No. 4 Notre Dame dropped their second game of the season 13-9 Wednesday, as they traveled to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, to take on No. 1 Boston College.
Senior goalkeeper Samantha Giacolone stood strong for the first nine minutes of the game, collecting three saves early and keeping the game scoreless. The Irish (10-2, 3-2 ACC) struck first as senior attacker Samantha Lynch netted the first goal of the game, but the Eagles (13-0, 4-0 ACC) quickly followed with a 6-0 run.
Eagles senior midfielder Brooke Troy led off with her first goal of the season, junior midfielder Cara Urbank added three of her own, graduate student attacker Kenzie Kent scored once and assisted on two others and junior attacker Sheila Rietano added one more. In a matter of 10 minutes, the Irish found themselves down 6-1.
Notre Dame sophomore midfielder Andie Aldave caught a pass from senior attack Nikki Ortega to send a goal past Boston College sophomore goalkeeper Abbey Ngai. The Eagles answered just 11 seconds later on a goal courtesy of senior midfielder Taylor Walker.
It seemed that, as the game went on, each time the Irish made a move offensively, the Eagles had an answer, maintaining the buffer they built up to begin the game.
When freshman midfielder Hannah Dorney scored on an assist from Lynch, Eagles senior attacker Sam Apuzzo — the nation’s top scorer with 62 goals so far on the season — answered with a score of her own. Ortega netted her first of the day on an assist from junior defender Kathleen Roe
Apuzzo later added her second goal of the day with 53 seconds remaining in the first half to keep Boston College’s lead at five goals, 9-4.
To open the second half, Boston College senior midfielder Hannah Hyatt was yellow carded, giving the Irish a man-up advantage. Notre Dame was able to capitalize after Aldave slotted a pass to Irish sophomore attacker Maddie Howe, who scored her first goal of the day.
However, the Eagles once again had an answer, taking it back up the field for another goal after they earned a man-up advantage of their own following the removal of Irish senior Makenna Pearsall for two minutes of play due to a yellow card of her own. But sophomore midfielder Katie Enrietto cut the deficit to four goals again, keeping the back-and-forth affair going, as the Eagles scored again a minute and a half later.
Finally, the first run opened up since the Eagles’ 6-0 run in the game’s opening minutes, as first Lynch, then Howe, then Lynch again, scored three unassisted goals, giving Lynch a hat trick and cutting Boston College’s lead to two goals at 11-9. With 8:47 remaining though, Notre Dame was unable to find twine again, and the Eagles only stretched their lead. Apuzzo scored once more to earn her own hat trick and Rietano capped scoring on the day, handing the Eagles a 13-9 victory.
Next up for the Irish is a home contest against another ACC rival in Virginia Tech. They will face off against the Hokies (8-6, 1-3 ACC) at noon Sunday in Arlotta Stadium.
