Rutgers ensured Saturday that the Notre Dame women's lacrosse team ended its 2000 season in a loss, 14-7. But despite strong efforts, the team walked away wishing it could have ended on a positive note.

"Going out and playing even though we had a losing record show our team's [dedication]," starting goalkeeper Tara Durkin said. "We played hard the whole game — It would have been nice to come out with a win."

The Irish finish the season with a 5-10 record while the Scarlet Knights complete their season 7-8.

The Irish matched the Scarlet Knights in all areas of their game, except for two five point scoring runs in each half. The first put the Knights up 5-1, and the second bumped them to a 13-5 advantage in the second portion of the game.

"There's always mistakes at both ends," Durkin said. "It could have gone either way."

Thanks to an early goal by Irish attacker Kathryn Perrella, the Irish jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game. Rutgers, not willing to conceed the game then and there, responded with their first set of five consecutive unanswered goals to take the lead by four with 11 minutes to play. Three minutes later, freshman Anne Riley scored off a free position shot to put the Irish back in the game.

Lael O'Shaughnessy tallied on for the Irish, helping Notre Dame close in on Rutgers' lead with 7 minutest to go. Rutgers slipped two more shots past Durkin to end the half up 7-3.

"One of the biggest things was being able to move [past] the goalie," Durkin said. "We were shooting straight to her stick. The shots weren't going in."

After an early goal for the Scarlet Knights increased their lead to 8-3, the Irish defense held firm for 10 solid minutes, scoring two goals in the meantime to chip away at Rutgers' lead. Riley got another free position shot, and defenseman Tina Fedarcyk connected to help the Irish up to 5-8.

But a scoring drought led the Irish to a point deficit, while the Scarlet Knights went on their second scoring drive of the afternoon to lead 13-5.

Sophomore attacker Maureen Whitaker brought the offense to life with a tally at the 1 minute mark.

Freshman midfielder Danielle Shearer also connected for the Irish with 30 seconds to play, but the Scarlet Knights held on, cementing their victory with a goal in the final seconds to end the game at 14-7.

"It could have been anyone's game," Durkin said.

Rutgers' offense was led by All-American senior Liz Chambers, who scored 5 goals in Saturday's game, including two in the first half.

"She was getting in some shots right around the crease, which have a 99 percent chance of going in," Durkin said of Chambers. "She's a very good player, with very good placement."

The Irish begin Big East play in the 2001 season, where they will again face the Rutgers, along with Syracuse, Boston College, Connecticut, Georgetown, and Virginia Tech.

"We're definitely able to perform against Big East teams next year," Durkin said. "We didn't have many wins this season, but we built a foundation."

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