April 8, 2011
Final Stats
VILLANOVA, Pa. - Notre Dame (5-6 overall, 2-1 BIG EAST) scored the game's first 10 goals en route to a 15-4 BIG EAST victory over Villanova (4-5 overall, 0-2 BIG EAST) on a rainy afternoon at Villanova Stadium.
The Wildcats got a pair of goals from junior Justine Donodeo and one each from senior Rachel Lasda and sophomore Shawna Giust. Betsy Mastropieri led the Fighting Irish scoring attack with four goals and one assist on the day.
Kaitlin Keena opened the scoring for Notre Dame with 27:47 to play in the first half when she took a pass from Maggie Tamasitis to give the Fighting Irish the early lead. Kaitlyn Brosco followed with an unassisted goal 49 seconds later before Mastropieri scored back-to-back goals, the second coming off an assist from Ansley Stewart to build a 4-0 advantage with 20:45 remaining in the first half.
The Fighting Irish struck again 44 seconds later when Shaylyn Blaney converted a free position shot. Stewart and Granger teamed up for a goal 18 seconds later to push the lead to 6-0. Keena and Kailene Abt followed with Notre Dame goals before Mastropieiri notched her third goal of the period to make the count 9-0 with 14:37 remaining before intermission. Granger then pushed the edge to 10-0 off a feed from Keena with 5:18 left to play in the half.
Villanova got on to the board with 2:52 to go before halftime. Sophomore Maria Bowman set up Donodeo, whose shot beat Fighting Irish goalie Ellie Hilling. That same tandem drew the `Cats to within 10-2 when Donodeo converted another feed with 31 seconds to play. Tamasitis completed the first half scoring with a goal with 15 seconds left in the period.
Notre Dame took the 11-2 lead into the halftime break.
The Irish scored the first two goals of the second half before Lasda converted a free position shot at 19:47 to cut the deficit to 13-3. Molly Shawhan and Grace Dooley scored the game's next two goals for Notre Dame before Giust completed the scoring with a goal from ten feet in front of the net with 13 seconds to play.
Julia Todd made 12 saves in goal for Villanova before being relieved by sophomore Amanda Hirschfeld in the second half. Hilling made three stops in net for Notre Dame.
Notre Dame owned a 37-12 edge in shots and 17-4 advantage on draw controls.
The Wildcats will look to bounce back on Sunday afternoon when they host No. 5/3 Loyola at Villanova Stadium. The opening draw is set for 1:00 p.m.
