April 9, 2002
Columbus, Ohio – Ohio State’s Shannon Miller scored twice in the last 4:42 of the game to snap a 10-10 tie to give the 15th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes a 12-11 win over the ninth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tuesday afternoon at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Miller’s second goal came with just 56 seconds left in the game and gave Ohio State a 12-10 lead. Lauren Fischer (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) scored with 34 seconds left for the final goal in the 12-11 loss. For the Irish, who moved to ninth in the nation earlier in the day, this was the second one-goal loss of the year to a ranked team.
Notre Dame is now 8-2 on the season while the Buckeyes improve to 8-2 with their second consecutive win over a ranked team. The Bucks upset 7th-ranked Maryland by an identical 12-11 score last Saturday.
Ohio State was led in the game by senior attack standout Megan Mirick who scored six goals in the game. The Irish got a four-goal effort from Danielle Shearer (Sr., Hampstead, Md.) and three-goal games from Fischer and Anne Riley (Jr., Marblehead, Mass.) but still came up one goal short. Meredith Simon (So., Flemington, N.J.) added a goal and two assists and senior Natalie Loftus (Baltimore, Md.) added a pair of assists in the game.
Fischer staked the Irish to a 1-0 lead just 25 seconds into the game off a Simon feed.
Mirick got her first of four first-half goals 49 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1. Riley put Notre Dame ahead with 5:13 gone in the half with her first of the afternoon, but the Buckeyes then ran off six straight goals to take a 7-2 lead.
The six goals came in a span of 11:54 with Mirick scoring three times and Tracey Bounds, Lauren Cochran and Kylee Reade getting one each.
The Irish got back in the game by scoring the final four goals of the half to cut the Buckeye lead to 7-6 at intermission. Simon halted the Ohio State run with 9:54 left in the half to make it 7-3. Shearer scored twice in a 1:12 span to make it 7-5 and Riley closed out the scoring with 2:49 left with her second goal of the game.
Notre Dame forged ahead, scoring the first two goals of the second half, as Shearer scored 3:23 and 9:52 into the half to make it 8-7 Irish.
That lead lasted less than three-and-a-half minutes as OSU scored three straight goals with Mirick scoring twice and Bounds once for a 10-8 lead.
The Irish would tie the game one more time as Fischer and Riley scored 48 seconds apart for a 10-10 game.
The final minutes belonged to Ohio State as Wilson provided the heroics with the Buckeyes final to goals of the game and the two-goal advantage at 12-10 with 56 seconds left. Fischer’s third goal of the night closed the scoring at 12-11.
The Irish were outshot 29-24 in the game. Goalkeeper Jen White (Jr., Annapolis, Md.) made nine saves while giving up 12 goals in the contest. Ohio State’s Erin Forquer also made nine stops for the Buckeyes.
Things don’t get any easier for the Irish as they return home to face a pair of nationally ranked teams this coming weekend.
Seventh-ranked Duke invades Moose Krause Stadium for a 4:00 p.m. game on Friday, April 12 and 1th-ranked Yale visits South Bend on Sunday, April 14 for a 2:00 p.m. game.
Game Summary
First-Half Scoring
Team Time Score Goal Assist
ND 29:35 1-0 Lauren Fischer Meredith Simon
OSU 28:46 1-1 Megan Mirick Tracey Bounds
ND 24:47 2-1 Anne Riley
OSU 23:40 2-2 Tracey Bounds Regina Oliver
OSU 22:06 2-3 Megan Mirick – 2
OSU 18:19 2-4 Megan Mirick – 3
OSU 18:06 2-5 Lauren Cochran
OSU 12:11 2-6 Megan Mirick – 4
OSU 11:46 2-7 Kylee Reade
ND 9:54 3-7 Meredith Simon
ND 6:43 * 4-7 Danielle Shearer
ND 5:31 5-7 Danielle Shearer – 2
ND 2:49 6-7 Anne Riley – 2
Second-Half Scoring
Team Time Score Goal Assist
ND 26:37 7-7 Danielle Shearer – 3
ND 20:08 8-7 Danielle Shearer – 4
OSU 16:34 * 8-8 Megan Mirick – 5
OSU 13:21 8-9 Tracey Bounds – 2
OSU 11:49 8-10 Megan Mirick – 6 Tracey Bounds – 2
ND 11:21 9-10 Lauren Fischer – 2 Natalie Loftus
ND 10:33 10-10 Anne Riley – 2 Meredith Simon – 2
OSU 4:22 10-11 Shannon Wilson
OSU 0:56 10-12 Shannon Wilson – 2
ND 0:34 11-12 Lauren Fischer – 3 Natalie Loftus – 2
* indicates free position goal
Scoring: 1st 2nd Final
Notre Dame (8-2) 6 5 11
Ohio State (8-2) 7 5 12
Shots on Goal
ND 24
OSU 29
Goalkeepers
ND: Jen White, (60:00 min., 12 goals, 9 saves)
OSU: Erin Forquer, (60:00 min., 11 goals, 9 saves)