NOTRE DAME, Ind. – A hot start by the No. 15 Stanford Lacrosse team wasn’t enough to stave off a second-half surge by the 11th-ranked Notre Dame Saturday afternoon. Kelsey Murray scored five goals in the game for the Cardinal, but the Irish answered with 10 goals in the second half to take a 13-9 win.
Stanford (0-1) opened up the first half with a goal by Kelsey Murray in the second minute. The Irish fired back with a goal ten minutes later before the Cardinal went on a three goal tear as Murray added another to her tally with Mackenzie Tesei and Lucy Dikeou adding in two more to pull ahead 4-1. The Irish fought back with two goals to close out the half as the teams headed into the break with Stanford leading 4-3.
The Cardinal wasted no time as it came out of the half to score two more goals to push its lead to 6-3. The turning point came with 19 minutes remaining in the game as the Irish cranked up their offensive attack to score eight unanswered goals to jump out to an 11-6 lead. Allie DaCar did work between the posts for Stanford, putting up 11 saves in the game as the Irish outshot Stanford 37-15.
The teams traded off goals in the remaining six minutes of action with Stanford adding three more, to Notre Dame’s two to close out the game 13-9 in favor of the Irish.
The Cardinal returns to action on Tuesday for its home opener against conference opponent Saint Mary’s. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks.