April 10, 2004
Columbus, Ohio – Senior midfielder Meredith Simon (Flemington, N.J.) paced the Notre Dame offensive attack with six points on three goals and three assists and junior goalkeeper Carol Dixon (Pennsauken, N.J.) led the defense with a career-high 14 saves as Notre Dame downed Ohio State, 14-6, at Jesse Owens Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The win gives the third-ranked Irish a 10-0 season-opening record and improves their school-record winning streak to 14 games, including the final four wins of the 2003 campaign. Ohio State falls to 4-7 overall on the year.
Notre Dame ran out to a 10-0 first-half lead to put the game away early before Ohio State scored late in the opening half for a 10-1 halftime score.
Simon got plenty of help on the offensive attack as Lauren Fischer (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Crysti Foote (So., Suffern, N.Y.) had four-point games with three goals and an assist each. Kassen Delano (Sr., Alexandria, Va.) and Abby Owen (Sr., Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) added two goals each in the game and Jackie Bowers (Jr., Springfield, Pa.) added a solo goal on the afternoon.
Junior midfielder Ashley Evans who scored three goals in the game led the Buckeyes offensively. Regina Oliver, Kelyn Laws and Caroline Weatherill added single goals for Ohio State.
The Irish opened the scoring just under four minutes into the game on Foote’s unassisted goal at 26:03. Delano (21:57) and Simon (18:39) each got their first goals of the game on free-position shots to make it 3-0. The lead would go to 7-0 with 10 minutes remaining in the first half as Simon added her second goal, Foote scored twice and Owen picked up and unassisted tally.
Owen would make it 8-0 off Simon’s first assist of the game with 7:43 remaining and Fischer closed out Notre Dame’s first-half scoring with a free-position goal with 4:01 left and a second marker just 25 seconds later at 3:36 off a Simon feed.
The Buckeyes would break the 10-0 run as time ran out in the first half when Regina Oliver beat Dixon with eight seconds left in the half for a 10-1 halftime score. Dixon made just four saves in the first half, but would get a workout in the second, with 10 more on her way to a career-high mark.
Ohio State got on the board first in the second half as Kelyn Laws made it 10-2 just 4:13 into the half. Fischer answered back with her third of the game less than a minute later and was followed with goals by Bowers and Delano on free-position shots to build the lead to 13-2 with 15:53 left in the game.
Evans would get the next three Ohio State goals with Simon’s third sandwiched between them to close out Notre Dame’s scoring. Weatherill’s goal with 2:52 left in the game made it 14-6 for the final score.
Notre Dame was outshot by Ohio State, 26-25, in the game. Kim Hastings played the first half in goal for the Buckeyes, giving up 10 goals with four saves. Taryn Bowen played the second half, giving up four goals with four saves for the game.
The Notre Dame win sets up a showdown for first place in the BIG EAST next weekend, Saturday, April 17, when the Irish travel to Georgetown for a 1:00 p.m. game in Washington, D.C. The Hoyas are 8-2 overall and 4-0 in the BIG EAST while the Irish are 10-0 and 3-0 in league play. Notre Dame is 0-4 all-time versus second-ranked Georgetown.
Game Summary: 1 2 - F#3 Notre Dame (10-0) 10 4 - 14 Ohio State (4-7) 1 5 - 6
SCORING:
NOTRE DAME:
GOALS: Meredith Simon (3), Crysti Foote (3), Lauren Fischer (3), Kassen Delano (2), Abby Owen (2), Jackie Bowers
ASSISTS: Meredith Simon (3), Lauren Fischer, Crysti Foote
OHIO STATE:
GOALS: Ashley Evans (3), Caroline Weatherill, Regina Oliver, Kelyn Laws
ASSISTS: Molly McLaughlin
First Half ScoringTeam Time Score Goal AssistND 26:03 1-0 Crysti FooteND 21:37 * 2-0 Kassen DelanoND 18:39 * 3-0 Meredith SimonND 17:48 4-0 Meredith Simon - 2 Crysti FooteND 14:50 5-0 Crysti Foote - 2ND 13:54 6-0 Abby OwenND 10:10 7-0 Crysti Foote - 3 Lauren FischerND 7:43 8-0 Abby Owen - 2 Meredith SimonND 4:01 * 9-0 Lauren FischerND 3:36 10-0 Lauren Fischer - 2 Meredith Simon - 2OSU 0:08 10-1 Regina Oliver
Second Half ScoringTeam Time Score Goal AssistOSU 25:47 10-2 Kelyn LewisND 24:32 11-2 Lauren Fischer - 3 Meredith Simon - 3ND 16:58 * 12-2 Jackie BowersND 15:53 * 13-2 Kassen Delano - 2OSU 12:44 13-3 Ashley EvansND 11:54 14-3 Meredith Simon - 3OSU 9:12 14-4 Ashley Evans - 2OSU 4:35 14-5 Ashley Evans - 3OSU 2:52 14-6 Caroline Weatherill Molly McLaughlin
* denotes free position goal
GoalkeepersND: Carol Dixon (60:00 min; 6 goals against; 14 saves)OSU: Kim Hastings (30:00 min; 10 goals against, 4 saves) Taryn Bowen (30:00 min; 4 goals against, 4 saves)