March 25, 2001
Six players scored multiple goals to help the University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team register its largest margin of victory in school history with a 20-2 victory over Denver at Loftus Sports Center on Sunday afternoon. The largest win in Irish history prior to Sunday was an 18-2 home win over Davidson in 1999. The two goals given up also matched the best defensive performance by a Notre Dame team, originally done in the same game against Davidson.
The Irish, who jumped out to an 18-0 lead in shutting out the Pioneers for more than 47 minutes to open the game, were led by sophomore defender Eleanor Weille (Garden City, N.Y.), who had two goals and three assists. Previously in her career, Weille had registered a total of just three points, recording one goal and two assists in 2000. Senior attack Lael O’Shaughnessy (Alexandria, Va.) also had a pair of goals and dished out four assists.
Notre Dame had 10 players score goals in the win. Juniors Natalie Loftus (Baltimore, Md.), Katherine Scarola (Windsor, Conn.) and Maureen Whitaker (Doylestown, Pa.), as well as sophomore Kelly McCardell (West Chester, Pa.) all scored twice for the Irish. Three first-year players registered their first career goals against Denver. Meredith Simon (Flemington, N.J.) netted a goal for the first time in her college career, while Lauren Fischer (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Mia Novic (Murrysville, Pa.) each scored in her first collegiate appearance.
The Irish improve to 4-1 in 2001, matching the best start in school history, when the team began 4-1 in its initial season, 1997. Notre Dame returns to action Tuesday as the Irish travel to Ohio University to take on the Bobcats at 3:00 p.m.