Penn Shuts Down Northwestern

No. 10 Penn scored the final five goals of the game, rallying for a 10-7 victory at No. 13 Northwestern on Sunday afternoon.

After Penn’s Erin Barry scored on a free position goal to give the Quakers a 5-4 lead early in the second half, Northwestern appeared to seize momentum, getting three straight goals from Christina Esposito. The last came with 17:16 on the clock, giving the Wildcats a 7-5 edge.

But that was the last time the Wildcats (6-6) would get one past Penn keeper Britt Brown, who finished the game with 13 saves, nine of them coming in the first half.

Penn (8-2) started its game-ending run on an extra-man tally by Chrissy Corcoran with 13:07 to play and then defender Megan Kelly scored her first goal of the season, tying the game 7-7 with 11:25 to play. A wraparound goal by Caroline Cummings put the Quakers up 8-7 with 7:43 to go and then Barry and Sarah Barcia added goals to stretch the lead to 10-7 with 3:17 left.

Northwestern’s final attempt was thwarted when Esposito had a goal waved off for dangerous propelling with 2:38 to play. That was her second yellow card of the game and ended her day.

Cummings had three goals and an assist to pace the Penn offense while Esposito led Northwestern with her three second half goals. Shelby Fredericks had eight draw controls for the Wildcats, helping Northwestern to a 12-7 advantage.

Syracuse Holds Off Duke

After losing four of its last five games, No. 12 Syracuse got a much needed win, holding off Duke 10-9 in Durham, N.C.

Syracuse (9-4, 3-1 ACC) had two separate three-goal leads in the first half, but couldn’t put the Blue Devils away. Duke (6-6, 0-5 ACC) scored three times in the opening six minutes of the second half to tie the game 7-7 before Alie Jimerson and Riley Donahue answered for the Orange to stretch the lead back to two goals.

The Orange had a two-goal lead down the stretch, but Stuart Humphrey’s free position goal with 1:29 left for Duke made it 10-9 and the Blue Devils won the ensuing draw after a Syracuse foul. Duke patiently worked the ball around for a shot as the clock ticked down, but then forced a pass inside and Syracuse’s Kelsey Youmell picked up the ground ball for the turnover to seal the win.

Donahue and Jimerson each had two goals and two assists for the Orange and Neena Merola also scored twice. Humphrey and Maddie Crutchfield each had two goals for Duke and freshman Gabbe Cadoux, making just her second career start in goal, made 10 saves.

Carolina Offense Too Much For Notre Dame

Notre Dame sophomore goalie Samantha Giacolone made a career-high 18 saves, but it wasn’t enough to stop North Carolina’s powerful offense as the No. 2 Tar Heels earned a 16-9 win in South Bend, Ind.

The Tar Heels used a four-goal run late in the first half to break a 5-5 tie and the No. 14 Irish never got closer than three goals the rest of the way. Molly Hendrick had four goals for UNC, Carly Reed had a team-high five points (3g, 2a) and Caylee Waters made 12 saves.

Cortney Fortunato (3g, 1a) and Casey Pearsall (2g, 2a) led Notre Dame, which was outshot 47-27 and also lost the draw control battle 17-10. Sammy Jo Tracy had five draw controls for the Tar Heels to go along with her hat trick.

In other notable performances on Sunday:

• No. 8 Stony Brook knocked off its top America East rival, Albany, 18-11 behind Taryn Ohlmiller (4g, 4a), Dorrien Van Dyke (4g, 1a) and Keri McCarthy (3g, 1a, 8 DC).

• Trailing 3-2 midway through the first half, No. 7 Princeton went on an 11-goal run over the next 26 minutes to beat Delaware 16-4. Olivia Hompe had five goals and three assists for the Tigers.

• No. 9 USC oustscored Cal 14-0 in the opening half and moved to 3-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with a 21-4 win over Cal. Michaela Michael had six goals.

• Elizabeth Behrins had a career-best seven goals as No. 19 Denver beat Connecticut 16-11. UConn goalie Grace Beshlian tied a school record with 20 saves.

• Massachusetts set a school record with 24 goals in a 24-14 win over St. Joseph’s. Hannah Burnett set a school mark with eight goals and her 10 points tied the school record.

• Lindsey Zeltwanger scored a school-record nine goals, on just 11 shots, as Mercer beat Kennesaw State 18-9. In her previous two games, Zeltwanger had dished 11 assists, but scored just once.

• Danielle Della Rocca had four goals and became Jacksonville’s all-time scoring leader with 218 points in a 25-2 win at Howard. The victory was the 100^th career win for JU head coach Mindy McCord.

Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Top 20 Scoreboard

No. 2 North Carolina 16, No. 14 Notre Dame 9
No. 7 Princeton 16, Delaware 4
No. 8 Stony Brook 18, Albany 11
No. 9 USC 21, Cal 4
No. 10 Penn 10, No. 13 Northwestern 7
No. 12 Syracuse 10, Duke 9
No. 19 Denver 16, Connecticut 11

Nike/US Lacrosse Division II Top 20 Scoreboard

No. 12 New Haven 18, Franklin Pierce 13

Nike/US Lacrosse Division III Top 20