Box Score
SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons honored five seniors before Thursday's contest against Wheeling Jesuit, and defeated the Cardinals in the final home game of the season, 16-14.  

For the Falcons (6-6) the victory was their third in a row at home, giving them a 3-2 record on campus this season, while for the Cardinals (8-4) loss brought an end to their three game winning streak. 

The Falcons seized control early on in the contest, as Allison Merten triggered a 5-0 run by scoring the first two goals of the game in less than two minutes. Kelly Matthewman, Brooke Czarnecki and Katrina Johnson all scored during the 5-0 run as well. 

Notre Dame maintained their five goal lead through most of the half, as they had an 8-3 advantage with 8:22 left in the first period after Johnson's second goal. However, the Cardinals caught fire and scored four out of the final five goals over the last eight minutes, and closed the gap to two (9-7) at the half. 

Depsite NDC's lopsided lead early on, and their two goal advantage at the half, statistically, both sides were almost dead even in nearly every category. 

Notre Dame was able to mount a four goal lead (12-8) less than five minutes into the second half after Madalyn Dewling scored with 25:47 remaining, and while the Cardinals would never go away, NDC maintained a lead through the rest of the contest. 

The Cardinals narrowed the deficit to one on two separate occasions.  With 15:49 remaining Paige Plesich scored to bring WJU within one (13-12) and she scored an unassisted goal seven minutes later to make it a one goal game again (14-13). 

However, Notre Dame was able to pull away in the final eight minutes of the contest. Kristen Hull and Johnson both scored for Notre Dame over the next three minutes to give NDC a 16-13 advantage, and that was enough to come away with the win. 

There were six Falcons that scored multiple times on the evening, including Johnson, who led the way with four goals, a season-high for her. Hull and Czarnecki each scored three goals for the Falcons while Matthewman, Merten and Dewling each scored a pair of goals. Matthewman and Merten also added a pair of assists. 

Before the game, Hull, Dewling, Matthewman, Demi Bennett, and Shannan Edwards, NDC's five seniors were honored on senior day. 

The Falcons are in action again on Tuesday, April 22, when they hit the road for an evening contest against Findlay. The contest is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.