April 20, 2007

Falcons drowned by Lakers
NDC falters against Mercyhurst

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio - The Notre Dame College Women’s Lacrosse (10-4) team dropped their second consecutive match in a 22-7 defeat from Mercyhurst College (6-4). The Lakers outscored NDC 12-4 in the first half and the Royal and Gold couldn’t recover.

The Lakers got on the board first one minute into the match with a goal from Kristen Toomey who went on to score a hat trick against the Falcons. Mercyhurst used their opening goal momentum to go up 5-0 before NDC could answer back with a free position goal from Stacey Gowe (Fr/Medina, OH).

The Falcons scored three more times in the first half but couldn’t counter the offensive purge by the Lakers as they mounted an eight goal differential heading into intermission.

The Royal and Gold may have scored the first and last goals of the second half but what came in between from the Lakers wasn’t very forgiving. A quick attack and sharp shooting from Mercyhurst gave them a ten goal run that NDC just couldn’t recover from.

Mercyhurst’s Lauren Smith lead all scoring with seven goals and one assist. Jessica Raniero and Maeve McGoff split time in between the pipes to combine for 10 saves against the stagnant NDC offense.

Gowe finished the day with three goals and four draw controls for Notre Dame.

On a very busy defensive end a strong effort was put forth by Emily Jones (Fr/Kent, OH) who snatched four caused turnovers, three groundballs and one groundball. Staci Myrup (Fr/Murray, UT) had two groundballs and one draw control.

In between the pipes, Kylie Flett (Jr/Adelaide, Australia) put on a great goalkeeping performance with 20 saves. Marissa Lundgren (Fr/Uniontown, OH) also saw some time making two saves against the Mercyhurst scoring barrage.

The Falcons hope to turn the losing streak around on Wednesday, April 25 when they travel to Central New York to take on Alfred University at 4:00pm.

Notes from the Nest….

Ground Control: Regardless of the losing effort, the Falcons grabbed 17 draw controls to Mercyhurst’s 12. In the last five games, NDC has picked up 73 draws to the opponent’s 51. On the season, Notre Dame has nabbed 156 balls off the draw.

Saving Grace: Although the Falcons struggle on the field, Kylie Flett has been dead on in between the pipes. With 38 goals against in the last three matches, Flett has turned away 47 opponent shots. Combined with backup keeper Marissa Lundgren, the NDC Goalkeeping Contingent boasts a .599 save percentage.