May 9, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team rallied from a three-goal second half deficit to score the final seven goals of the game to take an 11-7 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the NCAA women’s lacrosse tournament.
Sophomore Meredith Simon led the Irish with three goals and two assists while seniors Alissa Moser and Natalie Loftus and sophomore Kassen Delano each scored twice as the Irish move on to the NCAA quarterfinals on Sunday, May 12 at Princeton. The Tigers, the tournament’s number two seed, advanced with a 25-3 opening round thumping of LeMoyne.
Ohio State was led by Lauren Cochran who had three goals in the game. Regina Oliver added two for the Buckeyes. The win, Notre Dame’s fourth in a row, improves the Irish to 13-4 overall while Ohio State finishes the year with an 11-5 record.
With less than 20 minutes left in the game, the Irish trailed the Buckeyes 7-4 and were having trouble getting their attack going. Then came the explosion.
Team-leading scorer Danielle Shearer scored on a free position shot with 19:53 left in the game to make it 7-5. Loftus, the offensive catalyst all season long, scored twice in a 1:54 span to tie the game at 7-7 with 14:58 left in the game.
Simon put the Irish ahead to stay with her second goal of the game with 10:56 left and made it 9-7 with 7:45 off a great feed from Eleanor Weille.
Delano sealed the deal with a pair of goals (one free position) in the final 5:18 for the 11-7 win.
“There was no panic when we were behind,” said head coach Tracy Coyne. “We just kept working and the goals finally came in the second half.
Ohio State jumped out to a 4-1 lead first half lead as they took the attack to the Irish. Tracey Bounds opened the scoring with a free position goal just under six minutes into the game.
Weille answered back with Simon assisting at 21:06 for a 1-1 tie. From there the Buckeyes scored three straight goals.
Cochran got her first of three with 18:40 left for a 2-1 lead. Oliver made it 3-1 at 15:51 and Cochran gave the Buckeyes a three-goal lead with 10:43 left in the stanza.
“I thought we did a lot of spectating in the first 20 minutes of the half,” said Coyne following the game.
“We took the timeout to settle down and we got back into the game.”
Alissa Moser single-handedly brought the Irish back as she scored twice with 7:19 left and 4:09 to cut the lead to 4-3.
Megan Mirick closed the first-half scoring with her only goal of the game at 2:09 to send the game to halftime with the Buckeyes in front 5-3. Mirick scorched the Irish for six goals in their earlier meeting in April, a game won by OSU 12-11.
Notre Dame wasted little time getting on the board in the second half as Simon made it 5-4 with her first goal of the game just 46 seconds into the final stanza.
“I was frustrated in the first half because I had some good chances,” said Simon.
“That goal took the pressure off and got me into the game.”
Cochran (28:14) and Oliver (23:12) had other plans though as they each scored to restore OSU’s three-goal lead.
From there, things got better for the Irish.
“I really thought this game showed our balance. That’s the way it’s been all year,” said Coyne. “We haven’t depended on one or two people for scoring. When one player gets stopped, someone else is there to score a big goal.”
The Irish outshot Ohio State 22-16 in the game. Jen White made 11 saves for the Irish while the Buckeyes; Erin Forquer also had 14 stops.
Game SummaryFirst-Half ScoringTeam Time Score Goal AssistOSU 24:06 * 0-1 Tracey BoundsND 21:02 1-1 Eleanor Weille Meredith SimonOSU 18:40 1-2 Lauren CochranOSU 15:51 1-3 Regina OliverOSU 10:43 1-4 Lauren Cochran - 2 Tracey BoundsND 7:19 2-4 Alissa Moser Natalie LoftusND 4:09 3-4 Alissa Moser - 2 Kate ScarolaOSU 2:09 3-5 Megan Mirick
Second-Half ScoringTeam Time Score Goal AssistND 29:14 4-5 Meredith Simon Danielle ShearerOSU 28:14 4-6 Lauren Cochran - 3OSU 23:12 * 4-7 Regina Oliver - 2ND 19:53 * 5-7 Danielle ShearerND 16:52 6-7 Natalie LoftusND 14:58 7-7 Natalie Loftus - 2ND 10:56 8-7 Meredith Simon - 2ND 7:45 9-7 Meredith Simon - 3 Eleanor WeilleND 5:18 * 10-7 Kassen DelanoND 1:13 11-7 Kassen Delano - 2 Meredith Simon
* indicates free position goal
Scoring: 1st 2nd FinalOhio State (11-5) 5 2 7Notre Dame (13-4) 3 8 11
Goalkeepers
OSU: Erin Forquer (60:00 min., 11 goals against, 11 saves)
ND: Jen White, (60:00 min., 7 goals, 11 saves)
Shots on Goal
OSU 25
ND 30
Free Position Shots
OSU 1
ND 6
Ground Balls
OSU 17
ND 30
Draw Controls
OSU 10
ND 10
Turnovers/Caused Turnovers
OSU 11/11
ND 14/10