#20 Irish Open Season With 19-4 Win at Marquette

Box Score

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Senior Samantha Lynch scored six goals, and four different players tallied at least four points, as the 20th-ranked Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team earned a 19-4 victory on the road against Marquette to open the 2019 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish took control right from the opening draw, with sophomore Maddie Howe netting the first goal of the 2019 campaign just 1:14 into play. Notre Dame went on to score the first eight goals of the game, including two more markers from Howe, two from Andie Aldave, two from Lynch and one from Jessi Masinko.

Aldave completed her hat trick with 1:43 to go to send the Irish into halftime holding a 9-1 lead.

Freshman Mollie Carr notched a second-half hat trick in her first collegiate game to complement four more goals from Lynch and three from Masinko as the Irish put together a dominant 60 minutes to earn the 19-4 win.

Defensively, the Irish caused 15 Marquette turnovers, including four by senior Makenna Pearsall and a pair each from Aldave, Lynch and junior Savannah Buchanan. Buchanan collected eight draw controls in the victory while Aldave notched six.

Senior Samantha Giacolone made four saves to earn the victory in goal for Notre Dame before sophomore Bridget Deehan stopped one shot in relief.

Coach Halfpenny’s thoughts:
“Our biggest keys to the game were to take care of the 50/50 balls and contest every play, and I think we were relentless in our effort to do both. You always love starting the season with a victory and the credit for today’s performance goes to how hard this team has worked in the offseason.”

Samantha Lynch’s thoughts:
“It feels really good to get a win today. This is something we’ve been working for since August. This is such a tight-knit group, and you can see that on the field. You play each game with great confidence because you know every play someone has your back.”

NOTABLE NUMBERS

  • Lynch set career-highs in goals (6), points (7) and ground balls (5).
  • The Irish racked up 38 shots while limiting Marquette to 12.
  • The Irish earned 18 draw controls, including all 13 in the second half.
  • Notre Dame collected 17 ground balls, including 13 in the first half.
  • The Irish are now 19-4 all-time in their first game of the season and 6-2 in season openers under head coach Christine Halfpenny.
  • Notre Dame now owns a 7-0 record all-time against Marquette, including a 3-0 mark on the road.
  • Today marked the 125th career victory as a head coach for Christine Halfpenny (82nd at Notre Dame).

UP NEXT
The Irish return to action for their home opener this Sunday (Feb. 10) at 1 p.m. ET vs. Canisius. That contest will be held inside Loftus Sports Center and will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra. All Notre Dame women’s lacrosse home contests can be attended free of admission.

–ND–