PEPPER PIKE, Ohio -- Notre Dame traveled a few blocks east to take on American Mideast Conference foe Ursuline on Wednesday afternoon. The Falcons returned to College Road in the evening with a third straight victory in tow, having beaten the Arrows, 3-1.  (Box)

The win for Notre Dame (6-5, 3-2 AMC) propels them into a four-way tie for third place in the conference standings despite having started their AMC campaign with a pair of losses. Last week, NDC picked up back-to-back wins when they upset Houghton (N.Y.) and Cedarville. All three of the Falcons' opponents in their win streak have been over .500; Ursuline (7-4, 2-4) came into Wednesday's match with a 7-3 mark. The combined record of NDC's three win-streak victims, at the time of each match, is 18-6-2.

Ursuline has now lost four of their last five, after starting the season off with six straight victories.

“This is probably our top performance of the year,” said Head Coach #Mike Shiels#. “Ursuline is a good team; I really like the way we played them tough.”

That performance against the Arrows was spearheaded by sophomore midfielder #Anic McKay# and sophomore defender #Lauren Acker#, who each tallied three points in the match.

McKay assisted on the first goal of the game, a quality shot by sophomore forward #Katie Christensen# in the 12th minute. A minute-and-a-half later Acker garnered the second goal of the match and her third in the Falcons' last two contests.

NDC would hold that lead until 20 seconds before halftime (44:20), when the Arrows' leading scorer, Jamie Grindle, slipped a shot past keeper #Emilie Lamarche#.

The score remained 2-1 until McKay scored a goal of her own in the 76th minute, on an assist from Acker.

The match in Pepper Pike marked the final of three straight road matches for the Falcons, who will now begin a protracted stretch of home games.

That stretch begins on Wednesday, Oct. 14, when the Blue & White host Malone at Korb Field in a 4 p.m. kickoff. That match will mark the first of five straight at home for the Falcons, who have played just one at home thus far in 2009.


NOTES FROM THE NEST …

BACKYARD BARBEQUE: With their win over Ursuline on Wednesday, Notre Dame has now defeated the Arrows eight times in nine meetings between the two neighboring eastside Cleveland programs. UC's only win in the series came in the first meeting between the two squads, on Oct. 30, 2001; NDC has won eight straight from the Arrows since. … NDC is now 13-2 in their last 15 October matches, dating back to the 2007 season. … The Falcons' day in Pepper Pike marks their best offensive output in a match since they defeated Missouri Valley, 3-0, on Aug. 30. In the eight matches since, NDC scored just eight goals.

LAMARCHE HONORED: On Wednesday, the AMC announced that goalkeeper Emily Lamarche has earned the conference's Defensive Player of the Week for games of Sept. 28-Oct. 4. During the week, the Falcons earned a pair of impressive road wins against Houghton (N.Y.) and Cedarville. In the two matches, the junior keeper from Rockland, Ont., allowed just one goal in 198 minutes of action. She made 13 saves in running her season save percentage to .836. … The announcement marked Lamarche's fourth weekly award in her three-year career. She garnered the top defensive player award once in 2007 and twice last season.