Plucky Notre Dame fight back from early deficit to win

RADNOR — If there was nothing else to take from two regular season losses to Agnes Irwin, Notre Dame had figured out what not to do against the Owls.

So when Thursday’s Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association semifinal opened with Agnes Irwin going up a goal just over five minutes in, the No. 3 seed Irish knew an urgent response was needed.

It was that ability to fight back that propelled Notre Dame to buck the trend of futility against its Inter-Ac rival.

The Irish were able to answer every punch thrown at them by the No. 2 Owls, and two goals from Quinn Maguire ultimately spelled the difference in Notre Dame’s 3-2 win.

The win moves the No. 3 seed Irish into Saturday’s final against top-seeded Episcopal Academy, which disposed of No. 4 Germantown Academy, 5-1, in the other semifinal Thursday. The final is at Penn Charter at 11 a.m.

The Irish seemed a long way from the final when, just 5:21 in Thursday, Agnes Irwin’s Sophia Tornetta weaved through three defenders on a restart and smacked a back-handed shot into the bottom corner of the cage.

For a team that dropped two one-goal decisions to the Owls in the regular season, it could’ve set off alarms of panic. Instead, it was a chance for Notre Dame to show its perseverance.