Women's lacrosse rolls past Notre Dame, 12-7

The No. 13 Syracuse women’s lacrosse team improved to 5-6 on the season and 3-0 in the Big East after a 12-7 victory against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Sunday at the Carrier Dome.

The Irish struck first when Megan Sullivan scored at the 27:35 mark, but the Orange answered back when Sarah Holden netted her 17th goal of the season off of a free position shot. Ansley Stewart then gave the lead right back to the Irish when she netted her first of three goals at the 24:02 mark. The Orange answered right back again as Katie Webster scored her first goal to knot the game at two.

Photo: Megan O'Malley

Katie Webster charges for a goal during the first half of the Syracuse Women's lacrosse game Sunday against Notre Dame. Webster would go on to score three goals on the day.

The Irish took a 3-2 lead on Stewart’s second goal, but Syracuse responded by going on a five-goal scoring run in which Catherine Rodriguez, Lindsey Connell, Michelle Tumolo, Tee Ladouceur and Webster all scored.

Shaylyn Blaney and Stewart each scored a goal to end the Orange scoring run, but Tumolo netted her second goal of the day at the 2:48 mark of the first half, giving the Orange an 8-5 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the Orange offensive attack didn’t let up, as Ladouceur scored her second goal of the day at the 26:10 mark. Webster and Rodriguez helped add to the Orange lead, and Alyssa Murray scored the dagger at the 3:03 mark, giving the Orange a 12-6 lead. Maggie Tamasitis scored for the Irish with 1:42 left, but it was too late for an Irish comeback by then.

The Orange outshot the Irish 31-21 in the game, won the draw control battle 12-8, and went 4-of-10 in free position shots, whereas the Irish went 0-of-3. Syracuse also managed less turnovers than the Irish, as it only recorded 11 turnovers to Notre Dame’s 14. Liz Hogan also recorded 10 saves for the Orange.

SU head coach Gary Gait said this game was one of the best games of the year for his team.

“I think this is our first win streak of the year, so I’m pretty happy about that. I think our play, especially in the first half, was outstanding,” Gait said. “Overall, it was definitely one of our better games of the year, and I think part of that is because we were actually home all week for the first time.”

The Orange also managed to hold their opponent to less than 10 goals in a game for the second game in a row, and third time on the year.

“Our defense is starting to gel. Our attack is riding much better than we have all year in these last two games,” Gait said. “The number of caused turnovers has been exciting for me to watch because this is what we’ve been talking about, and to see it happen on the field is great.”

Following back-to-back home wins, Syracuse will hit the road again as the Orange face the No. 18 Georgetown Hoyas in a battle of undefeated Big East teams Saturday at noon.