Zerhusen's 8 Leads OSU Over No. 11 Irish
from press release
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Ohio State women's
lacrosse team battled back from a halftime deficit to defeat
11th-ranked Notre Dame, 13-8, Thursday afternoon indoors at the
Loftus Center at Notre Dame. Brittney Zerhusen led all scorers with
eight points off five goals and three assists, as the Buckeyes won
their second game in a row to improve 4-3 on the season and hand
the Fighting Irish their third loss (2-3) of the year.
"I am so proud of the athletes today and how we competed to the
final whistle," Alexis Venechanos, first-year Ohio State head coach
said. "It was incredible to see the team remain poised and
confident in the final eight minutes to beat a very strong Notre
Dame team."
Ohio State trailed 6-5 at the half after battling the Fighting
Irish to four ties and three lead changes through the first period
of play. Four different Buckeyes accounted for scoring in the first
half, including Zerhusen, who scored her second tally of the day
off an assist from Maghan Beaudrault with 22 seconds remaining in
the period to cut the Notre Dame lead to one.
The Buckeyes came out of the intermission running on all
cylinders, scoring three in the first 10 minutes of the second half
and four before Notre Dame could come up with a response. Zerhusen
fed Gabby Capuzzi and Beaudrault for a pair of goals to give Ohio
State a 7-6 lead that it would not relinquish. Alayna Markwordt,
the Buckeyes' leading scorer, continued the run with an unassisted
tally at 20:23 before both teams settled into a 10-plus minute
scoring draught through the middle of the period.
Zerhusen got the action going again, once again teaming up with
Beaudrault, to give the Buckeyes a three-goal lead, 9-6, at the
9:51 mark of the game. Notre Dame's Jenny Granger found the back of
the net for the Irish's first second-half goal just over a minute
later, but Ohio State came back with four unanswered to blow the
game wide open.
Kirsten Donahue and Zerhusen alternated goals over the next
several minutes as the Buckeyes earned their largest lead of the
contest, 13-7, with 1:57 on the clock. Notre Dame would score once
more, but Ohio State came away with its fourth win in the last five
games.
Annie Carruthers played all 60 minutes in goal for the Buckeyes,
making 10 stops, including seven in the second half alone. The
teams finished even in both ground balls (11-11) and draw controls
(12-12), though the Irish led the shot count, 25-20.
The Buckeyes go on hiatus for finals, but return to action at 1
p.m. March 20 against California in Jesse Owens Memorial
Stadium.
