Just add another record for senior attacker Maggie Tamasitis.
Tamasitis, the all-time Irish leader with 138 career assists, racked up a program-high eight assists in No. 7 Notre Dame's 16-9 win over Connecticut on Saturday. The eight helpers also set a Big East record for most assists in a game.
Tamasitis' performance topped her own record of six assists, set a year ago against Connecticut. Former Irish standouts Gina Scioscia and Kerry Callahan also shared the record. Tamasitis also scored a goal in Saturday's game, one of eight Irish goal-scorers on the day.
"I think one of the main points [this week in practice] was holding each other accountable [and] having high expectations for one another," Irish coach Christine Halfpenny said Thursday. "[I want them to] be really focused on moving the ball and maintaining the integrity of our spread offense that consistently does revolve around lots of people touching the ball."
Junior attacker Jaimie Morrison paced Notre Dame (10-2, 4-2 Big East) with four goals, while sophomore midfielder KaitlynBrosco chipped in three of her own.
For the Irish, junior goaltender Ellie Hilling returned to the cage, registering 11 saves and earning her ninth win of the season.
Senior attacker M.E. Lapham opened up the scoring for the Huskies (7-5, 0-4) just 2:26 into the first half. Connecticut scored two of the game's first three goals, but did not lead in the final 50 minutes of the game. Lapham, Connecticut's all-time leading scorer, was limited to just three goals on 15 total shots.
When senior attacker Kelly Driscoll found the back of the net with 14:11 remaining in the first half, the Irish took a 6-3 lead.
The goal also marked the first of six straight Irish goals that were assisted by Tamasitis.
Graduate student defender Brittany Mallory saw her first action as a part of the Irish, after joining the team last week. She recorded one draw control and committed one turnover.
"We've seen [Mallory] a little bit everywhere right now, so she could end up on the stat line for maybe an assist and a goal, or she could end up on the defensive side with a ground ball or a turnover, and maybe even a draw control here or there," Halfpenny said Thursday.
Notre Dame returns to action Wednesday when they take on No. 17 Vanderbilt at Arlotta Stadium at 1 p.m.
Contact Matthew DeFranks at mdefrank@nd.edu
