AMHERST, N.Y. -- Notre Dame closed out their 2009 regular season with a 2-1 win over Daemen (N.Y.) in double overtime on Saturday afternoon.
Lauren Acker continued her recent hot streak by connecting on the game-winner, and NDC won for the eighth time in nine matches.
The Falcons have now won four straight and two in a row via a late goal.
With a game-time temperature in the 40s and winds gusting to 30 miles per hour, Notre Dame won in conditions they know could impact the next stage of their season - the postseason.
Up next for NDC is the American Mideast Conference Tournament, which will feature the league’s top six finishers. The Falcons (11-6, 8-3 AMC) came into Saturday’s action needing a win coupled with a Mount Vernon loss in order to receive a bye in that postseason tournament. With the 2-1 victory against Daemen (7-8-1, 5-5-1) and a 2-0 win over Cedarville by MVNU, the Falcons have locked up the No. 3 seed in the tournament. That means NDC will host a first-round match on Saturday, Nov. 7. It also spells the Falcons’ third consecutive appearance in the postseason.
“We played well today,” said Head Coach
Mike Shiels. “It was unfortunate that we couldn’t hold the lead in regulation, but it’s still a good win for us to play in those conditions on the road.”
Sophomore forward Katie Christensen scored Notre Dame’s first goal of the afternoon, when she corralled a Lauren Kobylik cross for a netfinder in the 14th minute. The Falcons would take that lone goal into the second half and into the 61st minute before a shot got past NDC keeper Emilie Lamarche. That goal was scored by the Wildcats’ Kelsey O’Leary, who dribbled up the middle and fired a shot into the lower left corner to knot the game at 1-1.
That would be the score at the end of regulation, at the end of a first overtime and into the 103rd minute of the contest, when Acker launched a shot over the head of Daemen keeper Marisa Alfieri. The game-winner for Acker marked her ninth goal in the falcons’ last eight matches and her sixth game-winning goal of the season.
Over the four periods, the host Wildcats outshot Notre Dame, 24-15. Lamarche loomed large in the match - she made a season-high 14 saves on 15 shots on goal. The Falcons put eight shots on target.
With the win in the second extra session, the Blue & White are now 3-0 this season in overtime matches. They are now 6-4 in 10 road tilts and have defeated Daemen in four consecutive matches, dating back to the 2006 season.