ADRIAN, Mich. -- On Friday night, Notre Dame and the Bulldogs of Adrian College were fighting to keep a pair of respective winning streaks alive. After burying NDC with a 9-2 second half, the Bulldogs kept their streak alive, while the Falcons tasted defeat for the first time in over a month.
Notre Dame (10-5) and Adrian (11-2) came into Friday night's game on extended winning streaks -- the Falcons had won eight consecutive games and the Bulldogs had won nine straight. After losing to AC by a final score of 16-8, NDC finds itself putting a game in the loss column for the first time since March 20.
Three Adrian players -- Stacey Birlson, Lindsey Day and Amanda Lambert -- notched hat tricks as the Bulldogs ran their 2010 home record to 5-0.
NDC senior attacker #Jenn Morse# started things off for the Falcons when she scored the first goal of the game and her 44th of the season, at 27:15. Adrian even the score at 1-1 less than two minutes later, at 25:52, but then Notre Dame scored the next two to take a 3-1 lead.
The host Bulldogs then turned the tables on NDC, scoring four straight goals to take a 5-3 lead by the 10-minute mark of the first period. Notre Dame would go into halftime, trailing 7-6 and having had five different players score their six goals.
In the second half, it was all Adrian. The Bulldogs controlled the pace of play and by the 25-minute mark, the scoreboard at Performance Field as well. AC tallied two goals over the first four minutes of the second frame; that put the Bulldogs up, 9-6. Adrian then scored four more unanswered goals before Notre Dame finally got a goal of their own, an unassisted #Katie Christensen# effort at 6:17.
Down 13-7, NDC would trade three Bulldog goals for own of their own (#Jen Hrobuchak# at 2:04) the rest of the way.
Adrian out-shot Notre Dame, 22-13, in the second half and 35-28 for the game. AC goalkeeper Laura Finfrock made 14 saves in limiting the Falcons to their lowest goal total since March 13.
Katie Christensen scored three points, on two goals and one assist, to lead the NDC offense. Jen Hrobuchak and Jenn Morse each scored two goals in what was the Falcons' lowest goal output since losing at Gannon on March 13 by a score of 14-4.
For the Falcons, Friday's game in Michigan marked the first of three straight road games to close out the 2010 season. On Tuesday, April 27, Notre Dame will be at Niagara (N.Y.). The Falcons are slated to close out their season on April 29 at Indiana Tech.
NOTES FROM THE NEST …
SECOND TIME AROUND: Friday's meeting in Adrian marked the second meeting between the Falcons and Bulldogs. NDC defeated AC, 17-3, in Lyndhurst on March 30, 2008. … The Bulldogs are an NCAA Division III program; they came into the game ranked 39th in the nation (Lax Power computer rankings) among DIII teams. The Falcons are currently ranked No. 24 in the DI edition of the same poll.
AWESOME TWOSOME: Katie Christensen (42 goals) and Jen Morse (45) have now combined to score 87 goals this season. The Falcons' record for a one-two punch is held by Gena McPherson and Ashley Rutz, who combined to score 91 goals in 2008.
61*: Sarah Hutchison started Friday's game, marking her 61st career start, an NDC record. The Powell, Ohio, native has never missed a game while at Notre Dame, a feat she shares with fellow senior #Emily Moore#, who has played in 61 games, starting 60.
500 CLUB: Notre Dame moved past 500 team shots on the season on Friday, for just the second time in program history. NDC came into the Adrian game averaging 35.5 shots per game, with a 44.5 percent success rate (221-for-497). The Falcons have gotten off 525 shots this season and are a shoe-in to pass the record 530 posted by the 2007 squad.
