NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The No. 9 Irish women' lacrosse team scored five unanswered goals in the second period to rally past No. 13 Loyola (Md.), 16-13, Sunday afternoon at the Loftus Sports Center. Notre Dame improved to 9-2 overall and 2-1 in BIG EAST play with the win.

Gina Scioscia led the Irish with a career-high six goals during the match. Jillian Byers added three goals and an assist, while Shaylyn Blaney chipped in three goals. Kailene Abt notched two goals and one assist, Kaitlin Keena added one goal and one assist, Ansley Stewart had one goal and Jackie Doherty produced one assist.

Grace Gavin led Loyola with four goals and one assist. Mary Heneberry added three goals, while Abby Rehfuss totaled two goals and one assist. Elizabeth Weber, Cara Filippelli, Meg Taylor and Emily Gibson each added one goal, while Maura Kenny chipped in one assist.

Abt put the Irish on the board first just 48 seconds into the game. Rehfuss answered quickly for Loyola, but Keena gave the Irish a 2-1 lead with 25:14 left in the first period. Gavin tied the match at 2-2 with 20:50 left and sparked a 5-0 Loyola run.

Blaney stopped the run and cut the Loyola lead to 6-3 with 12:56 left. The Irish ended the first period on a 4-1 run, as Loyola took an 8-7 lead into the break.

Gavin scored first in the second period, putting Loyola up 9-7. Blaney scored with 23:17 left and started a 5-0 Irish run. Notre Dame went up 12-9 and never relinquished the lead.

Rehfuss halted the Irish spark with a goal for Loyola with 11:46 left. Blaney, Scioscia and Abt all found the net as the Irish took a 15-10 lead with 7:47 left in the game.

Heneberry and Gavin scored to pull Loyola within two, but Scioscia put the game away with 4:13 left. Weber scored with 38 seconds left to make the final score 16-13.

Erin Goodman got the win for Notre Dame in the goal, notching 11 saves in 60:00. Meg Steffe took the loss for Loyola, allowing 13 goals with 14 saves in 49:30 of play.

The Irish will travel to Cincinnati Friday for a 4:00 p.m. matchup.

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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Thirteenth-ranked Loyola took a 7-3 lead 17 minutes into the game, but No. 9 Notre Dame went on a 12-3 run to take command and eventually a 17-13 BIG EAST Conference victory Sunday afternoon in the Loftus Sports Center.

Grace Gavin scored one of her four goals on a free-position shot with 12:31 left in the first half to give Loyola (7-3 overall, 0-2 BIG EAST) a 7-3 advantage, but the Fighting Irish (9-2, 2-1) reeled off three in a row to pull within a goal on Jillian Byers' score 8:43 before the half.

Cara Filippelli answered for Loyola, converting a free-position shot with 5:15 left, but Byers scored again, this time with just under two minutes remaining before the break, to cut the Greyhounds' lead to 8-7 at the half.

Gavin took an Abby Rehfuss pass and scored just over four minutes into the second half, but Shaylyn Blaney and Gina Scioscia scored unassisted goals for Notre Dame. Scioscia's goal tied the score at nine with 21:56 left in the game.

She scored twice more, two of her game-high six goals, to put the Fighting Irish in front for good, 11-9, with more than 19 minutes left to play.

Ansley Stewart tacked on a free-position goal – Notre Dame was 5-of-5 from the 8-meter arc in the second half and 8-of-10 in the game – less than a minute later. Rehfuss broke the 5-0 run, scoring off a Maura Kenny assist, but Blaney, Scioscia and Kailene Abt scored three in a row for the Fighting Irish.

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2009-03-29