March 13, 2012
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – The No. 7 Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team took a 10-2 lead into the halftime break and didn’t look back as the Irish knocked off Yale, 15-9, in the nightcap of the SpringFling Tournament in Delray Beach, Fla.
Notre Dame (5-0) becomes just the third Irish team to open the year with five consecutive wins, joining the 2004 and 2006 squads. Both teams qualified for the NCAAs, with the 2006 team advancing to the national semifinals.
The Irish jumped out quickly on the Bulldogs, scoring the first 10 goals of the game as eight different Notre Dame players found the back of the cage in the first 24:52 of the first half. Leading the way in the first half were Jenny Granger, who recorded the first two goals of the game and assisted on the third goal, Maggie Tamasitis, who had a goal and three assists, and Lauren Sullivan, who scored the first two goals of her career, eventually recording a hat trick.
The second half started with more Irish goals as Margaret Smith, Jaimie Morrison and Molly Shawhan all scored on free position shots to push the lead to 13-2. Down 15-4, Yale scored the final five goals of the game to make the score closer than the game actually was.
In the net, junior Ellie Hilling gave the Bulldogs little room to score as the three-year starter stopped five shots and allowed only four goals before being relieved for the first time all year by freshman Allie Murray. The Exton, Pa., product surrendered five goals in her first action in the Notre Dame blue and gold.
Notre Dame continues its Florida road trip on Saturday when the Irish meet Cornell in Orlando, Fla., at Disney’s Wide World of Sports. The two squads meet in a 12 p.m. contest that will be broadcast on ESPN3.
–ND–