LYNCHBURG, Va. — Sophomore Andie Aldave and senior Samantha Lynch each scored four goals, and Aldave notched eight draw controls, as the No. 20 Irish topped Liberty, 14-10, on Sunday afternoon at the Liberty Lacrosse Field.
With the win, the Irish improve to 3-0 on the season. Liberty falls to 2-1.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish raced out to a 3-0 lead with goals by Lynch, senior Nikki Ortega and freshman Mollie Carr in the first 4:23 of play.
Liberty earned three of the next four goals, with Aldave scoring Notre Dame’s fourth marker, to make it a 4-3 game with 16:41 left in the opening half.
Lynch and Aldave each netted their second of the afternoon before Liberty scored with 1:11 remaining to put the score at 6-4 entering halftime.
The Irish responded in a big way to open the second half, scoring the first seven goals of the frame to break open a 13-4 lead.
The scoring run began with Aldave and Lynch each completing their hat tricks in the first two minutes of the second half and both players scored back-to-back goals again at the 15:52 and 13:50 marks of the stanza.
The Irish also got tallies from sophomore Maddie Howe, freshman Hannah Dorney and Ortega in the scoring run, which spanned the first 17:22 of the second half.
Junior Jessi Masinko scored Notre Dame’s 14th goal of the game with 8:59 to play before the Flames rattled off five straight goals to close the game and account for the 14-10 final.
Masinko (1G, 4A) and Aldave (4G, 1A) led the Irish offensively with five points each.
Senior Samantha Giacolone stopped four shots to earn her third straight victory in goal for the Irish. Sophomore Bridget Deehan made a pair of saves in relief.
As a team, the Irish caused a season-high 19 turnovers and collected 26 ground balls. Senior Makenna Pearsall led Notre Dame with three caused turnovers, while six other players caused a pair each.
Aldave paced Notre Dame with eight draw controls and junior Savannah Buchanan collected five draws.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- This is the first 3-0 start for Notre Dame since 2016 when the Irish opened the season with five straight victories.
- Nine players scooped up 2+ ground balls for the Irish in today’s victory.
- The Irish have scored 54 goals and recorded 85 points in their first three wins.
- Samantha Lynch has a team-high 15 goals and 16 points in three games. Jessi Masinko follows her with 15 points (6G, 9A). Andie Aldave and Maddie Howe each have 10 points (7G, 3A).
- Notre Dame has caused 52 turnovers in three games, with Makenna Pearsall totaling a team-high nine.
- Andie Aldave leads the Irish with 20 draw controls and Savannah Buchanan is right behind her with 19.
Coach Christine Halfpenny’s thoughts:
“It feels great to be 3-0 knowing there’s still plenty we need to improve upon and build on after our first three games. Being 6-4 at the half, I was proud of the way we surged ahead and took control of the game early in the second half. We’re excited to get back to work this week before another two games next weekend.”
Andie Aldave’s thoughts:
“We’re really excited to have won our first three games, but we know we have to continue to improve game after game. I thought our offense came to life a bit in the second half and we started to control the time of possession by winning the majority of draws in the final 30 minutes.”
UP NEXT
The #20 Irish to head to Columbus next Friday (Feb. 22) for a matchup at Ohio State at 3 p.m. ET. That contest will be streamed live on Big Ten Network+.
Notre Dame then returns to Loftus to take on Kent State on Sunday (Feb. 24) at 1 p.m. That matchup will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra and admission is free for all at every Notre Dame women’s lacrosse home game.
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