Call it the luck of the Irish? 

For the first time since 2013, the No. 17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish advanced to 8-0 on St. Patrick’s Day weekend, recording their first ranked win of the season in a 10-9 upset of No. 6 Virginia.

It was their first real test of 2019 after last year’s exclusion from the NCAA tournament – and they succeeded. 

“Are the Fighting Irish for real?” Jeremy Fallis asked in this week’s weekend watch. 

“We are a team that's on a mission,” Notre Dame coach Christine Halfpenny said following the win. 

Sophomore midfielder Andie Aldave scored the game-winning goal off Mollie Carr’s assist with just 1:30 left to play. It came after Cavaliers junior Sammy Mueller knotted the game at nine at the 4:27 mark.

Notre Dame led 4-2 at the break, but Virginia used a five-goal run to take a three-score lead midway through the second half. The Irish fought to regain the lead with a four-goal response, and ultimately the victory thanks to Aldave’s last-minute performance.

Aldave finished with a team-high five opints, Maddie Howe contributed four points and Irish goalie Samantha Giacolone made 10 saves on the day.

Virginia saw two five-point performances from Mueller and Maggie Jackson.

The Irish outhustled the Cavaliers 19-11 on ground balls, but UVA won in the midfield with a 13-8 advantage on the draw. 

Notre Dame next faces Vanderbilt on Wednesday before entering a stretch of four straight ACC games against Syracuse, North Carolina, Boston College and Virginia Tech. 

SHOCKER IN CHARLOTTESVILLE

Andi Aldave gets the game-winner for @NDWomensLax with 1:30 left. Irish upset @UVAWomensLax thanks to five points from Aldave and 10 saves from Giacolone. pic.twitter.com/Ae47sMQEuS

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) March 16, 2019

USC Beats Colorado

Holding No. 20 Colorado to just one goal in the second half, unranked USC cruised past its Pac-12 rival 11-5 behind four-point performances from Emily Concialdi and Sophia Donovan.

The Trojans opened the game strong with four straight goals and used another four-goal spurt spanning both periods to pull away with the lead the Buffs couldn’t overcome. 

Izzy McMahon and Jackie Gilbert led USC with four draw controls apiece and goalie Riley Hertford made 10 stops. 

Colorado saw a hat trick from Miranda Stinson. 

This matchup was originally scheduled for Friday, but it was moved to Saturday due to inclement weather.

Don't blink! @SurferKerr grabs the draw and finds @SophiaDonovan99 for the sixth USC goal of the first half!#FightOn #Pac12Lax pic.twitter.com/2TZLojgFMz

— USC Women's Lacrosse (@USCTrojansLax) March 16, 2019

Maryland’s Taylor Reaches Career Mark

In a dominant 16-1 showing against Big Ten foe Ohio State, No. 2 Maryland senior goalie Megan Taylor recorded 600 career saves with the final save of the first half. 

With eight saves Saturday, she became the third Terp to reach that mark, now totaling 77 saves and a 58.3 save percentage in 2019.

The game also marked Maryland’s fifth-annual JDRF game, raising more than $2,800 on the day and $9,300 this year. 

“Anytime you can raise a lot of money to support JDRF and come away with a win against a Big Ten opponent it's a great day!" Terps coach Cathy Reese said. 

The first period was a shutout of the Buckeyes as Maryland cruised to a 12-0 lead before a low-scoring second half. 

Kali Hartshorn led the Terps with six points on five goals and an assist, while Jen Giles recorded four points. Hartshorn and Lizzie Colson had six and four draw controls, respectively. 

Ohio State’s lone goal came from Sara Dickinson at the 22:57 mark in the second half. 

Today, Megan Taylor became the third Maryland goalie ever to record career saves!

If you didn’t know, she’s kinda good #FearTheTurtle pic.twitter.com/S0xCzASNp7

— Maryland Women's Lax (@MarylandWLax) March 16, 2019

Walker-Weinstein, Spallina Record Milestones

Boston College coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein and Stony Brook coach Joe Spallina, whose teams rank first and eighth respectively, each reached milestones in their coaching careers Saturday.

As the undefeated Eagles (9-0) dominated No. 16 Georgetown 21-11 with a team-high seven points from Dempsey Arsenault, Walker-Weinstein recorded her 100th win at the helm. She is the first coach in program history to do so.  

Spallina then joined the 200-win club as the Seaolves cruised past Cornell 14-2 with four points each from Ally Kennedy, Keri McCarthy, Taryn Ohlmiller and Sam Rafferty. It was Spallina’s 127th victory at Stony Brook as he previously notched 73 at Adelphi. 

With 127 at Stony Brook and 73 at Adelphi, Head Coach @JoeSpallina has hit 200 victories as a head coach!

Hear what he had to say about hitting this milestone#SeawolvesUnited | #NCAAWLAX | #AEWLAX pic.twitter.com/2xL5mppoYs

— Stony Brook WLAX (@StonyBrookWLAX) March 16, 2019

Penn Escapes Duke

Trailing by one at halftime, No. 5 Penn completed the comeback effort and avoided the upset bug with a 10-9 win over No. 14 Duke thanks to Zoe Belodeau’s game-winner.

The Blue Devils opened the scoring with tallies from Charlotte North and Olivia Jenner, to which the Quakers responded with four of their own. But Duke finished the first half on top, 6-5, with a 4-1 run in the final 6:36 of the period. 

Penn’s Abby Bosco knotted the game 6-6 four minutes into the second half before Katie Cronin handed the lead back to Duke two minutes later.

However, the Quakers used a three-goal spurt to secure a two-goal advantage midway before the period to bolster their comeback. North brought the Blue Devils back into the game with back-to-back scores with just five minutes remaining, but Belodeau’s game-winner 30 seconds later sealed the victory for the higher-ranked squad. 

Penn saw a team-best five points from Gabby Rosenzweig on four assists and a goal. Belodeau and Bosco had two goals apiece.

The game winner from Zoe B!#OwnIt pic.twitter.com/WRNH8Eggkw

— Penn Women's Lax (@PennWomensLax) March 16, 2019

Michigan Moves to 10-0

Thanks to a strong first half in a 12-9 win over Penn State in Big Ten play, No. 11 Michigan made program history. It moved the Wolverines to their first double-digit win season. 

Michigan used a six-goal run, led by two goals from Adriana Pendino, to close out the first half with a 7-2 lead. 

Penn State, however, then responded with a 5-1 response to open the second half, with three of those five scores coming from Quinn Nicolai. The Nittany Lions came within one at the 21:06 mark, but the Wolverines closed out the game with four more goals compared to just two for PSU. 

Caitlin Muir’s five points led Michigan, while Pendino’s four points and Molly Garrett’s five draw controls and supported the strong effort. 

What a shot on that last goal from @AdrianaPendino's FIFTH hat trick of the 2019 season!#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/e4xWBdH0vU

— Michigan Women’s Lacrosse (@UMichWLAX) March 17, 2019

UNC Tops Florida

It was a game of runs as No. 3 North Carolina narrowly defeated No. 19 Florida 11-9. 

UNC opened the scoring with two goals within 43 seconds of each other, before the Gators gained a 3-2 advantage 10 minutes later. 

The Tar Heels then used a 9-1 spurt spanning both halves to take an 11-4 lead with 18:04 to play, but Florida’s offense channeled their opponent’s, responding with a five-goal run in the final 17:31 to bring the game within two. 

However, it wasn’t enough to overcome North Carolina’s early dominance. 

Olivia Ferrucci recorded five points for the Tar Heels, while Kara Klages had three. Taylor Warehime added two goals, while Klages and Ally Mastroianni had four draw controls each. 

The Gators got four-point performances from Lindsey Ronbeck and Shannon Kavanagh. 

We fought hard until the end to come home with a big win! #GoHeels pic.twitter.com/S20shEAg17

— UNC Women's Lacrosse (@uncwlax) March 16, 2019

Hofstra Handles High Point

Junior Alyssa Parrella had six goals and two assists as Hofstra posted a big 13-10 victory over a High Point squad that was coming off of an upset win over Johns Hopkins.

Hofstra scored two goals in the opening two minutes of the game and built a 5-1 lead less than 10 minutes into the contest. Playing catch-up for most of the game, High Point did not get back within two goals until Rachel Foster scored with 11:52 left to cut Hofstra’s lead to 12-10.

Four and half minutes later, Hofstra’s Katie Whelan scored on the advantage to seal the victory for the Pride (5-3), who had lost back-to-back games to Maryland and Johns Hopkins entering the game.

Hofstra had a 16-8 advantage on draws with Darcie Smith grabbing eight and Jess Smith made 10 saves to earn the win in net.

Notable

• No. 7 James Madison used a 10-3 first-half surge to down unranked Temple 16-10 despite a comeback effort from the Owls. The Dukes had team-best marks from Logan Brennan (six points) and Caroline Sdanowich (six draw controls). 

• No. 9 Loyola saw five points and five draw controls apiece from Livy Rosenzweig and Taylor VanThof to a 21-7 win over Army. Sam Fiedler also had five points. 

• No. 15 Navy used a 9-0 run to close out an 18-6 victory over Colgate, ending on back-to-back goals from Ellie Lecker. Kelly Larkin led the Midshipmen with nine points on three scores and six assists. 

Nine goal scorers, two big scoring runs and a 24-minute span without allowing a goal lifts JMU to its 7th win in a row!

Time to highlights of Saturday's win. #GoDukes pic.twitter.com/8viZbOhafG

— JMU Lacrosse (@JMULacrosse) March 16, 2019

Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Scoreboard

No. 1 Boston College 21, No. 16 Georgetown 11
No. 2 Maryland 16, Ohio State 1
No. 3 North Carolina 11, No. 19 Florida 9
No. 5 Penn 10, No. 14 Duke 9
No. 7 James Madison 16, Temple 10
No. 8 Stony Brook 14, Cornell 2
No. 9 Loyola 21, Army 7
No. 11 Michigan 12, Penn State 9
No. 15 Navy 18, Colgate 6
No. 17 Notre Dame 10, No. 6 Virginia 9
USC 11, No. 20 Colorado 5

More Scores

Albany 14, Siena 8
Boston University 16, Lehigh 8
Brown 14, Yale 11
Columbia 13, UConn 7
Detroit Mercy 16, Kent State 12
Drexel 10, UMBC 6
Harvard 12, Binghamton 8
Hofstra 13, High Point 10
Holy Cross 11, Lafayette 10
Liberty 16, Kennesaw State 12
Monmouth 11, George Washington 10
Richmond 14, Villanova 12
Robert Morris 18, Saint Bonaventure 9
Saint Joseph’s 9, Delaware 7
Vanderbilt 17, Winthrop 3
Wagner 10, Manhattan 5
Wofford 18, Hartford 5