Senior attack Gina Scioscia's goal in the second sudden- death period closed out No. 15 Notre Dame's 7-6 comeback victory over No. 11 Boston University Saturday.
"There were some huge defensive plays out there," Irish coach Tracy Coyne said. "[Freshman goalkeeper] Ellie Hilling made a big save in overtime where it came down to a one-on-one situation. Each defender had a big play, and all of those plays led to opportunities on the offensive end."
Sophomore attack Maggie Tamasitis strarted off the scoring in the first half for the Irish (4-1). Freshman midfield Jenny Granger scored Notre Dame's only other goal in the half midway through the period, and the Irish closed the half with a 2-1 lead in a low-scoring opening period.
"We were getting good looks the whole game," Coyne said. "Their goalie is very good. Sometimes we would shoot wide, and sometimes she would make a great save. We could shoot better, but I think we still got it done."
The Terriers scored five of the first seven goals after halftime to take a 6-4 lead with three minutes left in the game, but the Irish got clutch goals from junior midfield Shaylyn Blaney and Tamasitis to tie the game and send it into overtime.
"You can say this much about this team, they have a refuse-to-lose mentality," Coyne said. "We created the situations that won us this game. It wasn't BU falling apart. It came from our toughness."
The game, which went into two overtimes and lasted more than 71 minutes, ended as the second-longest game in Notre Dame history. The Irish caused several of Boston's 14 turnovers in the extra period while Hilling kept Notre Dame in the game with an eight-save performance in only her fifth collegiate start in net. Coyne was especially pleased with the rookie goalkeeper.
"She had a great game {Saturday]," Coyne said. "She came out with a real strong warm-up and we had a feeling that she was going to play well, which she did."
Coyne was also pleased with the way her team dealt with fatigue in the high-pressure situations of overtime.
"We were definitely in shape, we were composed," Coyne said. "Our end-of- game defensive unit was really strong under pressure and we work on that in practice so we're pleased by that."
The Irish will look to continue their winning ways when they take on No. 14 Vanderbilt Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in the team's home opener at Arlotta Stadium.
