ITHACA, N.Y. -- Notre Dame dominated the draw circle and got a career-best performance from Erin Goodman in the nets to lead the seventh-ranked Fighting Irish past No. 11 Cornell 13-9 on Sunday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. Notre Dame improved to 3-1 on the season, while the Big Red slipped to 1-2.

The visitors won 20-of-24 draw controls, including 13-of-14 in the second half, to keep Cornell at bay after taking a 6-3 halftime advantage. Notre Dame led at the half based largely on the strength of Goodman's play in goal. She ended the contest with 14 saves, including 11 in the first 30 minutes in limiting the Big Red to three scores. Goodman added three ground balls in the loss.

Caitlin McKinney had three goals and three assists for a game-high six points to lead three Fighting Irish players that recorded hat tricks. Jillian Byers added three goals and an assist, while Len Zentgraf had three goals and won five draws. Kaki Orr also won five draws and notched three ground balls for the visitors.

Cornell used a balanced scoring effort, as seven players scored goals, with Katherine Simmons leading the way with three scores. Junior Courtney Farrell added a pair of assists for the Big Red, while senior Lindsey Moore had a goal and an assist. Renee Hughes had six saves in net for Cornell. The Big Red outshot Notre Dame 27-26, had more ground balls (16-11) and fewer turnovers (26-15), but could not overcome the Fighting Irish's success on the draw. Cornell was whistled for twice as many fouls as the visitors (24-12).

Lindsey Moore got Cornell on the board first just 1:15 in when she rolled the crease and beat Goodman to give the Big Red a 1-0 lead, but that is where the game turned. The visitors scored the next four goals to take a lead it would never relinquish. Lena Zentgraf got the first of two goals in the span of 6:30 on a free-position shot, one of three Notre Dame would score in the first 30 minutes. Consecutive Big Red goals by Simmons and Noelle Dowd brought the home team back to within a goal (4-3) with 8:52 to play, but UND scored the final two goals of free-position attempts to go up 6-3 at the break. The Big Red was whistled for 15 fouls to Notre Dame's five, with the visitors earning eight free position attempts.

Notre Dame opened the second half scoring at 7-3 on a Jane Stoeckert goal 3:51 into the half, and though Cornell cut the lead to three two additional times, the Fighting Irish dominated the draw to control time of possession. The lead grew to six (11-5) with 14:59 left, but Cornell made it a four-goal contest with back-to-back goals by Simmons and Alison McKeown. Freshman Morgan Hale netted her first collegiate goal with 3:26 remaining, while Ashleigh Smith had a goal in the final minute, her first of the season.

The Big Red returns to action on Sunday, March 11, at 1:00 p.m. when it faces Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y.

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Ithaca, N.Y.) - The Notre Dame women's lacrosse team wasted little time getting back on the winning track after last Thursday's 18-10 home loss to Northwestern as the Irish handed 16th-ranked Cornell a 13-9 loss at cold and snowy Schoellkopf Field on Sunday afternoon. Junior Caitlin McKinney (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) led the Notre Dame attack with three goals and three assists while sophomore Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) added three goals and an assist and Lena Zentgraf (Sr., Charlottesville, Va.) equaled her career high with three goals to pace the Irish. Mary Carpenter (Jr., Rochester, N.Y.), Meghan Murphy (Sr., Centennial, Colo.) and Jane Stoeckert (So., Mendham, N.J.) each had a goal and an assist in the win with Heather Ferguson (Newtown Square, Pa.) also scored for Notre Dame.

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2007-03-04