 15, 2011
Note Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team got back on the winning track on Tuesday afternoon at Arlotta Stadium, scoring nine goals in the second half to break open a close game and defeat Boston University by a 14-5 margin.
Kailene Abt and Maggie Tamasitis paced the Irish attack with three goals and one assist in the game. Senior midfielder Kaitlin Keena added two goals while Shaylyn Blaney, Jenny Granger, Ansley Stewart, Kaitlyn Brosco, Megan Sullivan and Jackie Doherty added one goal each.
Five different players – Molly Swain,, Danielle Etrasco, Erica Baumgartner, Kristen Mogavero and Catie Tilton – scored for the Terriers.
After struggling in a 13-8 loss to Ohio State on March 10, Notre Dame put together a strong, all-around game in defeating Boston University. The Irish offense dominated the game, peppering goalkeeper Christina Sheridan with 40 shots in the game while holding the Terrier attack to just 16 on the afternoon.
The win, the first for the Irish at home this season, improved 14th-ranked Notre Dame to 3-3 overall while Boston University is also now 3-3 on the season.
Notre Dame wasted little time taking control of this game as the Irish scored the first four goals of the game to build a 4-0 lead at the 23:16 mark of the opening half. Abt scored the first two goals of the game with Keena making it 3-0 and Tamasitis getting her first of the afternoon at 25:30.
The Terriers stopped the Notre Dame offensive rush with back-to-back free-position goals from Molly Swain and Kristen Mogavero at 16:59 and 13:42 that cut the lead in half at 4-2.
Tamasitis recorded her second goal of the afternoon at 11:05 to make it 5-2 with the score remaining that way until the 1:35 mark of the half when Boston University added its final goal of the half off the stick of Catie Tilton to make it a 5-3 game.
It took awhile in the second half, but the Irish offense began to click and took over the contest, scoring nine of the final 11 goals in the game.
Keena got her second of the game just seven seconds into the second half as the Irish won the draw and raced down the field with Keena and Abt going two-on-one versus a BU defender. Keena took the last pass from Abt and whipped as shot by Sheridan at 29:53 to double the score at 6-3.
Neither team would score for over 16 minutes but when Notre Dame did, the Irish broke the game open. Blaney made it 7-3 at 13:37 only to see the Terriers’ Etrasco score 28 seconds later at 13:09 to make it a 7-4 game.
With 5:31 left in the game, Granger scored her only goal of the game to set off the Notre Dame attack that would score the next seven goals in the contest.
Doherty made it 9-4 at 3:24 and was followed by Tamasitis for her hat trick on a free-position goal, 21 seconds later at 3:03. Sullivan ran the score to 11-4 with a goal at 2:47 and Stewart followed with her only goal of the game 41 seconds later at 2:06. Abt, with her third of the game, and Brosco closed out the Notre Dame scoring in the final two minutes.
Baumgartner then scored the final goal of the game for the Terriers, getting her only goal of the afternoon with two seconds left for the final of 14-5.
Sheridan finished the game with 12 saves while Ellie Hilling had five in the Notre Dame goal. The five goals in the game were the fewest surrendered by the Fighting Irish this season.
The win gives Notre Dame a 1-1 mark during its recent two-game homestand. The Irish return to action on Sunday, March 20 when they face Cornell in a neutral site game. The contest will be played in Lutherville, Md., at St. Paul’s School with the opening draw set for noon in the Baltimore suburb.
IRISH NOTES:
** Notre Dame’s win at Arlotta Stadium was the first this season and the fifth in the history of the new facility. The Irish were 4-2 last season at Arlotta Stadium.
** Freshman attack Jaimie Morrison recorded the first two assists of her career in the win over Boston University. The sophomore had a pair of helpers in a 1:42 span of the second half as she assisted on goals by Ansley Stewart and Kaitlyn Brosco.
** With the win against the Terriers, Notre Dame is now 2-0 all-time against Boston University.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 - FBoston University (3-3) 3 2 - 5#14 Notre Dame (3-3) 5 9 - 14
ScoringFirst Half:Time Team Score Goal Assist28:37 ND 1-0 Kailene Abt26:34 ND 2-0 Kailine Abt (2)25:30 ND 3-0 Maggie Tamasitis23:16 ND 4-0 Kaitlin Keena Maggie Tamasitis16:59 BU 4-1 Molly Swain Free-position shot13:42 BU 4-2 Kristen Mogavero Free-position shot11:05 ND 5-2 Maggie Tamasitis (2) 1:35 BU 5-3 Catie Tilton Rachel Collins
Second HalfTime Team Score Goal Assist29:53 ND 6-3 Kaitlin Keena (2) Kailene Abt13:37 ND 7-3 Shaylyn Blaney13:09 BU 7-4 Danielle Etrasco 5:31 ND 8-4 Jenny Granger Shaylyn Blaney 3:24 ND 9-4 Jackie Doherty 3:03 ND 10-4 Maggie Tamasitis Free-position shot 2:47 ND 11-4 Megan Sullivan Jenny Granger 2:06 ND 12-4 Ansley Stewart Jaimie Morrison 1:52 ND 13-4 Kailene Abt (3) 0:24 ND 14-4 Kaitlyn Brosco Jaimie Morrison 0:02 BU 14-5 Erica Baumgartner Molly Swain
Goalkeepers:Boston University: Christina Sheridan (60:00 min; 14 goals against, 12 saves)Notre Dame: Ellie Hilling (60:00 min; 5 goals against; 5 saves)
Total Shots: Boston University: 16, Notre Dame: 40Ground Balls: Boston University: 17, Notre Dame: 22Draw Controls: Boston University: 8, Notre Dame: 13Caused Turnovers: Boston University: 3, Notre Dame: 12