University of Connecticut Athletics
No. 11 Notre Dame Edges No. 19 Women's Lacrosse
3/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. (March 30, 2007) – Whitney Michele (East Rochester, N.Y.) and Janet Williams (Reisterstown, Md.) each tallied three goals for the Huskies, but a late-game burst by No. 11 nationally-ranked Notre Dame led its women’s lacrosse team over 11th-ranked University of Connecticut, 12-11, Friday night at Moose Krause Stadium. With the loss, UConn dips to 5-3 on the season and 0-2 in the BIG EAST, while the Fighting Irish improve to 8-2 overall and 2-1 in the conference.
Notre Dame jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead off back-to-back tallies from Jane Stoeckert, but once the Huskies tied the game at 4-4, the contest became and back-and-forth battle with five ties and three lead changes as each team fought for the much-needed conference win.
Shannon Burke (Camillus, N.Y.) added two goals on the day, extending her point-scoring streak to 48 straight games, while Kristin Link (Slingerlands, N.Y.), Katy Ryan (Hamburg, N.Y.) and Laura Trzasko (Plainsboro, N.J.) each added single tallies. On defense, Clare Schwan (Albany, N.Y.) led the charge with four caused turnovers, including two that came straight back to the Husky offensive end for goals. The Fighting Irish surrendered the ball a total of 24 times on the night, with four turning into immediate goals for UConn.
After falling behind early, the Huskies rallied from a 3-1 deficit to pull ahead 6-5 by the end of the first half. Williams scored two goals during this stretch, putting back two straight tallies to tie the contest at four and then to give UConn the lead with just over eight minutes until the intermission. The Huskies maintained the advantage after the break, leading until 13:59 mark when Jillian Byers broke the 8-8 tie with a goal from Caitlin McKinney to give Notre Dame the lead.
From there, UConn would tie the game once again at nine-all, but two unanswered goals gave the Irish the lead for the final time. Link would cut the lead to one off a free position shot with 3:29 to play, but Notre Dame once again pushed up the lead back to two at 12-10. Trzasko scored on an assist from Burke in the final minute to once again bring UConn within one, but the Huskies were unable to control the ensuing draw and the Irish whittled away the final seconds to escape with the 12-11 win.
The Huskies return to action Sunday at noon (Central Time) against two-time defending national champion Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. The Wildcats are currently ranked No. 1 in the latest IWLCA poll with a 6-1 record on the season after defeating No. 8 Syracuse, 10-7, Friday afternoon.
