The Irish avoided another mark in the loss column during their weekend road trip with a 0-0 double-overtime tie against Rutgers and a 2-0 win over Seton Hall.
Even without senior starting forward and tri-captain Melissa Henderson in the first half of the game, the Irish (7-5-3, 4-2-2 Big East) still shut out Seton Hall (7-5-2, 3-4) on Friday at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, N.J.
Senior midfielder and tri-captain Jessica Schuveiller gave the Irish an early 1-0 lead against the Pirates, taking advantage of sophomore midfielder Mandy Laddish's cross just under four minutes into the game.
Notre Dame's final goal came at the 21:52 mark, when freshman forward Lauren Bohaboy netted her sixth goal of the season.
"Friday night against Seton Hall we played a good first half. We weren't very good in the second half against Seton Hall, but we did enough to get the shut-out and win," Irish coach Randy Waldrum said. "It was a real plus from that standpoint because we had been struggling to close out games like that before."
The Irish continued their road trip Sunday at Rutgers (7-6-2, 2-4-2), where their three-game win streak ended after a scoreless tie against the Scarlet Knights.
Notre Dame outshot Rutgers 21-9 with 5-4 shots on goal and recorded eight corner kicks to Rutgers' three. Glancing at the stat sheet, Waldrum said the Irish were dominant in most categories but were simply unable to come up with a win at Rutgers' Yurcak Field.
"Looking at the stats now, we played really well today. We just couldn't get the goal to win it," he said. "We outshot them. I thought we had a couple good possessions in overtime. It was disappointing that we didn't get the win, but we didn't lose, either."
The Irish have yet to record a win in overtime, falling to 0-2-3 in games forced into the extra minutes this season.
Irish junior goalkeeper Maddie Fox collected four saves against both the Pirates and Scarlet Knights, as Notre Dame's defense has now held the opposition scoreless for four consecutive games.
Waldrum said moving Schuveiller to midfield has paid dividends for the Irish.
"[Four consecutive shut-outs] means they're coming around a little. Moving Jess Schuveiller into [the midfield] helps to solidify our midfield and defense," Waldrum said. "[Freshman defender] Sammy Scofield has played well for us in the back, and we got a few good minutes out of [senior defender] Ellen Bartindale. They weren't regulars earlier in the year. I think it's coming together at the right time."
The Irish are fully aware that they are still in the mix to win the Big East conference championship outright. Notre Dame will have home-field advantage in a series of games remaining on their schedule.
Waldrum said the Irish can only control their own destiny, but admitted he was keeping a close eye on respective first and second place Georgetown and Louisville in the standings.
"Georgetown's going to be huge, and Villanova is never an easy game. Those will be key games to see whether we can win the conference championship outright or win it in the tournament," Waldrum said. The disappointing thing is the students will be gone [during the upcoming home stand]. We really needed the students there, but hopefully the locals will come out and support us because it's a huge weekend for us."
Notre Dame returns home for its final three regular-season games, beginning with Georgetown on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Alumni Stadium.
Contact Megan Golden at mgolde01@saintmarys.edu
