NOTRE DAME, Ind. — No. 20 Notre Dame heads to Liberty to take on the Flames in their third matchup of the 2019 campaign. Opening draw is set for noon ET on Sunday (Feb. 17) from Lynchburg, Virginia, and the contest is set to be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required). Live stats will be available on Liberty.edu/flames.
NOTRE DAME at LIBERTY
Location: Lynchburg, Va. — Liberty Lacrosse Field
Live Stream: ESPN+ (subscription required)
Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @NDWomensLax
THE SERIES vs. LIBERTY
- Sunday’s contest marks the third matchup all-time between Notre Dame and Liberty, with the Irish earning victories in the first two contests against the Flames.
- Notre Dame has outscored Liberty by a combined 43-4 in their first two matchups.
- The last meeting between the two sides came on February 10, 2017, when the Irish topped the Flames 18-2.
- Cortney Fortunato led Notre Dame with seven goals in that contest.
- Then-sophomore Nikki Ortega added a goal and five assists for the Irish in the win while classmate Samantha Giacolone made a pair of saves to earn the victory in goal.
DOMINANT OPENING WEEKEND
- The Irish outscored Marquette and Canisius by a combined 40-8 in their first two games of the season and collected 61 points in those contests.
- Samantha Lynch has a team-high 11 goals and 12 points in two contests. Jessi Masinko follows her with 10 points (5G, 5A) and Maddie Howe has nine points (6G, 3A).
- 15 different players have recorded a point in Notre Dame’s first two victories.
- Notre Dame has caused 33 turnovers in two games.
- The Irish have collected 34 draws in their first two contests. Savannah Buchanan is pacing the Irish with 14 with Andie Aldave close behind at 12.
- Samantha Giacolone has recorded 10 saves in two games with a save percentage of .556.
- The Irish have gone 22-24 on clear attempts in their 120 minutes of play, which accounts for a percentage of .917.
OTHER TIDBITS
- Seniors Jenn Casadonte and Hannah Proctor and junior Savannah Buchanan are captaining the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team in 2019.
- Notre Dame is No. 20 in the Inside Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) preseason poll and receiving votes in the Inside Lacrosse/Cascade Media preseason poll.
- The Irish are one of seven ACC teams ranked in the IWLCA preseason poll.
- Senior defender Hannah Proctor was named a Preseason Honorable Mention All-American by Inside Lacrosse ahead of the 2019 campaign.
- Junior midfielder Savannah Buchanan and sophomore attacker Maddie Howe were each named to the 2019 Preseason All-ACC Team, the conference announced on Wednesday (Feb. 6)
- Senior goalkeeper Samantha Giacolone enters the contest ranked second in Irish history with a goals-against average of 9.65. Giacolone also ranks third in program history with 35 wins, 477 saves and 3,332 minutes played.
- Junior midfielder Savannah Buchanan enters play on Sunday tied for eighth in Irish history with 126 career draw controls.
- In 2018, midfielder Andie Aldave set a single-season Irish record with 98 draw controls while midfielder Savannah Buchanan’s 67 draw controls were tied for the third most in a single season.
- Last season, Aldave and attacker Maddie Howe became the first freshman duo in Irish history to each score 30+ goals.
–ND–