April 1, 2012
BALTIMORE, Md. – No. 15 Loyola (Md.) scored early and often as it handed No. 6 Notre Dame its first loss of the season, 17-11, in women’s lacrosse action at Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore, Md., on Sunday afternoon.
The Irish (8-1, 2-1 BIG EAST) return home to Arlotta for a Thursday night showdown with No. 2 Syracuse. The contest, which begins at 7 p.m., will be televised by CBS Sports Network. Loyola improves to 7-3, including 3-0 in the BIG EAST.
After taking a 7-5 lead into halftime, Loyola started the second half with two more goals to stretch its lead to 9-5. Notre Dame made a run to trim the lead to 9-8, as freshman Caitlin Gargan scored a pair of goals in under two minutes to give her three for the game.
From there, the Greyhounds put the game out of reach with eight goals in almost 13 minutes to extend the lead to 17-9. Annie and Sydney Thomas combined for five of the goals during the stretch. For the game, the Greyhounds peppered the Irish goal with 36 shots, including 22 in the second half.
Notre Dame closed out the game with three goals to give the game its final margin.
The Greyhounds received strong play in the goal from Kerry Stoothoff, who tallied only eight saves, but saved several key shots that prevented the Irish from inching closer on the scoreboard. Stoothoff was a unanimous preseason first-team all-BIG EAST selection at goalie.
After the Irish dominated the draw control in the first half, 11-2, the Greyhounds made adjustments at half and grabbed 10 of the 16 second-half draw controls, many leading to goals.
The contest proved to be a game of runs, as each team had three runs each of three or more consecutive goals.
Leading the way for the Irish was senior Maggie Tamasitis, who tallied five assists and a goal to lead Notre Dame with six points. Junior Jaimie Morrison scored three goals on four shots, while Gargan had a hat trick, the first of her career. Sophomore Margaret Smith had a pair of goals, three ground balls, four draw controls and two caused turnovers. Goalie Ellie Hilling suffered her first loss of the season, giving up 15 goals in 52:53 minutes of action.
For the Greyhounds, Hannah Schmitt scored four goals and dished out two assists, and Annie Thomas (4G, 1A) and Marlee Paton (1G, 4A) each tallied five points.
Loyola jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead in the first eight minutes of the game on the strength of three free position shots. The early deficit was the third consecutive for the Irish after suffering similar deficits against Louisville and Rutgers. On the day, Loyola was 3-for-3 in free position shots, capitalizing on 30 Notre Dame fouls.
The Irish scored four consecutive goals to tie the game at five with 4:36 left in the first half. The Greyhounds tallied the final two goals of the half to give Notre Dame its first halftime deficit of the season.
–ND–