April 29, 2001

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 18th-ranked Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team scored six straight goals in the second half to beat visiting Rutgers 12-8 and record its first 10-win season in the five-year history of varsity Irish women’s lacrosse. Notre Dame broke open a 6-5 halftime game by holding the Scarlet Knights scoreless in the second half until 2:16 left in the game, as the Irish improve to 10-4 on the season and 4-1 in the BIG EAST. Notre Dame concludes the regular season when it travels to 10th-ranked Syracuse (9-4, 4-1) for a 1:00 p.m. game on Sat., May 5. Rutgers falls to 7-9 overall, 2-4 in the BIG EAST.

Sophomore Danielle Shearer led the Irish with three goals and three assists, while freshman Kassen Delano also scored three goals and added an assist. Sophomore goalkeeper Jen White made nine saves in 55:30 of action and allowed just five goals. Freshman Cali Wojdyla led the Scarlet Knights with two goals, while junior Adrienne Booth had a pair of assists.

The Irish outshot the Scarlet Knights 29-22, including 14-6 in the second half when most of Rutgers shots came in the waning minutes of the game. Notre Dame doubled up Rutgers in groundballs 34-17 and held a 12-10 edge in draw controls. The Irish win over the Scarlet Knights marks the fifth time this season — joining Havard, Connecticut, Yale and Ohio State — Notre Dame has beaten an opponent to whom it lost last year, when Notre Dame was 5-10.

The teams combined for six goals in the first 5:42 of action, as the Irish built a quick 4-2 lead they would never relinquish. Delano and Shearer scored back-to-back goals in 31 seconds for a 2-1 Irish lead at 28:25. Sophomore Claire Grooms scored to pull the Scarlet Knights within 2-1, the first of five times Rutgers would get within a goal but would never manage to tie or pull ahead. Delano answered at 26:28, before sophomore Kate Slotman matched her at 25:16. Junior Natalie Loftus ended the scoring spurt at 24:18 as she gave the Irish a 4-2 lead.

The teams would battle scoreless for the next 14:34 until the teams traded goals in the final 9:44 with Rutgers striking last with 51 seconds until halftime. That goal would be the last for the Scarlet Knights until late in the second half, as Notre Dame came out strong after halftime and slowly increased their lead with six unanswered goals over a span of 19:09. Shearer and junior Alissa Moser each scored a pair in that run that gave the Irish their biggest lead at 12-5 with 8:49 remaining. Rutgers scored its final three goals in the last 2:16 of the game.

Team Scoring

Rutgers 5-3 8

Notre Dame 6-6 12

Individual Scoring (goal-assist)

RU: Cali Wojdyla (2-0), Claire Grooms (1-1), Adrienne Booth (0-2), Jessica Apel (1-0), Christina Curiale (1-0), Catherine Seals (1-0), Kate Slotman (1-0), Maggie Bopp (0-1) and Jill Penrose (0-1).

ND: Danielle Shearer (3-3), Kassen Delano (3-1), Kathryn Lam (2-0), Alissa Moser (2-0), Maureen Henwood (1-0), Natalie Loftus (1-0), Maura Doyle (0-1), Lael O’Shaughnessy (0-1).

Team Stats

RU: total shots – 22, free position shots – 5, shots on goal – 17, saves – 10 (Lauren Gulotta), draw control – 10.

ND: total shots – 29, free position shots – 4, shots on goal – 25, saves – 9 (Jen White – 9), draw control – 12.