Irish cruise to 19-5 conference win over Huskies
By ANTHONY BISHOP
Sports Writer
The Notre Dame women's lacrosse team treated a large crowd to a 19-5 win against Connecticut Sunday.
The Irish offense started things off as junior captain Alissa Moser scored an early goal. Penalties stalled the Irish momentum and Connecticut's Susan Payne tied the score at 1.
That was all the Irish needed to boost their productivity.
Four seconds after a Connecticut defender drew a yellow card, sophomore Danielle Shearer scored her first goal of the game with an assist by senior captain Lael O'Shaughnessy.
After the draw, Shearer got the ball from freshman Kassen Delano, and scored again. After the next draw, Shearer scored once more.
Shearer's natural hat trick came within 41 seconds.
She credits the defensive effort as they "started all of the runs. Their feeds were amazing as they sparked the attack."
On the opposite end of the field, sophomore goalie Jen White was the cornerstone to a brick wall playing defense for Notre Dame.
White's saves set up scores by junior Natalie Loftus and Delano. With the score at 6-1, the defense finally gave up another goal and would only give up three more late in the game.
O'Shaughnessy finally scored her first of three goals with one of Shearer's two assists. Minutes later, aided by horrible Husky ball handling and an assist by Delano, senior Maura Doyle scored. The scoring barrage for Notre Dame ended on a Delano score with the help of Shearer's second assist.
"Our shot selection was very good," Delano said. "We really worked on focusing on this game and making ourselves better from the Vanderbilt loss and it showed as the whole team played their best."
Heather Bliss scored just before the half to bring the Huskies within seven, 10-3.
In the second half, the Irish capitalized on Huskie penalties as Shearer, Moser, O'Shaughnessy and Loftus all scored.
The Irish scored five more as the clock ran continuously toward the end of the game.
Two late Connecticut scores brought the final score to 19-5.
Shearer led the Irish offense with five goals and two assists.
O'Shaughnessy added three goals and two assists while both Delano and Moser tallied two scores.
The defense was equally as impressive as White saved shots and only allowed three goals and backup Tara Durkin allowed two goals with two saves.
This is the best start in school history at 7-2 (3-0 in Big East) which ties the team's record in the 1999 season.
The Irish return to action on Friday when they go on the road to take on Duke.
All Sports Stories for Monday, April 9, 2001
