Notre Dame improves to 10-4 with win over Rutgers
By Anthony Bishop
Sports Writer
The Notre Dame women's lacrosse team defeated both Rutgers and adversity in a penalty-stricken match Sunday.
The Irish (10-4) defeated the Scarlet Knights (7-9) despite penalties and hard play by Big East foe Rutgers.
After 60 minutes of play, the scoreboard read 12-8. The score, however, did not reflect the game.
Sunday was the last home game of the season for the Irish who honored their seniors before the game.
This year marked the first year that the graduating seniors were members of a recruiting class.
The seniors were honored Sunday with a beautiful day, the largest crowd of the year and a victory giving them their first-ever 10-win season.
But the seniors were not the only ones making the game special. They were given a strong tribute by junior Natalie Loftus, sophomores Danielle Shearer and Jen White and freshman Kassen Delano.
The game started out well for the Irish as they opened up with goals from Delano and Shearer.
Another Delano goal, both assisted by Shearer, came after a Rutgers score. Delano would later secure the hat trick within the first half.
Shearer later finished off her own hat trick and added three assists to lead the team with six points overall.
The next 15 minutes of the game became a duel between the two goalies as both teams were held scoreless. The Irish goalkeeper, White, ended up with nine saves.
The rest of the first half showcased back and forth scoring as neither team budged in what would turn out to be a very intense game. The Irish led 6-5 going into the locker room.
The second half played out much the same when not looking at stats.
Penalties were called almost constantly throughout play and one call forced a stoppage of play as Notre Dame head coach Tracy Coyne contested the ruling.
Despite the Irish maintaining most of the ball possession, it seemed as if the referees had it out for Notre Dame as frustration hit the players on the field. However, this seemed to only spark the Irish attack.
While still getting rock-solid play from White, the offense managed to get great transition from the defense and scored the first six goals of the second half.
White left the game with just under three minutes remaining in the game having given up only five goals to her nine saves.
Rutgers scored the final three goals bringing the final score to 12-8, but the score hardly showed the play that occurred on the field. The Irish out shot the Scarlet Knights 29-22 as well as out drew Rutgers 12-10.
These numbers truly showed the intensity with which the two teams played while the score is misleading.
Notre Dame next plays at No. 10 Syracuse on May 5. The Irish will work on their best record in school history, hoping to make it 11 before the playoffs.
All Sports Stories for Monday, April 30, 2001
