Notre Dame (7-4-1, 5-0-0 Big East) extended its winning streak to four games this weekend with a 4-1 win over Syracuse Friday and a 3-0 win over St. John's Sunday.
Junior Brittany Bock, who started at forward to replace injured Amanda Cinalli, had her first career hat trick against the Orange. She also scored Sunday against the Red Storm.
"I think she's definitely having an All-America year," Irish coach Randy Waldrum said.
Bock, junior forward Kerri Hanks and senior forward Susan Pinnick scored against St. John's. The Irish were held scoreless throughout the first 73 minutes of the game, but after Hanks' goal in the 74th minute, the Irish got hot and put in two more in the next 12 minutes.
"It took us a little while to break them open, but once we broke them open, the goals came in bunches," Waldrum said.
Notre Dame 4, Syracuse 1
Bock became the 23rd player to score a hat trick in Irish history. Just before halftime, Bock deflected a cross from junior defender Elise Weber into the upper left-hand corner of the net.
"She fought hard and did some really clinical finishing on all four goals that she had this weekend," Waldrum said.
Her second goal came five minutes into the second half. Senior midfielder Ashley Jones sent a pass into Orange territory that Bock ran down, controlled and buried in the right side of the goal.
Two minutes later, freshman forward Erica Iantorno's pass found Bock at the top of the box. Bock beat the Orange defenders and shot the ball past the charging keeper to give the Irish a 3-0 lead.
Freshman forward Rose Augustine scored the final goal after a pass from Hanks reached her at the far post. She tapped the ball in for her third goal of the season and second goal in two games.
Syracuse got on the board in the 82nd minute after junior defender Karrah Benson scored on a penalty kick.
"We were extremely good on Friday," Waldrum said.
Sophomore midfielder Michele Weissenhofer, who has been nursing an ankle injury, played 50 minutes in Friday's game. Cinalli, the injured senior captain, did not play at all Friday.
Notre Dame 3, St. John's 0
Three different players scored in a span of 12 minutes for the Irish during their win over St. John's.
Waldrum said the combination of the Astroturf field and the Red Storm intensity kept the Irish in check in the first half.
"We never really could get any rhythm going in the first half," Waldrum said. "They didn't really cause us too many scares from their chances, but they were certainly disruptive. We didn't get any good looks at all in the first half either."
Before the second half, Waldrum said he talked to his team about the implications of close games like this one.
"We talked about, how if we want to be playing in November, we've got to win these games," Waldrum said. "And we had to turn this around in the second half, and we had to match that intensity level. And we did."
In the 74th minute, Hanks scored her eight goal of the season to put the Irish up 1-0. Bock followed 11 minutes later to score her sixth of the season, and Pinnick scored her third of the season one minute after that to put the Irish ahead 3-0.
"The second half, we were a completely different team. I think we probably could have scored five [goals]," Waldrum said.
The team's play during its four consecutive wins reminded Waldrum of the team he's grown accustomed to coaching.
"I think they've gotten their confidence back," he said. "Those early losses and the way we were losing the games, for a few weeks we were certainly shaky. I think we put a few really good weekends, these four games together, where we played really well. It looks like the team that I know, and that everybody at Notre Dame's used to seeing."
