Notre Dame Women’s Lacrosse: Irish Beat Ohio State, Remain Undefeated

“Things that happened today,” Notre Dame Coach Christine Halfpenny tweeted, less than two hours after her team’s 19-10 win over Ohio State. The animation that accompanied that text? Donna Reed smashing a record to smithereens.

Halfpenny’s pick was an oddly appropriate, given that the Irish remained undefeated because of their own Buffalo Gal, Maddie Howe. The sophomore attack scored six goals and assisted on six others, tying a school record set in 2009 by Jillian Byers.

“No one on this team accomplishes anything alone,” Howe told UND.com. “The team chemistry and selflessness of this team is unlike anything I have been apart of before. I’m just really happy that we as a team were able to pull out a great win on the road.”

The Irish set an all-time single-game record with 23 draw controls Friday, with sophomore midfielder Andie Aldave winning 16 of those and breaking her own personal record. The Irish also had 17 assists, one more than the previous high set in 2016 against California.

Notre Dame’s 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) were the most tallied in a road game ever and just one short of the all-time program mark, also set against the Golden Bears three years ago.

Ohio State (3-1) offered early pressure on the Irish, who are now 4-0 for the fourth time in Halfpenny’s eight years in South Bend. The Buckeyes lead 5-4 with 16:43 remaining in the first period before the Irish ripped off six of the next seven goals before halftime.

The Irish dominated after the break, winning 11 of 12 draw controls, outshooting and outscoring their opponents and recovering more ground balls. Besides Howe and Aldave (1 goal, 3 assists), the Irish got help from freshman attack Mollie Carr who had four goals Friday and now has nine on the season.

Senior attack Samantha Lynch, the star of the Irish’s opening season win over Marquette, added two goals as did sophomore midfielder Katie Enrietto.

Samantha Giacolone, a senior goalie, had eight saves on 18 Buckeye shots in a winning effort.

“It was great to see us weather the storm a bit early on and I’m really proud of how this group made some adjustments to earn this victory,” Halfpenny told UND.com. “The individual records that were earned today are a result of team-play, and this is an extremely tight-knit group that just wants to win for each other.”

The Irish next play at 1 p.m. Sunday at home against Kent State, which is winless in three tries this year. The game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.