Tarred and feathered
Falcons fall to Rollins in season opener
| Box |

WINTER PARK , Fla. – The Notre Dame Lacrosse team dropped its season opener to Rollins College on Monday, 11-10. In a game that featured five ties, the Falcons (0-1) could not string together a scoring binge to secure a lead against the Tars (1-2).

Rollins got on the board first at 29:08 with a goal from Liz Connelly (Fr/Longwood, FL). Connelly would go on to lead all scorers for the Tars with five points (four goals, one assist). Gena McPherson (So/Brampton, ONT) and Sarah Hutchison (So/Powell, OH) answered back with two goals over the next five minutes and was able to build a 5-3 lead by the middle of the opening half.

Rollins rallied outscoring the Falcons 5-2 over the last nine minutes of the first half to regain an 8-7 lead into intermission.

The second half became a game of valuable possession as both teams tried to hold the ball to muster up a comfortable lead. Rollins slow-paced offense took time off the clock and notched two goals to go up 11-9 with two and a half minutes left. McPherson rebuttled with a quick goal off a midfield feed from April Pegler (Jr/Bryn Mawr, PA) and then grabbed the next draw control but was not able to convert the possession into the game-tying goal.

McPherson lead the offense with three goals and two assists. Molly Merrill (Jr/Medina, OH) also finished with a hat trick, shooting 100 percent (3-for-3).

Kylie Flett (Sr/Adelaide, Australia) finished with nine saves while the Tars' Lisa Weber (Jr/Winter Springs, FL) finished with four.

NDC returns to Showalter Field for a neutral site match-up with Mercyhurst (PA) on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The game is scheduled for 11:00am.

NOTES FROM THE NEST...

GLOOMY IN THE SUNSHINE STATE: Making their last three season debuts in Florida, NDC dropped to 1-6 in all-time spring break play. The Falcons' lone win down south came last year (Mar. 8, 2007) in a 14-6 victory over Salve Regina (RI). Notre Dame has dropped their season opener in all four seasons of the program's existence.

CAREER CRAWLERS : Molly Merrill's three goal performance bumps her all-time points to 91 (75 goals and 16 assists) to maintain her third place ranking for NDC. April Pegler moves to just three points shy of being the NDC all-time point scorer. Jenna Shuerman (Jr/Savage, MN) sit in first place in the record book with 96 points (61 goals, 35 points).