CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - No. 16 Notre Dame used a dominant second half to defeat No. 25 Harvard, 10-7, on Saturday afternoon at Jordan Field.

After Harvard jumped out to a six-goal lead midway through the second quarter, the Fighting Irish responded with 10 of the game's final 11 goals to remain unbeaten on the season.

The Crimson struck first and controlled the opening half, but Notre Dame's offensive surge in the third quarter proved to be the difference. The Fighting Irish added their first goal of the game with 5:23 left in the second quarter and would go on to add five goals in nearly the next 15 minutes of action to take control down the stretch. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Harvard opened the scoring just under three minutes into the contest as Natalie Marvin finished a feed from Charlotte Hodgson. The first collegiate goal for Marvin would give Harvard the only goal through nearly six minutes of play. 

Hannah Shiels and Grace Mullahy followed with back-to-back goals, and Mullahy added a woman-up tally at 4:38 to cap a four-goal first quarter for the Crimson as Harvard would score three goals in 1:45 seconds. 

The strong start continued early in the second quarter when Hodgson buried a pass from Callie Batchelder to make it 5-0. Grace Mullahy added the first hat-trick of the season with her third of the afternoon to give Harvard a 6-0 advantage.

Notre Dame began to chip away late in the half after two goals in a minute before adding a woman-up goal with 2:00 remaining in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 6-3 at the break.

The Irish carried that momentum into the third. Notre Dame opened the half with a woman-up goal, and before striking again at 6:52 to make it a one-goal game. After Grace Maroney tied the contest at 6-6 midway through the frame, Notre Dame took its first lead at 7-6 with 2:08 to play in the third. Charley Bacigalupo added another goal in the closing minute to push the Irish advantage to 8-6 heading into the fourth.

Harvard broke the scoring drought with just over seven minutes to play in the fourth when Emerson Midura converted off a pass from Hodgson, but the Crimson could not complete the comeback as the Irish defense held strong to close out the final quarter. 

GAME NOTES

• Grace Mullahy led Harvard with three goals.
• Natalie Marvin scored her first collegiate goal.
• Emerson Midura was the only other rookie to record a point in her first career game. 
• Charlotte Hodgson tallied four points on one goal and three assists.
• Rebecca Arpano made 13 saves in goal for the Crimson – including seven in the first half. 

NEXT UP 
Harvard plays Bryant at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. 
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