Hofstra women stun No. 17 Notre Dame

Notre Dame's hallowed name carries over to all its sports, so a victory over the Fighting Irish is always satisfying. For the women's lacrosse team at Hofstra, the incentive went beyond just playing the legendary university.

Hofstra had been 0-for-3 in the series against Notre Dame, losing by a total of only four goals. No longer.

Unranked Hofstra erased a three-goal deficit by scoring four times in the final 7:27 to stun No. 17 Notre Dame, 10-9, Sunday at Shuart Stadium. Freshman Lindsay McKinnon tallied the winning goal with eight seconds remaining.

What made it even sweeter for Hofstra (4-5) was beating a team from South Bend that is rich in talent from Long Island. Shaylyn Blaney, who graduated from Ward Melville, had three goals and Kailene Abt of Huntington scored twice.

Blaney had a career-high six goals in last season's victory over Hofstra, so she was the main concern. "Through high school she honestly destroyed my career," said Hofstra goalkeeper Jackie Pandolf, who played at Sachem North.

Hofstra coach Abby Morgan relayed a chat she had with Pandolf, quoting her goalie: "All these players from Long Island have beaten me. I just want to beat them. So, there was no lack of motivation."

Notre Dame (3-5) had a 6-5 lead at halftime, but Jill Maier (three goals), tied it at 26:07 of the second half. Notre Dame roared back. Jenny Granger, Blaney's high school teammate, regained the lead for Notre Dame with her goal at 24:54. Blaney scored two goals in 17 seconds and Hofstra trailed 9-6 with 23:23 on the clock.

"But it never felt like we were losing by three," McKinnon said. And Maier added, "There was no time that whole game when we thought we were going to lose."

Before Hofstra mounted its comeback, Pandolf (11 saves) stopped a point-blank shot by Blaney. "At that point we were down three, that's enough for them," Pandolf said. "Now, no more shots on me. I said to the attack, 'Once we get the ball you're going to finish it. And we're going to score and win this game.' "

That's what happened. Maier scored with 7:27 left, Stephanie Rice followed with her third goal and Maier tied the score at 9 with 2:48 remaining. A foul by Notre Dame gave McKinnon a free-position shot and she fired one past goalie Ellie Hilling. "I heard Maryann [Miller] whisper, 'We trust you,' " McKinnon said of her teammates. "That was kind of the final push to go all out."