After a statement 22-3 win Saturday over Florida State, the University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse picked up right where it left off Tuesday, taking on the Robert Morris University Colonials at home. The Irish steamrolled Robert Morris from the first whistle to the last, posting another impressive final score of 20-2 to improve to 5-1 on home turf.
The Irish dominated every aspect of the field on Tuesday night. The offense found its rhythm early and led the rest of the way.
“We pushed the fast break early and that set the pace for the rest of the game,” said freshman midfielder Charley Bacigalupo, who tallied a first-half hat trick and added an assist to finish the game with four points.
The Irish did indeed push the fast break well, outpacing the Colonials and executing textbook transition offense. They had opportunities in large part thanks to the relentless full-team ride that made it difficult for Robert Morris to even cross their own offensive restraining line. The Irish applied constant high pressure in their transition defense, appearing overwhelming for Robert Morris. The Irish finished having caused 16 turnovers. Graduate defender Julia Carr’s speed and effort on clears stood out, and the Irish seemed to have scored before Robert Morris was even in position to defend.
The number of quality offensive sets for the Colonials was limited by an aggressive Notre Dame defense. Notre Dame freshman goalie Ceci Patterson only needed to make four saves, and graduate goalie Isabel Pithie, who took over in the fourth quarter, did not see a shot on goal.
Notre Dame’s ability to win 50/50 balls was dominant in this contest. Notre Dame secured more than twice as many ground balls as Robert Morris, which had a profound impact on the momentum of the game. Freshman midfielder Maura Irish and sophomore midfielder Madison Rassas led the team with three ground balls each, and 11 different players tallied at least one ground ball. The Irish were equally dominant at the draw circle. Freshman midfielder and draw specialist Uma Kowalski grabbed 12 draw controls and pushed even more to her teammates in the draw unit. The effort that Notre Dame displayed consistently as a team in fighting for the draw controls and ground balls was remarkable.
Another positive from the game was the well-distributed offensive production from the Irish. Junior attacker Kate Timarky and Rassas had four goals apiece, leading the Irish offense as a dynamic scoring duo. Six additional Notre Dame players scored. Furthermore, the offense showed not only multiple scoring threats but also the ability to create opportunities in a variety of situations. The aforementioned fast break play was certainly one key factor, but the Irish looked comfortable in settled attack situations as well.
Though the Robert Morris defense had yet to see a team with as much offense as the Irish this season, most of their 20 goals were a testament to better offense. Scoring 20 or more goals is clearly unsustainable, especially as their schedule difficulty slowly ramps back up before a critical test against Syracuse in a few weeks, but the Irish can certainly draw confidence in the offense on display against Robert Morris and Florida State.
Looking ahead, the Irish finish their three-game home stretch Saturday, when they will face UC Berkeley and celebrate Senior Day. There, they hope to extend their win streak before traveling to Virginia to face Virginia Tech and Liberty in the first week of April.
