Box Score
LYNDHURST, Ohio -- After making its way through a challenging non-conference slate, Notre Dame opened play as a new affiliate member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Friday, and the Falcons came through with a 2-0 victory.

Lauren Acker scored a pair of goals in the game's second half, lifting Notre Dame (2-3, 1-0 GLIAC) to a win in the team's 2012 home opener.

The Falcons and Wildcats (1-4, 0-1) played a scoreless first half in Friday's match.  It wasn't until the 56th minute of action that NDC dented the scoreboard.  And that Falcon goal -- Acker's second of the season -- came amid a flurry of shots pinging around the grounds. 

A Melissa Mazzorato shot clanged off the post moments before Acker landed hers in the back of the net to give NDC a 1-0 lead.  Less than a minute later NMU's Gabriella Garza whistled a shot by Falcon goalkeeper Christy Kolschetzky that pinged off the crossbar.  So, Notre Dame escaped that exchange with a 1-0 lead.

The Blue & White extended that lead to 2-0 in the 70th minute, when Acker netted her third goal of the season.

Before, between and after those goals, Kolschetzky came up big for the Falcons.  She finished the game with seven saves.  NDC outshot the Wildcats, 16-15.

With the victory NDC bounced back from a tough loss at Lake Erie on Monday.  The Falcons fell to the Storm, 1-0, in a double-overtime, non-conference affair.  Notre Dame also continued what has been a run of success at Korb Field: the Falcons went 6-0 at home in 2011, bolstering an overall record of 12-3-1.  NDC has now gone 15-1-2 in their last 18 games at Korb Field.

The Falcons will have a chance to extend that home field dominance on Sunday when they face the Huskies of Michigan Tech University in another GLIAC game.  That match is slated for a noon start in Lyndhurst.