Charles Nailen/The Hoya Junior defense Kristin Raneri and the Hoyas defeated Notre Dame 18-7 Saturday in their final home game.

The Georgetown women’s lacrosse team clinched its second consecutive Big East title on Saturday with an 18-7 victory over Notre Dame. Both teams knew the championship was on the line, as the No. 2 Hoyas and the No. 9 Fighting Irish each entered the game with identical 4-0 records in conference play. The Hoyas, 12-1, turned on their offense to prevail, making Senior Day and their last home game of the season all the more sweet.

“We told our team this is the biggest game of the year so far,” Head Coach Kim Simons said. “We knew [Notre Dame] was playing well and had a lot of confidence.”

Georgetown’s attack was animated and balanced, with seven Hoyas scoring. The Hoyas also outshot the Irish 37-15. Senior attack Erin Elbe led with four goals and two assists, and senior attack Kate Ahearn and sophomore midfielder Gloria Lozano both turned in hat tricks. The Hoya defense, led by senior Kristin Raneri, junior Melissa Biles and sophomore Melissa Ellers, held Notre Dame to just eight goals, allowing only one player to score more than once. Notre Dame junior midfielder Danielle Schearer tallied three goals on the day.

Senior attack Natalie Loftus put the Fighting Irish on the board at 27:29, marking their only lead of the day. Georgetown responded with six unanswered goals. Junior midfielder Liz Ryan started off the streak, capitalizing on a free position at 24:32. Elbe and Ahearn burst through the Notre Dame defense for back-to-back unassisted goals. Lozano and freshman midfielder Allison Chambers each found the net off passes by junior attack Wick Stanwick and sophomore midfielder Anouk Peters, respectively.

After a Notre Dame timeout, the Hoyas notched one more goal from Ahearn to gain a 6-1 advantage. The Fighting Irish narrowed the gap to 6-3, scoring two quick goals in the following minute. Elbe and Lozano combined for another two unanswered goals in a span of only 19 seconds to bring the score to 8-3.

In the next minute, after junior defender Eleanor Weille tallied a goal for Notre Dame, Stanwick followed up on a missed shot to give the Hoyas a 9-4 lead with 9:14 to go. Stanwick’s goal drew a yellow card on Notre Dame senior defender Kathryn Lam, who was subsequently ejected with a red card in the closing seconds of the game.

The end of the first half saw the Hoyas turn on their defense, driving out the Fighting Irish and holding them to only one more goal from Schearer off a free position shot. Peters and Ryan both found the net before halftime, leaving the score at 11-5.

In the second half, play became increasingly aggressive as Georgetown’s defense continued to frustrate Notre Dame. Ahearn started off a string of three Hoya goals with Elbe following less than a minute behind. Elbe scored again at 20:49 on a fast break past the only Irish defender, this time off a field-long pass by Lozano.

Notre Dame notched two more goals off free position shots to pull within seven of the Hoyas. But Georgetown pulled ahead, 17-7, with another set of three straight goals. Lozano earned her hat trick at 13:14 off a pass from Ryan.

Ellers was handed a yellow card late in the game but the Fighting Irish failed to capitalize on the free position opportunity. Chambers and Stanwick both contributed unassisted goals in the closing minutes of the game, and Notre Dame’s Schearer closed out the scoring at 1:09, handing the Hoyas an 18-7 win and a conference championship.

“We knew they were going to be a feisty team,” Ahearn said. “We knew they were going to be going hard for us. And we knew we needed to win all the draws in order to score and get up early.”

Lozano and the Hoyas dominated draw controls, with a 14-5 advantage. The defense also picked up the Irish attack more efficiently, holding them to only three goals in the second half.

“In the second half we did what we needed to do,” Simons said. “We wanted to be aggressive. We wanted to go after them. We were a little slow in doing that in the first half, but we got it done.”

Senior goalkeeper Chandler Vicchio supported the defense, stopping seven shots. Freshman Sarah Robinson guarded the cage during the second half, allowing one goal.

As the Hoyas round out the regular season with two road games, they’ll try to maintain the solid play they saw this week.

“We have ourselves where we want to be. We just need to keep playing the way we are right now to put ourselves in the best position to have the best tournament run we could possibly have,” Simons said.

Elbe also acknowledged the progression in Georgetown’s play.

“We knew this was one of the biggest games of the season, so we came out hard and played hard up and down the field,” Elbe said. “This is a huge step for us. We played a whole game from minute one until the end. I think we’re just going to get better from here on out.”

Georgetown will next face Penn State (6-7) Wednesday. Simons and the Hoyas will take the No. 15 Nittany Lions seriously as they prepare for the postseason. Penn State is coming off Davidson and Northwestern last week.

“[Penn State] is going to be very tough,” Simons said. “They’ve been a little up and down. But when they’re good, they’re very good. And we’re on the road, so we have to make sure we get up for that game, because they’re going to be a challenge for us.”

First draw is set for 6 p.m. in State College, Pa.