ELKHART, Ind. --The Notre Dame College Falcons came away with a pair of hard fought wins over the weekend in Indiana to send them back to the National Championship game, which will take place on Dec. 2, in Houston, Tex. On Friday, NDC beat Iowa State, 44-20, and on Saturday, Notre Dame defeated Indiana, 27-13.

The Falcons opened up the weekend on Friday with a quarterfinal match against the number two seed from the Midwest, the Iowa State Cyclones. The Falcons came out strong, setting the Cyclones back on their heels early with great defensive pressure across the board. Capitalizing on that pressure, junior prop Alivia Leatherman dotted down the first try of the day, putting NDC up 5-0. Not long after, sophomore scrum half Rosa Treece would take the ball herself and put the Falcons up by 10.

Showing why they were a national quarterfinalist, Iowa State pushed back against the Falcons defense, eventually getting on the board and cutting the deficit in half, 10-5. Led by senior Lucy Leatherman and Junior Charlee McCormick, the Falcons would go back on the attack, punishing the Iowa State defense with strong runs down the middle of the field. Lucy Leatherman wound up taking advantage of a defensive miscue from the Cyclones bringing the score to 15-5. Junior Paula Neives, along with sophomore Faith Moses, came up with some big hits on the Cyclones to stop any momentum they were building, while senior captain Kelly Wallenhorst added another to close the half at 20-5. Senior Alexa Piazza kept the Cyclones honest with her strong running and great support in the rucks, helping the Falcons close out the first half strong.

The second half saw the Cyclones jump out to an early score, in an attempt to grab the momentum back from the Falcons and mount a comeback. After a tight back and forth between the teams in the middle of the field, Alivia Leatherman would bully her way in the try zone and her sister Lucy would convert from the tee to extend NDC's lead to 27-10. Iowa State was determined to keep the game close, scoring twice more, but each of their scores was immediately followed by a try from one of the Leatherman sisters, who both ended the day with a hat trick. That made the final score 44-20.

After a much needed rest day the Falcons came into Sunday with a renewed energy, ready to take on Indiana. IU had defeated Virginia in their quarterfinal matchup earlier in the weekend. The Falcons came out flying, pushing down the field behind the play of their forwards and capped off by an incredible try by Lucy Leatherman. Leatherman would convert her own try from the tough angle, giving the Falcons an early lead that they would never relinquish.

Indiana got on the scoresheet, early, by converting on a penalty in front of the sticks to make the score 7-3. But, pressure from sophomore fullback Emilie Dobranski and Piazza caused the Hoosiers to knock on the ensuing kickoff and the Falcons scrum went to work pushing around the Indiana pack. The Falcon forwards went to work maintaining possession for multiple phases before senior Mary McLoughlin fed Alivia Leatherman on the short side for an easy try on the outside. She would dot down again before the half was up, bracketing the lone Indiana try of the half to keep the score at 17-8.

The second half was more of the same tightly contested match and both teams had a player sent off to the sin bin for serious infractions, earlier in the match. The Falcon defense, organized by McLoughlin and anchored by the Hoosiers would create an advantageous turnover to see their outside center race down the field to close the gap to 17-13 after the conversion was no good.

In a carbon copy play of her first try of the day, McLoughlin would put Alivia Leatherman over again on the short side to widen the gap to nine. Sophomore Mazie Kies would break away for one last try for the Falcons, around the outside, for a final score of 27-13.
 
vs. Iowa State
NDC: 
Starters: Alivia Leatherman (Julia Soprek), Avery Bruzda, Nneka Scott (Mary McLoughlin), Paula Nieves, Alexa Piazza, Faith Moses (Kori Dawkins), Charlee McCormick, Lucy Leatherman, Rosa Treece, Kelly Wallenhorst, Kylie Mixter (Deirdra Dorazio), Maizie Kies, Hannah Mitchell, Emalyse Higgins (Jada Diaz), Emilie Dobranski. 
 
Scoring: 
A. Leatherman -3 tries
R. Treece – 1 try
L. Leatherman – 3 tries
K. Wallenhorst – 1 try
 
Conversions:
L. Leatherman 2/7
 
vs. Indiana
NDC: 
Starters: Alivia Leatherman, Avery Bruzda, Mary McLoughlin (Nneka Scott), Paula Nieves, Alexa Piazza, Faith Moses, Charlee McCormick, Lucy Leatherman, Rosa Treece, Kelly Wallenhorst, Kylie Mixter (Emma Monfore), Maizie Kies, Hannah Mitchell, Emalyse Higgins (Jada Diaz), Emilie Dobranski. 
 
Scoring: 
A. Leatherman -3 tries
L. Leatherman – 1 tries
M. Kies – 1 try
 
Conversions
L. Leatherman 1/5