Jaimie Morrison and the Irish open the BIG EAST season Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. tilt against Louisville.

Irish Fall In Overtime At No. 17 Vanderbilt 12-10

April 20, 2011

Final Stats

Nashville, Tenn. – Vanderbilt senior Katherine Denkler scored just 1:27 into overtime and sophomore Paige Cahill added the insurance goal with 23 seconds left to lead the 17th-ranked Commodores to a 12-10 win over Notre Dame Wednesday afternoon at the Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex.

Notre Dame rallied from a pair of four-goal deficits in the first half and tied the game with 10:02 left but could not dent the Vandy goal the rest of the way in the final non-conference game of the year for the Irish.

Freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Brosco paced the Notre Dame attack with a career-high five-point game, getting four goals and one assist on the afternoon. Her four goals came in a span of 2:31 in the first half and took the Irish from a 6-3 deficit to a 7-6 lead.

Senior Shaylyn Blaney and sophomore Jaimie Morrison added a pair of goals while Maggie Tamasitis and Betsy Mastropieri score single markers in the contest.

Vanderbilt had nine players score goals with Courtney Kirk, Hannah Clark and Emily Franke getting two each. Abby Wheeler, Kendall Pettinger, Katie Mastropieri and Carly Linthicum joined Denkler and Cahill with single goals in the game.

The loss drops Notre Dame to 6-8 overall on the season and to 0-5 this year against ranked teams. The Commodores improve to 8-7 for the year.

The Irish had trouble getting their offense in gear to start this game, allowing Vanderbilt to score the first four goals of the game. Kirk scored twice with Franke and Clark notching single tallies in the first 14 minutes of the game to give the Commodores a 4-0 lead.

Morrison broke through on Vandy goalkeeper Chelsea Pasfield with 15:36 left in the half, converting a Brosco feed to make it 4-1.

Clark answered back at 13:43 to restore the four-goal lead only to see the Notre Dame attack come to life. Mastropieri, the Irish sophomore, scored from in front at 12:09 and Morrison collected her second of the game at 10:03 off a Tamasitis assist to cut the lead to 5-3. For Morrison, it was the first multiple-goal game of her career and the assist extended Tamasitis’ point-scoring streak to 32 games, the fourth longest in Notre Dame history.

Franke notched her second of the game on a free-position shot with 8:53 left to give Vanderbilt a 6-3 lead.

Brosco took over from there. Her first two goals came in a span of 23 seconds (7:26 and 7:03) off assists from Morrison and senior Kaitlin Keena. Keena made it two feeds in a row as she set up the Shoreham, N.Y., native’s game-tying goal at 5:55. Brosco gave the Irish their only lead of the game one minute later at 4:55 and Notre Dame had rallied for a 7-6 lead.

Vandy ran off the final three goals of the half as Pittinger tied the game at 4:16 and Linthicum and Wheeler scored in the final two minutes for a 9-7 lead at halftime.

The second half belonged to the goalkeepers as Pasfield stopped four shots while Irish sophomore Ellie Hilling had eight of her 11 saves in the second 30 minutes of the game.

Blaney cut the lead to 9-8 just 49 seconds into the second half with her first of two on the afternoon. Tamasitis scored just under nine minutes later at 20:47 to knot the score at 9-9. Katie Mastropieri, the Vanderbilt freshman and the younger sister of Notre Dame’s Betsy Mastropieri, put the Commodores back in front with 16:30 left in the game, converting an assist from Kacie Connors to make it 10-9.

Blaney tied the game with 10:02 left in the second half as she scored on a free-position shot for her second goal of the game and the score remained that way through the remainder of regulation.

Denkler gave Vanderbilt the lead to keep just 1:33 into the overtime period when she beat Hilling on a free-position shot, Vanderbilt’s fifth of the afternoon.

Off the ensuing draw the Irish had their best chance in overtime as they broke down the field with Tamasitis finding junior Megan Sullivan alone in front. Pasfield made the game-saving stop on the Notre Dame midfielder and Vanderbilt was able to run out the clock until Cahill scored into an open net with 23 seconds left.

The Commodores out shot the Irish, 27-24, in the game. Cahill finished with nine saves while Hilling had 11 for the Irish.

Notre Dame returns to action on Saturday, April 23 when the Irish play host to No. 16 Georgetown in a 1:00 p.m. game at Arlotta Stadium. Notre Dame will honor its 2011 senior class prior to the game on Senior Day.

** IRISH NOTES **

** The overtime loss was the second of the season for Notre Dame. On March 20th, the Irish dropped a 6-5 double overtime decision to Cornell. The overtime game was the 21st in the history of the Notre Dame program and the Irish are 8-13 in those games. They fall to 1-4 this season in “close” games – games decided by one or two goals.

** Jaimie Morrison’s two-goal and three-point game was a career high for the sophomore from Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Kaitlyn Brosco’s four-goal and five-point afternoon also was a career high in each category. She now has eight games this season with two or more goals.

GAME SUMMARY                    1    2   OT  -  FNotre Dame (6-8)                7    3    0  - 10#17/#20 Vanderbilt (8-7)        9    1    2  - 12
ScoringFirst Half:Time Team Score Goal Assist23:48 VU 0-1 Courtney Kirk Hannah Clark22:54 VU 0-2 Emily Franke Free-position shot18:13 VU 0-3 Hannah Clark16:19 VU 0-4 Courtney Kirk (2)15:36 ND 1-4 Jaimie Morrison Kaitlyn Brosco13:43 VU 1-5 Hannah Clark (2) Free-position shot12:09 ND 2-5 Betsy Mastropieri Ansley Stewart10:03 ND 3-5 Jaimie Morrison Maggie Tamasitis 8:53 VU 3-6 Emily Franke (2) Free-position shot 7:26 ND 4-6 Kaitlyn Brosco Jaimie Morrison 7:03 ND 5-6 Kaitlyn Brosco (2) Kaitlin Keena 5:55 ND 6-6 Kaitlyn Brosco (3) Kaitlin Keena (2) 4:55 ND 7-6 Kaitlyn Brosco (4) Free-position shot 4:16 VU 7-7 Kendall Pittinger Courtney Kirk 1:41 VU 7-8 Carly Linthicum 1:05 VU 7-9 Abby Wheeler Free-position shot
Second HalfTime Team Score Goal Assist29:11 ND 8-9 Shaylyn Blaney20:47 ND 9-9 Maggie Tamasitis16:30 VU 9-10 Katie Mastropieri Kacie Connors10:02 ND 10-10 Shaylyn Blaney (2)
Overtime 4:33 VU 10-11 Katherine Denkler Free-position shot 0:23 VU 10-12 Paige Cahill
Goalkeepers:Notre Dame: Ellie Hilling (66:00 min; 12 goals against, 11 saves)Vanderbilt: Chelsea Pasfield (66:00 min; 10 goals against, 9 saves)
Total Shots: Notre Dame: 24, Vanderbilt: 27Ground Balls: Notre Dame: 18, Vanderbilt: 18Draw Controls: Notre Dame: 13, Vanderbilt: 13Caused Turnovers: Notre Dame: 11: Vanderbilt: 12