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Irish Make Statement Win Over No. 11 Duke

SOUTH BEND, Ind. –  The No. 13 Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team took down the No. 11 Duke Blue Devils in a dominating 14-6 win. 

“I am really proud of the total team effort today. We really focused on disrupting Duke’s game, with an emphasis on of couple of their top players that the ball goes through their hands a lot and I was just so proud of my defense to hold numbers 4 and 14 scoreless,” said head coach Chris Halfpenny.

The Irish were led by Madison Ahern who tallied six goals in the win. Jackie Wolak wasn’t far behind as she tied her career high again with four goals on the day. Kasey Choma and Mary Kelly Doherty each scored twice. 

On the defensive end Keelin Schlageter caused four turnovers while Hannah Dorney caused three of her own. 

“A big piece of our game plan and it was very effective, but ultimately our second half is where we really can alive and that was a total team effort. We had a great week of preparation which led to a great final outcome and just really really happy for that growth we saw last week to this week, specifically you know I think in the way that we handled the game plan and playing to our potential.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Irish came out firing as they scored the first three goals of the game to put themselves in front 3-1 in the first five minutes of the quarter. Once Duke put a second goal on the board the game slowed down with a lot of pressure on both ends with neither team able to find the back of the net. The Blue Devils evened out the score 3-3 with just over four minutes left in the first quarter. Mary Kelly Doherty took a shot with range and hit the back of the net to put the Irish up 4-3 at the end of the quarter.

A free position from Madison Ahern put even more of a lead on the score for the Irish, 5-3. Duke responded and cut the lead to one, but the Irish converted on shots to push their lead 6-4 thanks to Wolak. Duke put another goal on the board before the end of the quarter to go into the halftime break 6-5.

Notre Dame came out of the half and converted on both of their free position attempts by Wolak and Ahern to push their lead to 8-5. The Irish kept pushing their lead as Choma found Wolak to fire for their ninth goal and tenth goal from Ahern. Choma picked up a rebound and fired for a second time to push the Irish lead to 11-5 with just under two minutes left in the third quarter. The Blue Devils scored with thirty seconds left on the clock for a 11-6 score.

The fourth quarter Ahern kicked off the scoring for the fourth quarter when she rolled around the crease for a low shot to give the Irish a 12-6 lead. The majority of the quarter remained quiet as the Irish put up a great defensive effort and held the Blue Devils scoreless. Ahern broke the quiet streak with a free position attempt that gave the Irish another goal. A free position by Choma would give the Irish their 14-6 win over the Blue Devils.

“It’s so cool to come to an event that gives you a little bit of the vibe for what we will see down the road in two months time. We’re going to be playing here for the ACC tournament and to get the feel and to now feel like we understand, we know what this feels like, we know what the environment will be, getting wins on the road in the ACC is something to be really proud of,” said Halfpenny.

NOTRE DAME NOTES

  • With this win the Irish will continue to hold the advantage on neutral site games over the Blue Devils. 
  • Wolak tied her career high again with four goals, this is the second time this season. 
  • Ahern tied her career high for goals when she scored six in the contest. This performance is also her season best.

UP NEXT

Notre Dame will stay on the road as they travel for their next matchup against Syracuse. There will be live stats available and the game will be aired on the ACC Network.