Syracuse University
#12/16 Notre Dame
No. 6/8 Syracuse Defeats No. 12/16 Notre Dame in Overtime Thriller
3/16/2008 3:15:20 PM | Women's Lacrosse
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Sophomore Halley Quillinan scored 32 seconds into overtime to give the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team the lead for good as it came from behind to defeat No. 12/16 Notre Dame, 16-13, in South Bend, Ind. on Sunday, March 16. The Orange (5-1, 1-0) scored the only three goals in the two three-minute overtime sessions and won its BIG EAST opener for the first time in the program’s history.
"It was an exciting game," Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. "It’s nice to be able to get a road victory in overtime. We kept our composure when we got down. We fought back and took care of business in overtime."
The first half featured scoring runs by both teams. Leading 4-3, the Orange scored three straight goals to take a 7-3 lead with 12:56 remaining. Notre Dame responded with a 4-0 scoring run of its own tie the score, 7-7, at the 7:47 mark. Junior Katie Rowan broke the tie with a goal at the 3:50 mark, and Kristin Brady added a goal on a free position with 2:28 left in the half. Rowan scored her fourth goal of the half with 2:09 on the clock to give Syracuse a 10-7 halftime lead.
Notre Dame came out strong in the second half, scoring four unanswered goals to take its first lead of the game, 11-10, with 18:13 left on the clock. Unlike in the first half, the two teams traded goals for the remainder of the period. Megan Mosenson found the back of the net off a spinning move in front of the goal to knot the score at 11-11 with 15:00 remaining. Maggie Zentgraf gave the Fighting Irish the lead back with her first goal of the day, before Christina Dove scored her third goal of the game to tie the score for the fifth time with 12:37 left on the clock. Caitlyn McKinney gave Notre Dame a one-goal advantage with her fourth of the game at the 8:14 mark, but Syracuse answered with Awehiyo Thomas’ free position goal with 6:39 left in regulation that tied the score, 13-13. Both teams had scoring chances in the final minute, but neither could find the back of the net, forcing an overtime period.
The Orange dominated overtime. It won the draw control and Quillinan’s goal at the 2:28 mark of the first session gave Syracuse its first lead in nearly 25 minutes of play. Brady and Jackie DePetris scored in the second overtime period for the 16-13 final. Syracuse won three of the four draw controls during the extra session and scored on three of its four shots. Notre Dame did not get off a shot in overtime.
Rowan once again led the Orange offense, scoring four goals and dishing out two assists. Brady and Dove recorded hat tricks, while Quillinan and Thomas had two goals each. McKinney led Notre Dame with four goals and two assists.
Freshman goalkeeper Liz Hogan recorded a career-high 12 saves for the Orange, anchoring a defense that limited Notre Dame’s Jillian Byers, who leads the nation in points, to two goals and an assist. Syracuse had an 18-15 advantage in draw controls, and picked up 19 ground balls to 17 for Notre Dame.
The Orange returns home to take on Towson on Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. Syracuse returns to BIG EAST action on Saturday when it hosts Connecticut at noon.
