April 14, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – Sophomore midfielder Meredith Simon (Flemington, N.J.) scored three goals while seniors Natalie Loftus (Baltimore, Md.) and Alissa Moser (North Wales, Pa.) added two goals each to pace ninth-ranked Notre Dame to an 11-8 win over the 12th-ranked Yale Bulldogs at Moose Krause Stadium.
The win snapped Notre Dame’s two-game losing streak and improved the Irish to 9-3 on the year. The Irish are tied for first in the BIG EAST with second-ranked Georgetown with 4-0 league marks. They will face the Hoyas at Georgetown next Saturday, April 20th in a 12:30 p.m. game. With the loss, Yale falls to 9-3 on the year.
The Bulldogs, looking for their second upset in as many days (they beat seventh-ranked Duke, 13-12, on Saturday), jumped out to an early 3-1 first-half lead. Sophie Melniker opened the scoring just 1:05 into the game to give Yale the 1-0 lead.
Sophomore Kassen Delano (So., Alexandria, Va.) turned a great feed from Danielle Shearer (Jr., Hampstead, Md.) into a 1-1 tie at 9:16. Yale wasted little time in retaking the lead as Katie Sargent scored her first of three on the day 18 seconds later and Sarah Queener made it 3-1 49 seconds after that (10:23) for a 3-1 lead.
Simon got the Irish offense going at 17:11 with her first of three goals and Loftus got a free position goal at 13:19 to tie the game 3-3.
Simon put the Irish ahead to stay at 6:38 and Kelly McCardell’s (West Chester, Pa.) first goal of the season made it 5-3 with 4:58 left in the first half. Anne Riley (Jr., Marblehead, Mass.) made it a three-goal advantage with a free position goal at 1:32. Sargent scored her second goal of the game 16 seconds later and the two teams went into the half with the Irish leading 6-4.
The two teams traded goals for most of the second half with the Irish never giving up the two-goal lead. Simon closed out her hat trick with 23:45 left and was answered by Sargent with her third goal of the afternoon with 19:41 left on the clock.
Moser got her first of the game at 14:10 and Queener made it 8-6 with her second goal of the day with 12:55 left.
Lauren Fischer (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) improved the lead to 9-6 when she converted Eleanor Weille’s (Garden City, N.Y.) pass with 11:52 left. Yale’s Miles Whitman cut the lead to 9-7 with 10:18 left before Loftus (5:40) and Moser (4:19) got their second goals of the game to ice the win. Melniker closed out the scoring with 2:57 left in the game for the final score of 11-8.
The Irish outshot Yale on the afternoon by a 32-21 margin. Yale’s goalkeeper Caroline Barber made 11 saves in the game while giving up 11 goals. Jen White (Jr., Annapolis, Md.) surrendered eight goals on the day while making five saves.
Notre Dame now plays three of its last four games on the road. The Irish are at Georgetown (April 20), at Northwestern (April 25) and Rutgers (April 28) before ending the season at home versus Vanderbilt on Friday, may 3rd.
Game Summary
First-Half Scoring
Team Time Score Goal Assist
Yale 28:55 0-1 Sophie Melniker
ND 20:44 1-1 Kassen Delano Danielle Shearer
Yale 20:26 1-2 Katie Sargent
Yale 19:37 1-3 Sarah Queener
ND 17:11 2-3 Meredith Simon
ND 13:19 * 3-3 Natalie Loftus
ND 6:38 4-3 Meredith Simon – 2
ND 4:58 5-3 Kelly McCardell Danielle Shearer – 2
ND 1:32 * 6-3 Anne Riley
Yale 1:16 6-4 Katie Sargent – 2
Second-Half Scoring
Team Time Score Goal Assist
ND 23:45 7-4 Meredith Simon – 3
Yale 19:41 7-5 Katie Sargent – 3 Sarah Queener
ND 14:10 8-5 Alissa Moser
Yale 12:55 8-6 Sarah Queener – 2
ND 11:52 9-6 Lauren Fischer Eleanor Weille
Yale 10:18 9-7 Mile Whitman
ND 5:40 10-7 Natalie Loftus – 2
ND 4:19 11-7 Alissa Moser – 2
Yale 2:57 11-8 Sophie Melniker – 2
* indicates free position goal
Scoring: 1st 2nd Final
Yale (9-3) 4 4 8
Notre Dame (9-3) 6 5 11
Shots on Goal
Yale 21
ND 32
Goalkeepers
Yale: Caroline Barber, (60:00 min., 11 goals, 11 saves)
ND: Jen White, (60:00 min., 8 goals, 5 saves)