Box Score
ERIE, Pa. -- Notre Dame suffered its first defeat of the season, falling, 19-9, at Gannon (Pa.) on Thursday afternoon.

The host Lady Knights (2-2) had a big second half, outshooting the Falcons, 18-12, and outscoring them, 9-2. Notre Dame (2-1) went 26 minutes without scoring in a second-half stretch that saw GU score eight unanswered goals.

The contest marked Gannon's 2013 home opener and the fourth all-time meeting between GU and NDC. The Lady Knights have won all four of those games.

Senior midfielder Jess Fugate tallied seven goals and five assists in leading Gannon to the win.

"We played a gret first half against what may be the best team on our schedule," said Head Coach Torrey McGowan. "In the second half we had a lapse for a bout 10 minutes or so and that was the difference."

GU opened a 3-0 lead at the game's outset, scoring that trio of goals in less than six minutes. Notre Dame then got two goals in a 37-second span when Kristen Hull and Madalyn Dewling found the back of the net.

After GU added a score at the 19:45-mark, the Falcons again bounced back. Goals by Katherine Doraty at 17:32 and Brooke Czarnecki at 14:31 knotted the score at 4-4.

The next seven goals were divvied up with the Lady Knights taking four and NDC taking three. Doraty scored two of those three for the Falcons; she finished the half with three goals on five shots.

Gannon scored two goals in the last 90 seconds of the first period, and the Lady Knights went into halftime leading, 10-7. The home side outshot the visitors, 18-12, over the first 30 minutes of play, and junior midfielder Christie Valentine found the back of the net five times to pace GU scorers.

The Lady Knights and Falcons traded goals in the first minute of play in the second half. At that point, with 29 minutes remaining, Notre Dame was embroiled in a three-goal game.

Those final 29 minutes were controlled by Gannon, with the Lady Knights defense clamping down and pitching a shutout until Doraty planted a cosmetic goal at the 1:17-mark.

Starting at 27:51 and for a 26-minute stretch, GU outscored NDC, 8-0. Jess Fugate scored five of those goals to finish with seven for the game. The Lady Knights swept second-half battles in shots (18-12), turnovers forced and ground balls. For the game Gannon outshot NDC, 36-24. The Knights put 27 shots on goal, while the Falcons landed 19. GU was a plus-eight in both turnovers (GU 14, NDC 22) and ground balls (GU 35, NDC 27).

Fugate was one of two Gannon players to register five assists in the contest -- Caitlyn Fisher finished the game with five helpers and four ground balls. Christie Valentine scored five goals; Natalie Bonapart added three goals and one assist. Fugate also recorded a game-high five caused turnovers.

Doraty's four goals led the Notre Dame offense. Kristen Hull added three. Doraty and Madison Green each garnered five ground balls.

Kelsey Harvey (three saves) and Lauren Ragsdale (five) split the game in goal for the Falcons. Margaret Maslyn played the entire game for the Lady Knights. She made 10 saves.

For the Falcons the 19 goals allowed came after yielding just 16 over the team's first two games this season. But Torrey McGowan saw the test against Gannon as being a solid prep for Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play: "Things are coming together. I can't wait to see what this team does when it puts 60 minutes together."

Notre Dame is slated to return to action on Saturday with a 2 p.m. home tilt against West Virginia Wesleyan.