LYNDHURST, Ohio -- Notre Dame continued their winning ways Monday with a 5-0 win over Ursuline at Korb Field. The victory is Notre Dame's third straight and fourth in their last five outings. It also vaults the Falcons into a three-way tie for first place in the American Mideast Conference (AMC). Notre Dame, Cedarville, and Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) are now all 4-0 in league play.
With the loss, Ursuline (1-5-1, 0-3-1) is now winless (0-4-1) over their last five contests.
Notre Dame (5-2, 4-0) dominated play, scoring four goals in the first half and peppering Arrow goal keepers with 10 shots on goal in the game.
Seniors Nikki Tizzano (Mentor, Ohio) and Natalie Bernot (Mentor, Ohio) led the Falcon attack. Tizzano scored two goals and Bernot added a goal and an assist, as NDC closed out a three-match home stand having won all three.
Monday's match started with the Falcons striking early. Tizzano floated a 25-yarder into the lower right corner for a goal in the fifth minute of the match. That gave NDC a 1-0 advantage.
Tizzano followed that goal with another in the 25th minute, this time on a beautiful long cross off the right foot of senior forward Natalie Bernot. Tizzano took the long pass in the left short corner and fired a shot that found nylon, once again in the lower right corner of the goal.
Bernot herself got in on the act moments later when, at 28:19, she drilled a 25-yarder past the outstretched arms of senior Ursuline keeper Steph Kasza (Uniontown, Ohio). That put Notre Dame up, 3-0.
Junior forward Lisa Good (Sandusky, Ohio) rounded out the first half scoring for Notre Dame when she scored her first goal of the season, a crossbar rebound job from close range. Good's rebound came on her own shot. Notre Dame would out-shoot Ursuline, 12-1, in the opening period.
In the second, Ashley Rucker (So./Rocky River, Ohio) notched her team-leading fifth goal of the season on another rebound from close range. That goal put the Falcons up by the eventual final of 5-0.
In goal, Emilie Lamarche (So./Rockland, Ont.) and Brittany Cruz (Fr./Amherst, Ohio) combined on the shutout. Each went 45 minutes; Lamarche made one save, Cruz five. The shutout win marked NDC's fifth of the season.
With Notre Dame's unblemished 4-0 start in league play, the Falcons are now 15-1 over their last 16 conference matches (includes AMC North divisional play, 2006-07).
“It's good to get off to a start like this in the conference,” said NDC head coach Mike Shiels. “We have some tough games ahead of us, but this puts us in a position to be playing meaningful matches in October.”
The Falcons will look to go 5-0 in league play when they return to action Friday. NDC is slated to take on Ohio Dominican in Columbus. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
NOTES FROM THE NEST…
KEEPER HONORED: Falcon keeper Emilie Lamarche was honored by the AMC Monday, when the league announced her as the Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending Sept. 21. The sophomore netminder earned the award with 135 shutout minutes against Houghton (N.Y.) and Carlow (Pa.) last week. Lamarche, a 2007 First Team All-AMC North selection, made seven saves in a 1-0 Falcon victory over Houghton, the No. 19 team in the nation. That performance marked her second shut out of a ranked team this season. Lamarche's Player of the Week award is also her second this season. Coming into Monday night's match, the second-year Falcon had a 0.54 goals-against average this season to go with a .912 save percentage.
ON TARGET WITH ARROWS: With Monday's victory, NDC is now 7-1 all-time against UC, as has won seven straight in the series, which began in 2001. Before Monday, each of the previous five meetings between the two schools had resulted in a one-goal victory for NDC.
EARLY BIRD: The Falcons' first goal Monday (Nikki Tizzano at 4:09) marked their earliest in a match this season. An Ashley Rucker goal at 9:35 of NDC's Carlow (Pa.) match (Sept. 20) had been Notre Dame's earliest strike prior to Monday.
