Printer-Friendly Format     E-mail this article     Cailtin McKinney scored Notre Dame's first goal of the game in the 9-6 loss to Vanderbilt.

 
Eighth-Ranked Irish Fall At Home To No. 13 Vanderbilt, 9-6

Jillian Byers scores three goals in Irish loss to the Commodores.

April 16, 2008

Final Stats

Notre Dame, Ind. - The Notre Dame women's lacrosse team had not played at home since March 22 and had gone 4-1 in its five road games since then. On Wednesday afternoon, the Irish met 13th-ranked Vanderbilt looking to improve on their 10-4 record.

The Commodores had other ideas though as they got three goals from Carter Foote and two each from Margie Curran and Cara Giordano to had the eighth-ranked Fighting Irish a 9-6 loss at Eck West Field. Sarah Downing and Ashley Paschall added single goals for Vanderbilt.

Notre Dame junior Jillian Byers (Northport, N.Y.) scored three goals in the game to lead the Irish offense. Caitlin McKinney (Sr., Lafayette Hill, Pa.), Alicia Billings (Jr., Potomac, Md.) and Shaylyn Blaney (Fr., Stony Brook, N.Y.) had single goals for the Irish.

The loss dropped Notre Dame to 10-5 overall while Vanderbilt improves to 11-4 on the year.

Vanderbilt jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half as Downing beat Irish goaltender Erin Goodman (Jr., Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) from in front just 1:41 into the game.

Foote scored her first of three in the game at 25:07 as she converted a feed from Katherine Denkler for the two-goal lead. Denkler would finish the day with three assists.

McKinney got Notre Dame on the scoreboard at 22:55, beating Commodore goalkeeper Brooke Shinaberry to cut the lead to 2-1.

Foote scored her second of the game at 17:31 to give Vanderbilt a two-goal lead at 3-1.

The Irish would tie the game with six minutes left in the half, 3-3. Billings converted a feed from Gina Scioscia (So., Summit, N.J.) at 16:14 for her career-best eighth goal of the season.

Byers made it 3-3 at the 6:00 minute mark, converting a free-position shot after being fouled in front. That would be as close as Notre Dame would get all afternoon as the Commodores closed the half with a pair of goals from the stick of Giordano.

The junior midfielder gave Vanderbilt a 4-3 lead with 4:17 left in the half as she scored on a free-position shot. She then closed the half with 1:47 left after taking a pass from Curran and beating Goodman for the 5-3 halftime lead.

Curran would do the damage early in the second half, scoring the first two goals of the second stanza. The senior attacker made it 6-3 with a free-position goal at 27:54 and then gave the Commodores a four-goal lead with her second goal at 23:48.

Byers answered Curran with a pair of goals. Shannon Burke (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) set Notre Dame's scoring leader up for her second of the game at 21:35. Her second free-position goal of the game at 18:22 cut the Vanderbilt lead to 7-5.

Carter closed out her hat trick at 14:36 to make it 8-5 only to see Blaney cut the lead to 8-6 with 7:03 left in the game.

The Commodores controlled play for most of the final seven minutes, keeping the Irish off the scoreboard and added the final goal of the game with three seconds left as Paschall fired into an open net as Notre Dame pressed to force a turnover.

For the game, Vanderbilt out shot Notre Dame, 23-19. Goodman finished with six saves in the game while Shinaberry had 10 in the Commodore's goal.

Notre Dame returns to action on Sunday, April 20 when the Irish close out the BIG EAST schedule at Rutgers. Game time at Yurcak Field in Piscataway, N.J. is set for 12:00 noon. IRISH NOTES:

** Notre Dame's game with Vanderbilt was the fourth consecutive game for the Irish against a ranked opponent. They are 2-2 in those games. Notre Dame defeated #7 Duke and #6 Georgetown while losing to #1 Northwestern and #13 Vanderbilt.

** For the second year in a row, the Irish followed up a big win against Georgetown with a tough loss to Vanderbilt. In 2007, the Irish snapped Georgetown's 37-game BIG EAST win streak with a 13-8 win at home and then lost at Vanderbilt, 13-9. Last Saturday, the Irish won at Georgetown for the first time ever, 10-8, and then dropped a 9-6 decision to Vanderbilt.

GAME SUMMARY
		             1      2   -   F
#13 Vanderbilt (11-4)        5      4   -   9
#8 Notre Dame (10-5)         3      3   -   6

First Half
Time    Team   Score   Goal                  Assist
28:19    VU     0-1    Sarah Downing
25:07    VU     0-2    Carter Foote          Katherine Denkler
22:55    ND     1-2    Caitlin McKinney
17:31    VU     1-3    Carter Foote
16:14    ND     2-3    Alicia Billings       Gina Scioscia
 6:00    ND     3-3    Jillian Byers         Free-position shot
 4:17    VU     3-4    Cara Giordano         Free-position shot
 1:47    VU     3-5    Cara Giordano         Margie Curran

Second Half
Time    Team   Score   Goal                  Assist
27:54    VU     3-6    Margie Curran         Free-position shot
23:48    VU     3-7    Margie Curran         Katherine Denkler
21:35    ND     4-7    Jillian Byers         Shannon Burke
18:22    ND     5-7    Jillian Byers         Free-position shot
14:36    VU     5-8    Carter Foote          Sarah Downing
 7:03    ND     6-8    Shaylyn Blaney
 0:03    VU     6-9    Ashley Paschall       Katherine Denkler

Goalkeepers:
Vanderbilt: (Brooke Shinaberry; 60:00 min; 6 goals, 10 saves)
Notre Dame:  (Erin Goodman; 60:00 min; 9 goals, 6 saves)

Total Shots: VU - 23; ND - 19
Groundballs:  VU - 15; ND - 14
Draw Controls:  VU - 6; ND - 11
Caused Turnovers:  VU- 5; ND - 12