Durkin shines for Irish despite loss to No. 13 Commodores
By SARAH RYKOWSKI
Sports Writer
Despite a school record-tying performance by Irish goaltender Tara Durkin, the Notre Dame women's lacrosse team suffered defeat at the hands of No. 13 ranked Vanderbilt and saw its record fall to 3-4 on the season.
Durkin made 20 saves in the 10-6 loss to the Commodores, matching current junior Carrie Marshall's record set against Columbia in 1998. Durkin improved her save percentage from .620 (10th in the NCAA) to .629 with her performance Sunday.
"It was nice to have an individual record," Durkin said. "But it really doesn't mean much if the team doesn't win."
Vanderbilt goalie Shana Crabtree finished the game with 13 saves, compared to her total of five in 1999, when she shared goaltending duties for Vanderbilt with junior Emily Lough.
Despite the loss, the Irish were optimistic when comparing the performance against last season's 18-9 Vanderbilt game.
"I think we've definitely improved from last year," junior Lael O'Shaughnessy said. "We're a totally different team than last year. Our defense was better and so was our goaltending."
The junior attacker scored in her 17th consecutive game, finishing against Vanderbilt with one goal and one assist.
The Irish held the Commo-dores scoreless for nearly 14 minutes in the first half and almost 15 in the second.
Despite this strong defensive showing, they were unable to stop potent Vanderbilt tri-captain and senior Sue Napolitano, who finished the game with 7 goals.
"It was our best game at home," Durkin said. "We're not discouraged at all."
The home match against the Commodores marked the fourth consecutive loss for this Irish squad that started the season 3-0 before losing the last four. But they remain hopeful that the slide will end.
"Basically there's going to have to be a turning point," Durkin said. "Something will happen over the next three games."
Freshman Danielle Shearer led the Irish, finishing with three goals and one assist. Her second goal of the first half cut Vanderbilt's lead to 7-4. Notre Dame defenseman Tina Fedarcyk and attacker Angela Dixon also scored in the first half.
"[Shearer] played well," Durkin said. "I think that the freshmen were kind of forced to come in and be leaders on a team with no seniors. They had to come in [ready to play] faster than most programs."
The Irish and the Commodores were deadlocked for the first 15 minutes of the second half. The Irish were the first to break in and score, with another goal by Shearer off an assist by O'Shaughnessy. Napolitano won the draw following that score and set off a Commodore scoring spree that put Vanderbilt up 10-5.
O'Shaughnessy scored the final goal of the game with six minutes left to bring the Irish back up to 10-6.
"We're a newly developed team," Durkin said. "We're hanging in there. We're not getting humiliated against ranked teams."
Notre Dame travels to Georgetown on Wednesday. This will be the first official meeting between the two teams.
Georgetown, currently ranked No. 6, has a 6-2 record and beat Rutgers 16-6 on Saturday. The Hoyas are led by All-American junior Shaheen Stanwick, who finished last season with 51 goals and 26 assists. Fifth-year coach Kim Simons used both her goalies against Rutgers. Junior Bowen Holden has a .626 save percentage and a 7.33 goals against average.
Sophomore Chandler Vecchio has played in five of the eight Hoya contests and has allowed no goals in those games.
The Irish will be looking to knock off the highly-ranked Hoyas.
"We have to be intense for every game now," O'Shaugh-nessy said. "Their ranking shouldn't matter. We have no easy games left."
All Sports Stories for Monday, April 3, 2000
