University of Louisville
Notre Dame
Lacrosse Falls to No. 8 Notre Dame 11-9
March 27, 2010 | Women's Lacrosse
March 27, 2010
Despite junior Bergan Foley's four goals, the No. 19 Louisville fell to No. 11/8-ranked Notre Dame Irish 11-9, in the BIG EAST opener for both teams.
The Cardinals fall to 4-3 overall and 0-1 in the BIG EAST while Notre Dame improves to 5-3 on the season and 1-0 in conference play.
"To be in a game with the No. 8-ranked team in the country, and have multiple opportunities to tie in the last few minutes is certainly progress. However, I think we are all ready to learn from these experiences...make the jump...and win these big games," said U of L head coach Kellie Young. "We are right there and need to choose to take care of the ball, embrace the challenges brought by this level of competition and fight every minute of the game. When we make these changes, we will win these games".
Foley led Louisville with four goals, while Emily Dashiell notched three scores for the Cardinals. Lianne Bobal and Liz Lovejoy added one goal each, and Katie Oliverio recorded two assists.
Louisville got on the board first as Bobal scored just 2:28 into the game. ND's Kaitlin Keena answered quickly for the Irish, tying the game at 1-1 off a Maggie Tamasitis assist with just over 26:00 left in the first half. Dashiell put the Cardinals ahead 2-1, but Zentgraf found the back of the net off an assist from Doherty to tie the game just 37 seconds later.
Foley, the nation's leading scorer, gave Louisville a 3-2 lead with 22:57 left in the first period, but the Irish scored three straight on goals from to take a 5-3 lead into the lockerroom in a tightly contested first half.
Louisville was not braced as Notre Dame came out firing in the second half, scoring three goals in just over one minute into the period. Tamasitis scored off an assist from Blaney, before Sullivan scored twice on Tamasitis assists. However, Foley countered by scoring two quick goals for Louisville to make it an 8-5 contest. Tamasitis scored Notre Dame's ninth goal of the day with 22:28 left, before Foley and Dashiell notched two more for the Cardinals. Sullivan found the back of the net on a free position shot to put the Irish up 10-7 with 16:00 remaining. Lovejoy and Dashiell each scored to pull Louisville within one, but Blaney scored the final goal to make it an 11-9 game. The Irish defense held off a battling Louisville for the final eight minutes to preserve the win.
Louisville freshman goalkeeper, Danielle Pawliw, had three saves. Louisville outshot the Irish 30-25 in the contest. The Cardinals also led in ground balls with 15 to ND's 9 and neither school was able to score on an extra man opportunity.
