CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team advanced to the ACC Tournament semifinals with a 14-12 victory over Clemson Wednesday evening. The second-seeded Irish defeated the Tigers to earn their 15th victory of the season and improve to 15-2 overall.
The Tigers won the first draw control of the game but a strong defensive start for the Irish kept them off the board on the possession with Lilly Callahan making a big save early.
Madison Ahern scored the opening goal with 13:12 left in the first quarter off a free position shot to give the Irish the 1-0 lead.
The Tigers evened the score after a shot from Wolak was saved at the opposite end of the field. Clemson thought they scored again moments later but a video review confirmed no goal on the play.
After recovering the ground ball and asking for the review, the Tigers retained possession and eventually capitalized to take the 2-1 lead at 9:35 of the first quarter.
Clemson jumped out to the 3-1 tally to extend their scoring run but Ahern’s second of the day stopped the Tigers as the Irish drew within one with 5:57 to play in the first. The Tigers reclaimed their two-goal lead shortly after as a shot down low beat Callahan in the crease.
Kasey Choma buried her first of the day with a shot late in the opening quarter following a pass from Jackie Wolak behind the net to make it a 4-3 contest through 15 minutes of play.
The Tigers got one back just under two minutes into the second quarter as the Irish faced the 5-3 deficit.
Notre Dame’s leading scorer continued the trend with her first goal of the day at 9:17 in the second quarter.
MK Doherty tied the game up less than a minute as she danced through traffic before firing a shot on goal.
The Tigers took advantage of a free position shot moments later to make it a 6-5 contest. Clemson was awarded another free position a few minutes later to extend their lead back to two goals as the Irish trailed 7-5.
Notre Dame went on a scoring tear to end the second half, including a pair of highlight reel plays en route to five unanswered tallies as the Irish took the 10-7 lead into the halftime break.
The offensive surge was sparked by the tandem of Doherty and Ahern, forcing the turnover in the neutral zone and creating a two-on-one opportunity in transition. Ahern capitalized on the pass from Doherty to record her third of the game and her third consecutive game with three or more tallies.
Wolak knotted the game up 7-7 moments later before Kathryn Morrissey gave the Irish their first lead since the opening goal as they grabbed the 8-7 edge with 64 seconds to play in the half.
Abby Maichin and Ahern each scored again late in the frame to give the Irish the 10-7 lead heading into the half, including a behind-the-back goal by Ahern to beat the buzzer. The graduate attacker’s fourth goal of the first half came with just two seconds remaining before the horn.
The Irish scoring streak continued with a goal from Wolak, her third of the day, to extend their lead to four goals.
Clemson got one back at 10:36 of the third quarter to snap the Irish scoring streak at six goals but Arden Tierney’s tally a few minutes later gave the Irish the four-goal lead again. The Tigers called for a review of the goal but after a lengthy review the shot was upheld and Tierney had her first of the game.
The Tigers scored two straight goals to draw within two of the Irish with 3:29 left in the third. The back-to-back Clemson goals stood to be the final goals of the quarter as the Irish took the 12-10 lead into the final 15 minutes of play.
A pair of Irish attackers in Maichin and Wolak added to the Irish lead, reclaiming the four-goal edge with two goals early in the frame to make it a 14-10 game but Clemson would score twice more to finish out the contest as the Irish held on to win 14-12.
With the win, the Irish improve to 15-2 on the season and advance to the ACC Tournament semifinals for the fourth consecutive season.
KEY STATS
- With seven points on the day, Jackie Wolak led the team in the category as the graduate attacker picked up four goals and three assists. Wolak now boasts 89 points on the season off 52 goals and 37 assists.
- Madison Ahern notched her third consecutive game with four or more goals and now owns 51 on the season, just one shy of Wolak’s total. Her 70 total points also ranks second on the team while her four goals against Clemson tied Wolak for a team best Wednesday.
- Scooping up five ground balls in the contest, Olivia Dooley led the team in the category as the Irish registered 25 ground ball recoveries on the day. Dooley also forced four of the team’s 10 total caused turnovers as the Irish held the narrow edge over the Tigers in the category.
- With nine saves on the day, Lilly Callahan boasts all decisions for the Irish this season in the crease, and is one win shy of tying the program record for wins in a single season.
- Her nine draw controls on the day led the team as Kelly Denes now sits one shy of Andie Aldave’s program record at the draw circle. Her 366 all-time draw controls for the Irish ranks second in program history and her 127 this season leads the team. At the circle, the Irish led the Tigers 17-13, including a 5-1 draw control advantage in a pivotal third quarter.
- With a 15-2 record this season, the Irish currently sit at 299 wins in program history.
UP NEXT
The Irish advance to the ACC semifinals and will face the winner of Boston College/Duke at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 26.