Cardinals Fall 12-10 to Notre Dame in ACC Quarterfinals

Thursday, April 28

Blacksburg, Va.

7:30 PM

University of Louisville

11-5

Notre Dame

13-5

Louisville

Notre Dame

Cardinals Fall 12-10 to Notre Dame in ACC Quarterfinals

April 29, 2016 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

Second half comeback falls short for the Cardinals

By: Kim Pemberton

BLACKSBURG, VA. – Despite a furious second half comeback, the Cardinals (12-5) fell 12-10 to Notre Dame (13-5) in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. Kelli Gerding and Hannah Koloski led the Cardinals with three goals.

"I was disappointed in our first half effort," said head coach Kellie Young. "Our second half shows who we are – fearless and attacking the game. That is how you have to play for a full 60 minutes when you are playing at this level. That is one of the great things about the ACC, it gets you ready for postseason play. We have to play 60 minutes or even 50, we just can't have a first half like that. Our defense followed the game plan and made some minor mistakes that gave them second opportunities but I was really proud of our defense, especially in the second half. If we want to fight for our dreams we have to put two halves together."

The Cardinals got on the board first when Gerding scored off a pass from Kaylin Morissette at the 27:43 mark. Notre Dame countered quickly with a goal at the 26:31 to even the score.

The Fighting Irish took a 2-1 lead at the 23:59 mark. Louisville responded with a goal from Heidi Smith at the 22:43 mark to knot the score at 2-2. The Irish then went on a 7-0 run, taking a 9-2 lead with 3:49 left in the first half. Koloski stopped Louisville's scoring drought with a goal at the 1:42 mark.

Notre Dame led 9-3 at the half. Notre Dame finished the first half with a 14-11 shot advantage and an 8-5 draw control advantage. Kelly Gielner finished the first half with three saves while Notre Dame finished with five saves.

Right before the second half was set to begin, a lightning delay forced the evacuation of Lane Stadium. The game was relocated to Virginia Tech Indoor Practice Facility after a 1:17 delay.

Notre Dame scored the first goal of the second half just 40 second into the second half. Louisville responded with a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to two goals. Cortnee Daley scored her first goal of the game at the 28:31 mark. Koloski raced down the field and scored less than two minutes later.

Morissette scored on a free position shot at the 24:52 mark. Gerding scored two straight goals to cut the lead to 10-8 with 14:24 left. Notre Dame scored at the 12:42 mark on a free position shot to extend the lead to three goals.

Louisville kept fighting, Morissette scored on a free position shot at the 10:07 mark to get within two goals again. Notre Dame scored again with 6:35 left to play. Koloski scored the final goal at the 3:34 mark. Morissette won the draw control but the Irish forced a turnover and kept possession the finals minutes, holding off a Cardinal comeback for a 12-10 win.

Notre Dame finished the game with a slight 24-22 advantage in shots and a 14-10 advantage in draw controls. The Cardinals held a 15-12 ground balls advantage.

Along with her three goals, Gerding added an assist to lead the Cardinals with four points. Morissette finished with two goals and an assist. She also led the Cardinals with six draw controls and three ground balls.

The Cardinals will now wait for the NCAA Selection show on Sunday, May 8 at 9:00 p.m.