March 7, 2015
NEWTON, Mass. — Cortney Fortunato scored her second hat trick in as many games, and Rachel Sexton added a score in her Boston homecoming, but it was not enough to propel the No. 16 University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team past No. 4 Boston College, which won 15-6 on the Eagles’ turf field at their Newton, Massachusetts, campus.
The Eagles (6-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), outshot the Irish 24-18 and enjoyed a 14-12 edge in ground balls, while the Irish (3-3, 0-2 ACC) tallied seven more draw controls for a 15-8 advantage.
Boston College scored each of the first three goals in the game’s first nine minutes before Notre Dame responded with three goals of itsown to knot the score with 11:19 remaining in the first half. Fortunato tallied the first Irish goal on a free position shot at 19:49, followed by Heidi Annaheim’s free position shot at 16:08. Fortunato netted her second goal of the game with an assist by Casey Pearsall, to tie the game at 3-3.
The Eagles scored the next nine goals, however, to effectively put the game away. The Irish didn’t score again until the 14:12 mark of the second half, when Sexton buried a goal with an assist by Katherine Eilers to make it 12-4. Two minutes later, Caitlin Gargan buried a shot off a feed from Brie Custis to make it 12-5, but the Eagles scored three goals in the final five minutes. Fortunato picked up her third goal on a free position shot with five seconds remaining to account for the final 15-6 score, giving the sophomore her 13th career hat trick in 25 games.
Alex Dalton, also a Boston-area native, led the Irish with six draw controls, while Pearsall added four. Gargan and Pearsall also had two ground balls apiece to pace Notre Dame. Dalton, Fortunato, Pearsall and Eilers each caused a turnover, as well. Liz O’Sullivan played all 60 minutes between the pipes, recording five saves.
For the Eagles, Covie Stanwick tallied a game-leading eight points (seven goals, one assist), while Caroline Margolis ripped off seven points (four goals, three assists). Both Stanwick and Margolis where perfect on shots on goal. Margolis also paced Boston College with four ground balls.
The Irish will return to the field at 7 p.m. EDT Tuesday when they take on No. 14 Stony Brook in Stony Brook, New York, as part of their Spring Break swing through the Northeast.