March 10, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team saw its offense go ice cold in the second half as Ohio State held the Irish to just two goals in the final 30 minutes on the way to a 13-8 win Thursday afternoon at the Loftus Center.
Notre Dame jumped out to a 6-5 lead at the half paced by sophomore attack Betsy Mastropieri who lit the lamp a career-best four times in the opening stanza to give the Irish a slim one-goal advantage. Fellow sophomore Jenny Granger added two goals in the game while Ansley Stewart and Maggie Tamasitis scored one goal each. Stewart and Tamasitis would each pick up three assists in the game.
The Buckeyes were led by senior attack Brittney Zerhusen who had five goals and three assists for an eight-point game. Kristin Donahue added three goals while Alayna Markwordt and Gabby Capuzzi scored twice and Maghan Beaudrault added one on the Ohio State side of the scoresheet.
The loss drops the 11th-ranked Irish to 2-3 on the season while Ohio State improves to 4-3 overall.
It would take over six minutes before either team would score but Mastropieri broke through at 23:44 with her first of the game off a set up by Stewart.
Ohio State answered with two straight goals by Markwordt and Capuzzi in a 47 second span to make it 2-1 at 20:23.
Mastropieri tied the game with an unassisted goal just six seconds later to make it 2-2 with 20:17 left in the half.
Not to be outdone, Zerhusen scored her first of the afternoon on a free-position shot 22 seconds later at 19:55 to give the Buckeyes the 3-2 advantage.
Notre Dame answered with two consecutive goals with Mastropieri and Granger converting feeds from Stewart to put the Irish ahead, 4-3 with 11:44 left in the half.
Donahue evened the score with her first of three on the game at 8:24 only to see Tamasitis and Mastropieri restore the Irish lead at 6-4 with 1:49 left in the first half. Zerhusen closed the scoring with 22 seconds left in the half to cut the Irish lead to 6-5 after 30 minutes.
That goal by Zerhusen started a run for the Buckeyes that would see them score nine of the next 10 goals to put the game away.
Ohio State scored the first four goals of the second half to make it 9-6 as Capuzzi, Beaudrault, Markwordt and Zerhusen all found the back of the net against Irish goalkeeper Ellie Hilling.
After an Irish timeout with less than 10 minutes left in the game, Notre Dame finally broke through. Granger got her second of the game off a Tamasitis feed to cut the lead to 9-7 with 8:44 left. That goal seemed to give the Irish life as they would win the ensuing draw and take the play right back at the Buckeye goal.
Kailene Abt made a nice move to get free inside and fired a shot past Ohio State goalkeeper Annie Carruthers for what appeared to be a goal that would cut the lead to one. The goal was disallowed by the officials following a stick check on Abt’s stick and the Ohio State lead remained 9-7.
Moments later, the Buckeyes started their final run of four goals as Zerhusen and Donahue would each score twice in a 7:23 span to make it 13-7 with 1:52 left.
Stewart would close out the scoring and her four-point game with 1:19 left on the clock off a Tamasitis assist for the final score of 13-8.
The Irish would out shoot Ohio State, 25-20, in the game. Carruthers made 10 stops for the Buckeyes, including seven in the second half with two on free-position shots. Hilling finished with four saves in the game for Notre Dame.
The two-game homestand continues on Tuesday, March 15 when the Irish play host to the Boston University Terriers. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m. at Arlotta Stadium, weather permitting.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 - FOhio State (4-3) 5 8 - 13#11 Notre Dame (2-3) 6 2 - 8
ScoringFirst Half:Time Team Score Goal Assist23:44 ND 1-0 Betsy Mastropieri Ansley Stewart21:10 OSU 1-1 Alyna Markwordt Brittney Zerhusen20:23 OSU 1-2 Gabby Capuzzi Alayna Markwordt20:17 ND 2-2 Betsy Mastropieri (2)19:55 OSU 2-3 Brittney Zerhusen Free-position shot13:07 ND 3-3 Betsy Mastropieri (3) Ansley Stewart (2)11:44 ND 4-3 Jenny Granger Ansley Stewart (3) 8:24 OSU 4-4 Kirsten Donahue 5:35 ND 5-4 Maggie Tamasitis Kailene Abt 1:49 ND 6-4 Betsy Mastropieri (4) Maggie Tamasitis 0:22 OSU 6-5 Brittney Zerhusen (2)
Second HalfTime Team Score Goal Assist26:58 OSU 6-6 Gabby Capuzzi Brittney Zerhusen (2)22:46 OSU 6-7 Maghan Beaudrault Brittney Zerhusen (3)20:23 OSU 6-8 Alayna Markwordt 9:51 OSU 6-9 Brittney Zerhusen (3) Maghan Beaudrault 8:44 ND 7-9 Jenny Granger (2) Maggie Tamasitis (2) 7:15 OSU 7-10 Brittney Zerhusen (4) 6:51 OSU 7-11 Kirsten Donahue (2) 5:06 OSU 7-12 Brittney Zerhusen (5) 1:52 OSU 7-13 Kirsten Donahue (3) Alayna Markwordt (2) 1:19 ND 8-13 Ansley Stewart Maggie Tamasitis (3)
Goalkeepers:Ohio State: Annie Carruthers (60:00 min; 8 goals against, 10 saves)Notre Dame: Ellie Hilling (60:00 min; 13 goals against; 4 saves)
Total Shots: Ohio State: 20, Notre Dame: 25Ground Balls: Ohio State: 11, Notre Dame: 11Draw Controls: Ohio State: 12, Notre Dame: 12Caused Turnovers: Ohio State: 3, Notre Dame: 5