April 23, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. – Freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Brosco continued her red-hot scoring, notching four goals on Saturday afternoon to help lead Notre Dame to a 13-10 upset win over No. 16 Georgetown on Senior Day at Arlotta Stadium.
Brosco, who now has eight goals in her last two games, got plenty of help from her upperclassmen teammates as junior Maggie Tamasitis scored three times while seniors Kaitlin Keena, Shaylyn Blaney and Ansley Stewart produced a pair of goals each in their final game at the home of Irish lacrosse in the big win.
The Hoyas, who were coming off wins over BIG EAST league leaders Loyola and Syracuse prior to Saturday’s game, were led by sophomore Sophia Thomas who scored three times. Kelyn Freedman and Kelsi Bozel added a pair and Georgetown got single goals from Jordy Kirr, Dina Jackson and Hannah Franklin on the afternoon.
The win, Notre Dame’s first of the season over a ranked team (1-5), improves the Irish to 7-8 overall but 4-2 in BIG EAST play. That gives them sole possession of fourth place in the conference and the final spot for the BIG EAST Tournament. Notre Dame leads fifth place Louisville (3-4) for that final spot and will close the regular season next week against the Cardinals in Louisville on April 20 and at Cincinnati on May 1.
Georgetown is now 8-6 overall and 6-1 in the BIG EAST and owns a share of first in conference play with tiebreakers against Loyola and Syracuse who each have one loss in the league. The Hoyas finish the regular season at Rutgers on May 1.
Saturday’s game was played in the nicest weather the Irish have seen this season and the teams seemed to take in the sunshine early as it took almost seven minutes before Notre Dame got on the scoreboard as Keena opened the scoring with her first of two on the day at 23:10. The senior midfielder finished the day with four points on two goals and two assists.
The Hoyas answered back with goals by Freedman (free-position) and Jackson at 22:30 and 18:06 to take their first and only lead of the game at 2-1.
Notre Dame followed Jackson’s goal with six consecutive markers in a 10-minute span to open a 7-2 lead with less than eight minutes to go in the half.
Brosco scored the first of three in that 10-minute span, a free-position shot to tie the game, 2-2, with 17:09 left in the half.
Tamasitis notched her first of the day a minute later at 16:09. She then set up a goal by Stewart at 15:15 and then scored her second of the game at 14:07 on a nice crease roll, slipping the ball past Georgetown goalkeeper Barb Black for her second goal and third point in a little over two minutes, giving the Irish a 5-2 lead.
Brosco closed out the run with goals number two (12:43) and three (7:51) of the half, giving the Irish a 7-2 lead.
The Hoyas would cut the lead to 7-4 at halftime on a pair of free-position goals by Bozel and Franklin to end the half. Georgetown was 4-for-7 on free-position shots while Notre Dame was 1-for-3 in the game.
The Irish came out of halftime like gangbusters, scoring the first four goals of the half over a 6:26 span. Blaney opened the scoring off the draw, taking the ball the length of the field before beating Black just 39 seconds into the second stanza for an 8-4 lead.
All-American defender Jackie Doherty set up two of the next three goals for Notre Dame. She forced a turnover in the midfield, grabbed a loose ball, and carried the ball on goal before feeding Keena for her second of the game at 27:07 to make it 9-4.
Brosco equaled her career high at 26:36 when she scored her fourth goal of the afternoon to give the Irish a six-goal lead at 10-4 and Tamasitis closed out her hat trick with the fourth goal of the run, for an 11-4 lead with 23:34 left in the game. Her four-point game extended her current point streak to 33 consecutive games.
From there, the Hoyas took control of the action, going on a five-goal run in a 13-minute span while the Notre Dame scorers went dry for a span of just under 22 minutes.
Thomas scored twice in the run while Bozel, Kirr and Freedman getting one each to cut the Irish lead to 11-9 with 8:42 left in the game.
The teams traded scoring chances over the next seven minutes with Black and Notre Dame goalkeeper Ellie Hilling coming up with key saves to keep the margin at two goals.
The Irish continued to run down the clock in the final three minutes when Georgetown pulled its goaltender to make her another defensive player as the Hoyas were willing to give up a goal to get the ball back. Blaney scored her second of the game with 1:46 left to make it 13-10.
The Hoyas would get one more chance as they controlled the draw and Thomas was fouled, to give her a free-position shot. She converted at 1:12 to cut the lead to 12-10. Notre Dame controlled the next draw and put the game away with 16 seconds left as Keena set up Stewart for the final goal of the game and a 13-10 win.
Georgetown out shot the Irish, 34-27, in the game. Hilling had another strong game in the Notre Dame goal as she made 14 saves, including 10 in the second half to preserve the win. Black finished with eight saves for the Hoyas.
** IRISH NOTES **
** Notre Dame’s win improved the Irish to 5-11 all-time against Georgetown. After starting the series with seven straight losses, Notre Dame is now 5-4 versus the Hoyas in the last nine games. The last time the Irish defeated Georgetown was in the 2009 BIG EAST Championship game.
** With her four goals in the game, freshman Kaitlyn Brosco took over the team lead in goals with 26. Shaylyn Blaney is second with 25. A freshman has never led the Irish in goals in a season.
** With a pair of assists in the game, Kaitlin Keena is now 10th on Notre Dame’s all-time assist list with 40 in her career.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 - F#16/#17 Georgetown (8-6/6-1) 4 6 - 10Notre Dame (7-8/4-2) 7 6 - 13
ScoringFirst Half:Time Team Score Goal Assist23:10 ND 1-0 Kaitlin Keena22:30 GU 1-1 Kelyn Freedman Free-positon shot18:06 GU 1-2 Dina Jackson Jody Kirr17:09 ND 2-2 Kaitlyn Brosco Free-position shot16:09 ND 3-2 Maggie Tamasitis15:15 ND 4-2 Ansley Stewart Maggie Tamasitis14:07 ND 5-2 Maggie Tamasitis (2)12:43 ND 6-2 Kaitlyn Brosco (2) Kaitlin Keena 7:51 ND 7-2 Kaitlyn Brosco (3) 5:40 GU 7-3 Kelsi Bozel Free-position shot 1:29 GU 7-4 Hannah Franklin Free-position shot
Second HalfTime Team Score Goal Assist29:21 ND 8-4 Shaylyn Blaney27:07 ND 9-4 Kaitlin Keena (2) Jackie Doherty26:36 ND 10-4 Kaitlyn Brosco (4)23:34 ND 11-4 Maggie Tamasitis (3) Jackie Doherty21:16 GU 11-5 Sophia Thomas17:26 GU 11-6 Kelsi Bozel (2)17:16 GU 11-7 Jordy Kirr Mary Beth Brophy10:22 GU 11-8 Sophia Thomas (2) Jordy Kirr (2) 8:42 GU 11-9 Kelyn Freedman (2) Kathleen Dwyer 1:46 ND 12-9 Shaylyn Blaney 1:25 GU 12-10 Sophia Thomas (3) Free-position shot 0:16 ND 13-10 Ansley Stewart (2) Kaitlin Keena
Goalkeepers:Georgetown: Barb Black (60:00 min; 13 goals against, 8 saves)Notre Dame: Ellie Hilling (60:00 min; 10 goals against, 14 saves)
Total Shots: Georgetown: 34; Notre Dame: 27Ground Balls: Georgetown: 20; Notre Dame: 15Draw Controls: Georgetown: 13; Notre Dame: 12Caused Turnovers: Georgetown: 3; Notre Dame: 4