Notre Dame Women’s Lacrosse: No. 2 Irish Down Duke, Remain Unbeaten

Freshman Kasey Choma added to her team-leading 13 goals with four additional scores Sunday, helping beat No. 17 Duke and keep the second-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish unbeaten.

The 13-9 win at Arlotta Stadium improved the Irish to 5-0 and gave Coach Christine Halfpenny her 100th career win at Notre Dame. Junior goaltender Bridget Deehan stopped 12 of 21 Blue Devils shots on goal — including eight of 11 in the first half — to preserve the victory. The 12 saves match a career high for Deehan, who stopped a dozen against then-No. 3 Northwestern on Feb. 14.

Sunday’s game was a both a tale of streaks and of two halves. Duke opened the scoring about three minutes into the game before Deehan closed the lid. The Blue Devils endured 14 minutes without a goal, while the Irish ripped off five consecutive scores. Duke (4-3, 0-1 ACC) responded with two scores of its own, before the Irish scored three to close the first half.

In the second half, junior attacker Maddie Howe took advantage of a “man-up” situation to score her third of the game and extend the Irish’s lead to 9-3. Notre Dame then went 12 minutes without a score, as Duke narrowed the deficit to two.

The teams traded goals until freshman Madison Ahern capped the scoring on another man-advantage.

Choma had the goal of the game when she rolled past her defender and, falling down, ripped it past Duke goaltender Chase Henriquez.

Besides Choma’s four and Howe’s three, the Irish also received goals from junior midfielder Andie Aldave (four) and Ahern (two). Aldave and senior defender Kathleen Roe lead Notre Dame with four draw controls each; as a team, the Irish outdrew the Blue Devils, 12-10.

Notre Dame also went 16-for-17 in defensive zone clears, and committed just eight turnovers to Duke’s 10. Midfielder Catherine Cordrey led the Blue Devils with three goals in the losing effort.

The Irish will host the Boston College Eagles at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Eagles were national finalists last year, but have stumbled to a 3-2 start this year. The game will be available as a stream on ACC Network Extra (ESPN+).