St. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – On Tuesday evening, Notre Dame College played the first of two games in Florida. The Falcons led 3-2 after one quarter and tied the contest at five, with less than five minutes to go in the second quarter, but No. 15 Flagler College took control in the second half to defeat NDC, 18-7.
 
Flagler took a couple early shots in the contest, but both were off the mark. The Saints also turned the ball over twice, in the first five minutes, including a shot clock violation. NDC's defense was playing very well, but Flagler did put the first goal into the net, with 7:27 to go in the first quarter.
 
Notre Dame responded on a free position attempt by sophomore Joselyn Storm. When the whistle blew, she stepped back and waited for teammate Kendal Johnson to get into position. Johnson scored the goal to tie the game at one. After NDC goalkeeper Annika Duncan made a save on the defensive end, graduate student Faith Flanagan sent the ball into the net for the Falcons, as she was falling in front of the goal.
 
The Falcons did not stop there. Freshman Ella Scoville won the next draw control and, a little over a minute later, Storm scored on a free position shot to give Notre Dame a 3-1 advantage, with 3:14 to go in the first stanza.
 
FC would score one more goal, but the Falcons went into the second quarter leading the nationally-ranked Saints by one.
 
The first three goals of the second quarter were scored by Flagler. After falling behind 5-3, NDC's Piper Hammond won the draw control and that led to a goal by senior Jamira Mashore. In about thirty seconds, freshman Grace Rotter won the next draw and Johnson scored her second goal of the game, tying the score at five, with 4:27 on the clock.
 
The Falcons went into the halftime break, trailing 7-5. Notre Dame was winning the draw control battle, 9-5, after the first 30 minutes.
 
Flagler came out of the locker room and expanded its lead throughout the third quarter. Notre Dame's sophomore Lexington Carson had a free position attempt, but passed the ball to Rotter. Rotter then scored her first collegiate goal with 8:55 to go in the third quarter.
 
After three quarter, FC led 13-6.
 
Junior Charlotte Vari scored Notre Dame's only goal in the fourth quarter.
 
NDC won 15 draw controls to Flagler's 13.
 
The Falcons will face No. 2 Florida Southern College, on March 9, at 11 a.m.