No. 5 lacrosse beats Notre Dame on the road

The No. 5 women’s lacrosse team continues to dominate on the road, extending its winning streak to 15 straight games with a 5-4 victory against Notre Dame on Monday and remaining perfect on the season.

With the help of a go-ahead goal midway through the second half and rock solid defense the remainder of the game, the Women of Troy continue their best season to date.

Making program history with the longest single-season undefeated record, the Trojans pride themselves on depth and efficiency. With a roster consisting of roughly half seniors, USC has a plethora of experience under its belt and in times of adversity, the girls can count on their teammates to step up to the plate. On both sides of the field, the Trojans have demonstrated their skills with five different Trojans earning MPSF Player of the Week’ honors this season: junior Michaela Michael three times on offense, junior Kylie Drexel on offense, senior Courtney Tarleton twice on defense and sophomores Gussie Johns and Lydia Sutton on defense.

A crucial win came Friday against No. 6 Notre Dame, a team that the Trojans have previously struggled against. While the Trojans were outshot 30-18, their efficiency on offense shone through and landed them a 14-11 victory.

The Trojans buckled down, limiting the Fighting Irish to just 4 goals and maintaining their lead throughout a tense second half.

“We capitalized on the right opportunities today and stayed mentally tough and confident,” head coach Lindsey Munday said. “We put the opportunities away at the right times.”

USC gained possession right off the bat with a draw control by junior defender Nina Kelty, yet the Fighting Irish quickly sent a ball into the back of the net to give them a 1-0 advantage.

And with a crucial save by Johns and a shot on goal by senior midfielder Amanda Johansen, the Trojans were back on track and the score was tied 1-1.

The game continued in this manner and with 2 goals by junior Cynthia Del Core and Drexel and 2 goals by Notre Dame, at halftime the score was tied 3-3. However, the Trojans could have faced a deficit given Notre Dame’s stout offensive efforts. but Johns made nine crucial saves in the first half limiting the Fighting Irish to just 3 goals.

The Trojans came out fiery in the second half with Michael sending the ball into the back of the net off a transition to give the Women of Troy a 4-3 lead. Yet Notre Dame countered with a goal off a free position to tie up the score 4-4. Rebounding with a goal of her own off a free position with 14:58 remaining, Michael regained a Trojan lead, bringing the score to 5-4.

The next 15 minutes were long with just a slim lead, but with a tremendous defensive effort on both accounts, the remainder of the game was scoreless and the Trojans came out on top with a narrow-margin victory.

“It is a good test for us going towards the end of the season and postseason where you have to have a quick turn around from one game to the next,” Munday said. “The girls showed their mental toughness and strength throughout.”

Now at 15-0, the Trojans will continue their historical journey as they close out the regular season by facing each game with a fresh perspective.

“The biggest thing is sticking to the game plan no matter the score,” Munday said. “We take it one game at a time — we want to stay true to our gameplan going in and stay confident no matter what.”

The Women of Troy  next take the field Friday, April 22 to face conference opponent Stanford at 4:30 p.m.