Maddie Howe scored six times and Samantha Giacolone saved 13 shots to lead the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to a NCAA Tournament first round victory Friday over the Stanford Cardinal, 15-9.
The game was won in the center circle, with the Irish winning 18 of 25 draw controls against the nation’s seventh best team in controlling faceoffs. Sophomore midfielder Andie Aldave collected nine of those herself, adding to her program-best 135 draw controls entering this game.
Despite two Top 20 scoring offenses, the first half included two stretches of seven-plus minutes without a goal for either team.