No. 11 Notre Dame rebounded from a disappointing loss to Vanderbilt by defeating conference opponent Louisville 11-9 in its opening game of Big East play.
Freshman goalkeeper Ellie Hilling led the Irish (5-2, 1-0) by notching 12 saves, and sophomore midfielder Megan Sullivan scored a career-best four goals.
"[Sullivan] clearly put us in a position to win the game," Irish coach Tracy Coyne said. "She was really getting open, staying composed and finishing her shots."
After leading by two goals at halftime, the Irish dominated the second half from the outset by scoring three goals less than two minutes into the period. Sophomore attack Maggie Tamasitis scored a goal and notched two assists to Sullivan in the quick three-goal outburst.
Louisville (4-3, 0-1) responded by cutting the deficit to 10-9, but the Irish defense shut the door en route to the 11-9 victory.
"We're a good defensive team," Coyne said. "If we can continue to clean up some stuff that's causing our opponents to come back in games, we'll be very good."
Coyne said despite the win, Notre Dame continues to commit too many unforced errors, something that has plagued the team to this point.
"We still turn the ball over too much, and its more us than our opponent," Coyne said. "We just had too many unforced errors."
Junior Bergan Foley led Louisville with a four-goal performance.
Coyne said the win was a big confidence boost for the Irish, who will now enter the toughest portion of the schedule beginning with a huge matchup against Northwestern, the nation's top-ranked team.
"I was happy but we have a lot of things to work on," Coyne said. "I think we're getting better every game so I was happy to get our first Big East [win]. I think we're finding a way to win and that's the most important thing right now."
Notre Dame will take on the Wildcats at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Evanston, Ill.
