SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame College earns their first home victory of the season, defeating Ohio Valley University, 19-16, on Friday afternoon. This is the quickest that the NDC lacrosse program has reached four wins to start the season since the 2013 campaign.

To begin the game, senior Taylor Henderson grabbed the draw control and sophomore Abigail Plewes took a shot that was saved by OVU goalie, Cheyenne Jess. Ohio Valley then kept the ball in the Falcons' territory for much of the first seven minutes. Morgan Perrone scored the first goal of the game for OVU at the 28:21-mark.

The Fighting Scots caused a turnover and scored their second goal of the game with nearly 26 minutes remaining. After a save on a free position shot on one end, Ohio Valley brought the ball down the field and Lillian Quintanilla scored a goal to put the visiting team on top, 3-0.

Notre Dame started their comeback as Plewes scored the first goal, following an offensive foul that gave the ball to the Falcons. Henderson grabbed the next draw control and after a shot by freshman Victoria Eiland went wide, freshman Katie Wendell picked the ball up and scored quickly. The Falcons trailed by one, 3-2, in a hectic first ten minutes of action.

After an OVU turnover, caused by freshman Leslie Diaz, freshman Danyelle Hardy tied the game for the first time, at four, with 15:42 to go. About two minutes later, another turnover led to the Falcons' first lead of the game as sophomore Bridie Schmalz found the net.

Over the next eight minutes, the game was tied three times, but the Falcons broke the tie with a goal by sophomore Selena Carter, assisted by Hardy, with 2:05 remaining before the halftime break.

At halftime, NDC led by a score of 8-7. Both teams took 14 shots and 11 shots on goal in the first half. NDC caused seven turnovers and they scored four goals on their offensive possessions immediately following an OVU turnover.

The second half began just as the last 12 minutes of the first half went, as Ohio Valley tied the game at eight and then tied it, again, at nine. However, the Falcons took the lead for good when Taylor Henderson scored a free position goal with 25:43 to go in the game.

NDC would go on a 4-1 scoring run to grab a 13-10 lead and Henderson scored three of the four Notre Dame goals. The Fighting Scots closed the gap to two points, three different times, but NDC stayed composed and finished the job, leading the game for the final 25 and a half minutes of the contest. The Falcons scored 11 goals in second half, which ties the season-high that they set in the first half against Adams State on March 9.

"Our young team is starting to figure it out and is starting to play some good lacrosse," Head Coach Pam Jenkins said. "The great part is we haven't reached our full potential as a squad yet, but we are on our way. It was a great team win today and I'm excited for what's to come."

Notre Dame has now won two of last three games and they improve to 4-0 this season when leading at halftime. Henderson led the team with six goals, tying her career-high at Notre Dame, and led the team in draw controls with five. Wendell scored three goals and won four draw controls. On defense, Diaz and sophomore Alexas Barone both had two caused turnovers and Ellejanna Cicione had 10 saves.

For Ohio Valley, Emily Prentice had six goals and six draw controls while Kayla Stewart added three goals and eight draw controls. OVU won 10 more draw controls than NDC in the game.

The Falcons will play Wheeling Jesuit University on March 31. The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.