HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — Julia Blanchard (Sr., East Grand Rapids, Mich.) lobbed the ball into the cage following a missed Grand Valley State University penalty shot with 2:16 left in a sudden victory overtime period as No. 3-ranked/Midwest Division Champion the University of Notre Dame survived against perennial Midwest Division rival Grand Valley State University in overtime, 10-9, to reach the Ninth Place game at the 2022 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
Notre Dame will conclude its participation at the Huntsville Aquatics Center at 2:15 p.m. on Sunday, May 8, as the squad will take on the victor of a game pitting No. 8/Southwest Division Championship runner-up Arizona State University versus No. 16/Southeast Division Championship runner-up the University of Central Florida.
Grand Valley will conclude the 2022 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship at 3:30 p.m. on May 8 as the Lakers will battle the loser of the ASU-UCF game in the 30th and final game of the 16-team, three-day, 30-game championship weekend.
Courtesy the win, the Irish improve to 3-0 on the year against the Lakers as Notre Dame picked up a 9-8 victory on April 9 at Washington University in St. Louis prior to taking the Midwest Division Championship title game on April 24 at home in South Bend by an 11-3 count.
The third meeting of the year between the two longtime nemeses was significantly closer than their immediate past clash as Notre Dame never trailed in the game against a resurgent Lakers’ squad which refused to allow the Irish to make the Ninth Place contest without a fight.
Emily Shank (So., Fullert, Calif.) and Grace Kellerman (So., San Diego, Calif.) pushed Notre Dame ahead in the game’s opening three minutes by connecting for penalty shot (5:52) and even-strength (5:20) tallies, respectively. The lead evaporated and returned over the remainder of the opening quarter as GVSU’s Emily Tuttle (3:53) and Madeline Worst (2:01) torqued in a pair to knot the games at two-all prior to Shank sticking in a shot with 1:36 on the clock to return the lead to the Irish at 3-2.
Tuttle tied the score 36 seconds into the second quarter, but heaves by Eden Uebelhor (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) and Shank at 5:32 and 3:38, respectively, once again provided Notre Dame a two-goal lead at 5-3. Mikaela Adkins (3:22) trimmed the Irish’s margin down to 5-4, but Molly Soper (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif.) responded by converting a six-on-five opportunity with 15 seconds left to allow Notre Dame to enter halftime with a 6-4 lead.
The margin enlarged to 7-4 at the 3:36 mark of the third quarter as Uebelhor swished her second of the game to put the Irish comfortably ahead.
However, Grand Valley turned up the pressure on Notre Dame as Francesca Brunetti (1:14) and Tuttle (26 seconds) closed out the third quarter with consecutive scores to close within 7-6 prior to Izzy Lee connecting on an equalizer 41 seconds into the fourth quarter to square the teams at seven-all.
The Irish pushed ahead once more at 1:52 as Shank put away her fourth of the game, but Worst made the best of the situation by lobbing a cross-cage shot which barely crossed the goal line to make it eight-all and set the stage for overtime.
Notre Dame again went ahead as Kellerman exploited a breakdown in the Lakers’ defense at the 2:11 mark to acquire a 9-8 scoreboard advantage. The margin held up until there was 1:42 left in the second overtime period as Lee launched in a shot to bring about sudden victory.
The game was decided on missed opportunities as a penalty shot by GVSU with 2:16 clanged of the left post. Goalie Olivia Sanders (So., Erie, Pa.) scrambled out of the cage and collected the loose ball as the rest of the Irish athletes sprinted down the tank. Notre Dame moved the sphere up the field of play and found Blanchard on the right wing who accepted a pass, moved to her right and uncorked a shot which sailed into the left back corner of the cage for the deciding factor in the 10-9 overtime win.
The win allows Notre Dame to add another Top 10 finish to a National Collegiate Club Championship legacy that includes prior Second (2009, 2015), Fourth (2002), Sixth (2001, 2010), Seventh (2000), Ninth (2006, 2013, 2014), 10th (2008, 2019), 11th (2007) and 12th (2012) place marks.
For the Irish, Shank (four), Uebelhor (two) and Kellerman (two) each netted multi-goal games, while Soper and Blanchard both found the back of the cage once. Sanders stopped 11 shots in cage to earn the win.
Grand Valley – which previously finished sixth (2016, 2017) and 11th (2010) at the National Collegiate Club Championship – received a hat-trick from Tuttle and pairs by Worst and Lee. Adkins and Brunetti both chipped in solo markers in support of a 10-save effort by netminder Morgan Beers.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | OT1 | OT2 | SD | – | FINAL | |
| No. 3 University of Notre Dame | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | 10 |
| Grand Valley State University |
3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | – | 9 |
| GVSU Goals: | Emily Tuttle (3); Madeline Worst (2); Izzy Lee (2); Mikaela Adkins; Francesca Brunetti | ||||||||
| Notre Dame Goals: | Emily Shank (4); Eden Uebelhor (2); Grace Kellerman (2); Molly Soper; Julia Blanchard | ||||||||
| Saves: | GVSU – Morgan Beers (10) ; Notre Dame – Olivia Sanders (11) |
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| Exclusions: | GVSU – 10 ; Notre Dame – 7 | ||||||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | GVSU – 0-for-7 ; Notre Dame – 2-for-10 | ||||||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | ||||||||
| Officials: | Mike Francis; Mark Kessler | ||||||||
University of Notre Dame’s Olivia Sanders (#1B) attempts to save a shot by Grand Valley State University’s Emily Tuttle (#16) as Notre Dame’s Julia Blanchard (#14) defends
University of Notre Dame’s Lindsey Shank (#11) scopes out the cage as Grand Valley State University’s Mikaela Adkins (#11) defends
Grand Valley State University’s Francesca Brunetti (#21) outraces the University of Notre Dame’s Emily Shank (#16) to a loose ball
Grand Valley State University goalie Morgan Beers (#1) prepares for a shot by the University of Notre Dame’s Grace Kellerman (#2)
