April 10, 2007

Solid as a rock
Falcons set a new goal record in ninth win

SLIPPERY ROCK, Penn. - The Notre Dame Women’s Lacrosse team (9-2) racked up their ninth consecutive win of the season with a 22-3 victory over the Slippery Rock University Rock (0-8). The Falcons’ 22 goals sets a new team scoring record previously set at 19.

The Falcons got on the board early and often with a Molly Merrill (So/Medina, OH) goal just over one minute into the game. Stacey Gowe (Fr/Medina, OH) got the Falcons up 2-0 two minutes later from an unassisted goal. After a four-minute scoring drought, the NDC Laxers then rattled off thirteen unanswered goals to bring the first half to a 15-0 lead.

The second half saw much of the same NDC domination as they outscored The Rock 7-3. Despite one goal each from Krystal Handlovic, Caitlin O’Brien and Brooke Scholl, Slippery Rock couldn’t come back from the first-half deficit.

In between the pipes, goalkeepers Kylie Flett (Jr/Adelaide, Australia) and Marissa Lundgren (Fr/Uniontown, OH) split time in the cage. Flett made three saves against The Rock while Lundgren made one save on the day.

Defensively, Sarah Hutchison (Fr/Powell, OH) fared well with five groundballs and a game high five caused turnovers. Hutchison is currently ranked second on the team in caused turnovers. In addition to a strong showing on the NDC side of the field, the midfielder tallied two goals and one assist, as well.

A few Falcons earned some of their first collegiate goals as Marisa Rainieri (Fr/Uniontown, OH), Emily Moore (Fr/Akron, OH) and Emily Jones (Fr/Kent, OH) each found the back of the net once. Tessa Bluntzer (Jr/Houston, TX) also scored her first goal of the 2007 campaign.

Jenn Morse (Fr/Brampton, ON) scored three times while Merrill finished the day with her fourth hat trick of the season. Nikki Gatlin (Jr/Oakwood, OH), Gena McPherson (Fr/Brampton, ON) and Dani Ulry (Fr/Gahanna, OH) each scored twice. Sam Cerovich (Fr/San Diego, CA), Jenna Schuerman (So/Savage, MN), Rosie Garam (Fr/Mentor, OH) and Gowe each picked up one goal to round out the NDC scoring blitzkrieg. Jo Bauswein (So/Chagrin Falls, OH), Hutchison, Merrill, Schuerman, McPherson and Garam finished with one assist each.

The Falcons play again on Saturday April 14 at 1:00pm when they host the Presbyterian Blue Hose at Korb Field.

Notes from the Nest…

May the “Morse” Be With You: Jenn Morse’s goal scoring performance marks her first-ever collegiate hat trick against the Rock. Morse shot 3-for-4, good enough for a .571 shot percentage on the season. Morse also grabbed two draw controls and two groundballs

A Baker’s Dozen Plus One: 14 different Falcons were responsible for the barrage of goals in their program record ninth win of the season. Of the 14, four players notched their first goal of the season. NDC has outscored their opponents 148-80 this season and 94-41 in the first half alone.

Keepin’ it Real: The NDC Goalkeeping personnel has also been a force to reckon with this season. Flett and Lundgren have combined for a total of 127 saves on 209 shots (.614 save percentage). Lundgren boasts a .667 save percentage through five games while Flett has a .609 percentage in between the pipes and has made all 11 starts this season.