Box Score
UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. -- Notre Dame fell to Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Association action on Sunday afternoon.

The loss came in the back half of a two-game weekend road trip in Michigan -- the Falcons fell, 1-0, at Northwood on Friday afternoon.  The defeat also spelled the fifth straight loss for NDC, with the Falcons netting just one goal in that stretch. 

Notre Dame (3-10, 2-7 GLIAC) knotted Sunday's proceedings with a Lauren Acker penalty kick in the 66th minute of play, but Saginaw Valley (7-2-4, 5-1-1) counterpunched less than a minute later, eventually sending the host Cardinals to their third straight victory.

The Cardinals opened the match's scoring in the 30th minute when sophomore midfielder Annie Aubrey found the back of the net for a team-high seventh time this season.  Charley Porter assisted on the goal, Aubrey's fourth over SVSU's last three games.  The score came on a cross from the right side; Aubrey nodded it past goalkeeper Kristy Kolschetzky for the 1-0 Cardinal lead.

The goal came on one of eight shots -- four for each side -- in the opening half.  Notre Dame applied some early pressure in that first frame, but the home side controlled play late in the period.

Acker's penalty kick at 65:07 tied things at 1-1.  But Charley Porter answered with a go-ahead second Saginaw Valley goal at 66:50.  Porter's shot from just inside the attacking half sailed over Kolschetzky's reach and into the net to lift the Cardinals to the 2-1 lead.

Porter's goal would close out the game, with Notre Dame landing just one more shot on goal the rest of the way; that shot -- in the 71st minute -- was corralled by SVSU keeper Laura Ivezaj.

Lauren Acker's second-half goal -- her team-leading sixth of the season -- marked NDC's first goal since Sept. 23.  Prior to that score, the Falcons had gone without a goal for 445 minutes over four-plus matches.

For the Blue & White, Sunday's match marked the second leg of what is a four-game string of road games. NDC will continue that stretch with a road tilt at Ohio Dominican on Friday.