Brooke Goldstein and Natalie Shurtleff combined for seven goals as No. 3 seed Clemson bested sixth-seeded Notre Dame, 12-9, Wednesday in the Quarterfinal Round of the ACC Tournament, held at the American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

Five Tiger players had multi-point games and six players combined to cause 12 turnovers as Clemson took a 3-2 lead against the Fighting Irish in the young series.

The Tigers (14-4) held Notre Dame to 15 shots on goal, well under its average of 34 on the season, and recorded six saves while recording 18 shots on goal offensively. Clemson used a 5-0 run in the early third-quarter to pull away from a halftime stalemate, and outscored the Fighting Irish 6-2 in the second half.

With the win, the Tigers extended their winning streak to 11 games, and picked up their fifth ranked win of the season. Now, Allison Kwolek’s squad will head to the Semifinal Round of the ACC Tournament for the second time in their four-year history.

Clemson has now defeated the Fighting Irish (12-5) twice in one year, and both wins have been the highest-ranked victories of the season for the Tigers. Notre Dame is the only team Clemson has played twice this season.

For the first time in over a month, the Tigers got off to a slow start. Clemson, entering the game with a 10-game win streak, turned the ball over twice in the first five minutes of play. Shortly after the second turnover, Notre Dame struck first with a goal by Meghan O’Hare, her 15th of the season.

A few minutes later, freshman standout Spallina got the Tigers on the board with a Free Position Goal to even the score 1-1. The attacker rattled another goal in the cage, but it was reversed due to a penalty. 

While the Tigers waited for Spallina to return from the penalty box, defender Bridget Babcock forced Notre Dame’s sixth turnover of the first quarter. Less than a minute later, Kayla McLeod found Brooke Goldstein for another score, giving Clemson a 2-1 lead. 

Clemson, ranking second in the ACC with an average of over 15 goals per game entering Wednesday’s matchup, notched just two goals on five shot attempts in the first period. The Tigers and Fighting Irish combined for 13 turnovers in the quarter, both above their season averages in a quarter.

However, the Tigers’ defense picked up the slack, as they forced quick turnovers and goalie Tessa Deluca recorded three early saves. The defensive front forced three more quick giveaways in the first four minutes of the second period.

Goldstein ended a 10-minute scoring drought with a woman-up goal, her 34th of the season, to extend a 3-1 lead. Freshman Emma Penczek picked up the assist. 

In an all-freshman affair two minutes later, defender Tegan Scott forced a turnover, found midfielder Aubrie Eisfeld on a pass, and she slung it to attacker Marley O’Day for her sixth goal of the year, giving Clemson a 4-1 lead.

The Fighting Irish eradicated a 20-minute scoring drought with a buzzer-beater shot from Emma Murphy to cut the lead 4-2 with 4:20 to play. After a penalty given to Clemson, Murphy added a Free Position goal 30 seconds later to cut it 4-3.

Just seconds after coming back into a game after a blocking penalty, two-time All-ACC honoree Natalie Shurtleff gave the Tigers some insurance just before halftime with her 36th goal of the season to take a 5-3 lead. It was erased however, when O’Hare and Murphy each scored again to tie it up 5-5 at the break.

The Fighting Irish outscored the Tigers 4-3 in the second period, and both teams combined for 24 turnovers at the half. Notre Dame made its last four shots to mount the comeback.

After the break, Clemson responded quickly.

Spallina picked up her ninth multi-goal performance and 100th point of the season with a goal in the first minute of the third quarter. With the score, she moved up into fourth place in program history in total points after just 18 career games.

Regan Byrne added another goal off of a turnover one minute later to extend the lead with 12 minutes to play in the third, and Goldstein scored another shortly after to give her a hat trick on the evening and the Tigers a 8-5 lead. Spallina, the nation’s leader in assists, found Penczek for her ninth goal in the last 10 games to extend the third-quarter surge.

Shurtleff and O’Hare each scored once more in the third for a 10-6 score entering the fourth quarter, and Notre Dame opened the final period with a quick goal to slice into Clemson’s lead. Goldstein, entering the game shooting 70 percent on the season, notched her fourth goal of the matchup with 10:55 to play in the final quarter to take a four-goal lead.

Notre Dame scored three more goals, but a late score from Shurtleff made the lead too large to steal.

Goldstein finished with four goals. Shurtleff had three, and Spallina had two with one assist. Penczek finished with one goal and had three assists, along with Eisfeld.

In the cage, Deluca finished with six saves on 15 shots on goal.

Assist Margin

Clemson, the ACC’s leader in assists, recorded 10 assists, right around its average per game. Notre Dame, on the other hand, was held to seven assists. Only two of Clemson’s goals came without an assist.

Coaching Connection

Notre Dame’s coach Christine Halfpenny gave Clemson’s leader Allison Kwolek her first coaching job as an assistant at William & Mary, her alma mater, nearly two decades ago. 

Up Next

The Tigers will have a chance to get revenge from one of their early season losses Friday, when they will take on No. 2 seed Stanford (14-3, 8-2 ACC) in the Semifinal Round of the ACC Tournament Friday. First draw is set for 8 p.m. at the American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., and Coverage will be shown on ACC Network.

Clemson is playing for a chance to play in its first ACC Championship in program history.