South Euclid, OH – Notre Dame College women's soccer returned home on Wednesday afternoon on a sunny and pleasant day at Mueller Field. The Falcons came away with a 3-0 victory over Alderson Broaddus on a trio of second half goals. With the win NDC climbs to 2-2-2 (2-1-2 MEC), while AB falls to 1-5 (0-5 MEC).
 
In the first half, AB's Diana Forero opened the attack with a shot that required a save from Falcon keeper Jordan Pasalaqua. A flurry of shots by NDC between the 17^th and 21^st minutes would come in response to the Battlers attack with shots from Madison Marino, Isabel Sentle, and Louisa Follert. Follert tallied two shots within the sequence, one in the upper right corner that was saved by AB's Cloie Mosesso and another that struck the right woodwork on a play that she blew past her defender. Follert would add a 42^nd minute shot in the bottom left that was again saved by Mosesso to round out the action for the half.

When asked about the performance after the match, forward Sammy Salatino said, "At halftime we really tried to gather ourselves back together and regroup. We really focused on getting the ball down and moving it from side to side to really see if we could get some goals and get the ball rolling."
 
In the second stanza, the Falcons stuck their feet in the turf and did what Salatino preached. Notre Dame scored in rapid succession in the 66^th, 69^th and one minute later in the 70^th minute. Louisa Follert stole the ball from the Battlers defense in the 66^th and broke the scoring drought between the teams as the freshman continues to impress early on in 2021. In the 69^th minute it was Sammy Salatino on a ball from Kalie Blaising to add another goal for the Falcons. Just 61 seconds later, Salatino buried another goal, on a pass from Follert to put the game on ice for Notre Dame. It was a haymaker thrown by NDC that absolutely stunned the Alderson Broaddus team, a team that saw themselves tied late in the match while on the road against the defending MEC champions.
 
Notre Dame would continue an attack at goal throughout the later half of the second stanza with shots from Drew Barr and Blaising. Ultimately, the strong suit of the NDC program is their defense, and they prevailed today earning Pasalqua her third clean sheet of the season.
 
"Thought we did okay in the first half maybe lacked a little cutting edge in the final third." Said Head Coach Mike Shiels, "Really thought the girls did a good job of coming out and taking advantage of their chances in the second half. But we did a good job denying them any clear-cut chances and then obviously took our chances well."
 
A big time win for Notre Dame to pick up three points and keep pace in the MEC North Division.
 
Follert posted a match-high five shots, three on target and one goal, her fourth of the year. Salatino followed with three shots, including two on goal and efficiently soaring twice, her second and third goals of the season. Barr, Marino and Blaising all added two shots of their own. Moreover, Blaising and Follert tallied assists in the match, for Blaising its her second and Follert her first in 2021.
 
In total, NDC had 15 shots and seven on target, with one corner kick and 13 team fouls. AB posted seven shots and three on goal, with one corner kick and 13 fouls. Pasalaqua tallied three saves en route to her clean sheet for the Falcons. Mosesso grabbed four saves on the afternoon for the Battlers. Alderson Broaddus was caution three times with yellow cards from Gwen Sherwood (40'), Dariana Recarte (56') and Nataly Chauta (87').
 
The Notre Dame women's soccer team will be back in action on Saturday Oct. 2 at 1 p.m. when the Falcons travel to West Liberty, WV to meet the Hilltoppers.