The No. 11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s lacrosse team won its second consecutive match at the Loftus Sports Center, claiming a resounding 17-7 victory over the Eastern Michigan Eagles on Saturday afternoon. After a heartbreaking, opening-match 13-10 defeat in Evanston, Illinois, to No. 2 Northwestern, the Irish have responded with back-to-back convincing wins over Central Michigan and now Eastern Michigan.
The Irish and Eagles alternated goals early to make it an even 2-2 start before Notre Dame began to control possession off the draw controls. The smooth Irish offense then unleashed a flurry of shots at Eastern Michigan sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Porter in the waning minutes of the opening period. Porter would have a nice afternoon, finishing with 11 saves, but the Irish ripped off four consecutive goals en route to an 8-2 run to make the lead 10-4 at the break.
After freshman forward Madison Rassas completed the hat trick, the Irish advantage reached double digits midway through the third and the running clock was set for nearly the remainder of the match. A Sterling, Virginia, native with Irish athletes as parents and grandparents, Rassas was named the No. 1 high school recruit in the country during her senior season at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School. Her 5 goals against Eastern Michigan gave her back-to-back five-goal outings, alongside three assists on the season.
The Notre Dame frenzied attack was also led by sophomore midfielder Angie Conley, graduate midfielder Kristen Shanahan and sophomore attacker Kate Timarky, all of whom tallied hat tricks. Junior attacker Emma Murphy recorded the brace with two goals, while sophomore attacker Wynter Jock netted her first career goal after missing the entirety of her freshman season with a medical redshirt.
Junior attacker Fran Frieri continued to be a leading playmaker up top for the Irish, as she spread the ball around nicely to account for three assists. With upperclassman leadership from Frieri, Murphy, Shanahan and more, the young Irish squad should continue to improve throughout the season as it aims to reach the NCAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive season under 14th-year head coach Christine Halfpenny.
The homestand will conclude when the Irish are back in action next, with ACC play set to get underway when the Clemson Tigers visit South Bend next week. The top-20 matchup between the No. 20 Tigers and the No. 11 Irish will take place next Saturday, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. at the Loftus Sports Center, with livestream coverage available on ACCNX.
