Box Score
ITHACA, N.Y. – The undefeated run for No. 16 women's lacrosse came to an end as No. 7 Notre Dame kept its own undefeated streak alive with a 17-13 victory.
The contest, played at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Fla., saw the Big Red outscore the Fighting Irish (6-0) in the second half by a 7-5 margin, but Notre Dame's 12-goal first half was too much for Cornell (5-1) to overcome.
Senior attack
Olivia Knotts led the way with five goals for her third hat trick of the year, and senior attack
Jessi Steinberg scored four goals for the third consecutive game while also adding two assists. Junior
Caroline Salisbury also added five points on two goals and three assists.
All those points from Cornell's top three scorers was not enough, however, as Notre Dame got off to a fast start that had been the Big Red's calling card early in the season. The Irish scored five of the first seven goals, and Megan Sullivan had a hat trick before the game was 20 minutes old.
Knotts and
Shannon McHugh had early goals for Cornell, and Salisbury had two free position goals in the first half, but Notre Dame put 16 shots on goal in that time span and scored on all but four.
At the second half's onset, the Fighting Irish went on a 3-0 run to make the score 15-6. That's when Steinberg responded with a remarkable run of four consecutive goals in a mere 3:30 of game time. Cornell was down 15-10 at that point, and Knotts added two of the game's next three goals to make it 16-12 in favor of Notre Dame.
When Cornell finally got back in striking distance, though, the game clock was already close to expiring. McHugh scored her second goal of the game with 31 seconds left to send out the Big Red on a high note.
Senior
Kyla Dambach (3-1) started the game in goal and made three saves in the first 21 minutes before being replaced by junior
Courtney Gallagher. Gallagher played the rest of the game, making four saves in nearly 40 minutes of action.
The Big Red remains in the Sunshine State for another game this week. Cornell will travel to Jacksonville University's campus to take on the Dolphins at 12 p.m. on Tuesday.
