SOUTH BEND, IN -- Midfielder Caitlin McKinney scored four goals and seven other Notre Dame players found the net as the No. 12 Fightin' Irish eased to a 16-8 victory over the University of Delaware in women's lacrosse action on Thursday afternoon. Sophomore attack Nicole Flego (at right) and senior attack Casey McCrudden scored two goals apiece for UD, which gave up six unanswered goals to start the game and fell to 0-3 all-time versus Notre Dame.

Jillian Byers and Heather Ferguson added hat tricks for Notre Dame (5-2), which outshot Delaware 41-24 and forced 22 Blue Hen turnovers.

The Irish wasted little time putting the game out of reach, as they netted unanswered goals over the first 16 minutes and took a 6-0 lead on Beth Koloup's unassisted effort with 13:55 left in the first half. McKinney scored twice during the Notre Dame outburst, once at 21:46 and again at 19:45 on a Byers assist. McCrudden finally put the Blue Hens on the board at the 12:36 mark, when she beat ND keeper Erin Goodman on a nifty feed from senior defender Stephanie McQuade.

Freshman midfielder Julianna Jeffers followed suit 31 seconds later to cut the deficit to four, but the early hole was too deep for Delaware. The Hens closed to within 10-6 midway through the second half on Debbie Sloan's first goal of the year before allowing five straight Notre Dame goals.

Sophomores Courtney Aburn and Emily Schaknowski rounded out the scoring for Delaware (3-2, 0-0 Colonial Athletic Association). Junior goalkeeper Jessica Cerveny, under pressure all day long from a Notre Dame attack that ranks seventh nationally in scoring offense (15.33 goals/game) made a career-high 18 saves in the setback.

Notre Dame did much of its damage on free position opportunities, converting four of its 10 attempts.

Schaknowski finished with a team-high three assists for the Hens, while Gina Scioscia notched four helpers to spark the Notre Dame offense.

Notre Dame's 41 shots were the most allowed by UD since the Hens surrendered 41 in a win over Denver on Feb. 28, 2006.

Delaware returns to action on Tuesday, when the Hens continue a three-game road trip at Temple.

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