COHASSET — In the past, Notre Dame Academy (Hingham) has taken the girls lacrosse world by storm, and the Cougars put their name on the map again Wednesday.
Clemson commit Jane Hilsabeck finished with three goals to go with a pair of assists, as Notre Dame Academy made a statement with a convincing 14-4 victory over a very strong Cohasset program.
“We expected Cohasset to come out (strong),” said Notre Dame coach Meredith Frank-McGinnis. “Traditionally, they have a very strong defense, something that is very difficult to unpack. We saw that right away with our turnovers on offense. We just needed to exhibit a little bit more patience, I think.”
People were wondering what to expect as they entered the gates at Alumni Field. Was it supposed to be a nail-biter? It certainly was through one quarter of play, as Notre Dame found itself deadlocked with the Skippers at 2-2.
“I think we were able to pull away when we started getting the draws,” Hilsabeck said. “We dominated the draw control halfway through the first quarter, and throughout the second and third. I feel like we just came out lazy and not ready. But we were able to turn it around through momentum.”
With just over nine minutes to play in the second quarter, Emma Connerty buried a goal to put the Cougars ahead, 3-2. Then, Notre Dame (9-1) found a second gear.
The Cougars proceeded to outscore the Skippers, 5-0, in the frame, pulling ahead 7-2 at the break. The trend carried on into the third quarter, as Notre Dame created some separation with a 5-0 scoring run to construct a 12-3 edge.
Connerty recorded a hat trick, and collected six draw controls for Notre Dame.
“I think this means a lot,” said Hilsabeck. “It’s definitely a good game to kind of see where our weaknesses are, what we need to work on for the next game. We can only go uphill from here. We have a couple of big games coming up, so it will be fun.”
![Cohasset's Lahey Larsen, left, and Notre Dame Academy's Elle Orlando chase the flying ball during a girls lacrosse clash Thursday. NDA won, 14-4. (Staff Photo/Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)](https://i0.wp.com/www.bostonherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/LAXsc003_a1314e.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1)