Notre Dame Women’s Lacrosse: Miscues Sink No. 10 Irish

Sloppy.

A single word accurately describes both the weather at Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium Wednesday and the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team’s performance on that field.

Amid swirling winds and a 10-degree windchill, the No. 10 Irish (8-3) turned the ball over 31 times - more than twice their per game average - and lost to the No. 15 Tigers (5-3), 14-11.

The loss obscured a career day for senior midfielder Casey Pearsall, who had a seven point performance (1 goal, 6 assists). The Irish also dominated in draw controls - essentially, face offs at midfield after goals - but negated that advantage through poor ball handling. The Irish also got three goals each from senior attacker Grace Muller and sophomore attacker Samantha Lynch, two goals from senior attacker Cortney Fortunato, and one goal apiece from freshman midfielder Savannah Buchanan and midfielder Alex Dalton.

Goaltender Samantha Giacolone has continued to struggle since earning an ACC Defensive Player of the Week award March 7. In her eight games leading up to that distinction, the sophomore sported a .496 save percentage and allowed an average of 8.14 goals. In the three games since, the goaltender has yielded 41 goals (13.7 per game) and made 23 saves, for a save percentage of .359.

In winning, Towson defeated its first Top 10 opponent since knocking off Georgetown in 2014.

The Irish close out their spring break road trip at noon Saturday in Charlottesville against the Virginia Cavaliers (3-4). While Notre Dame’s first 10 opponents only won four more games than they lost, the Irish’s remaining schedule - including the Towson game - was ranked eighth toughest in all of Division I.