ST. MARY'S CITY, MD — Notre Dame of Maryland closed out its 2025 season with a highly competitive effort on the road, falling 3–1 to St. Mary's College of Maryland on Saturday afternoon at Jamie L. Roberts Stadium. The United East Conference quarterfinal matchup between the #7 seeded Gators and the #2 seeded Seahawks was a tense affair that was only truly decided in the final minute of play.

The Gators held their own defensively against a relentless Seahawks attack that generated 37 total shots, including 18 on target. Junior goalkeeper Leah Hasberry turned in one of her finest performances of the year, recording 15 saves to keep Notre Dame within striking distance throughout the match.

St. Mary's opened the scoring early when Keira O'Neail found the net in the 8th minute. The Seahawks doubled their advantage in the 30th minute on a strike from Megan Rusk, assisted by Ashlyn Bonner, to take a 2–0 lead into halftime.

Notre Dame responded after the break with an impressive sequence of play in the 58th minute. Senior midfielder Leah Acri capitalized on the team's lone shot of the afternoon, sending her header off an Addison Barry corner kick past the St. Mary's keeper to cut the deficit to 2–1. The goal was Acri's ninth of the season and gave the Gators momentum deep into the second half.

Despite several key defensive stands, St. Mary's sealed the win in the final minute when Sidney Shaw scored off an assist from Gracie Tourangeau in the 89th minute.

In addition to Hasberry's 15-save effort, Notre Dame received an amazing effort from the whole team as 10 different Gators played the entire 90 minutes. Junior Adrienne Villa provided valuable energy off the bench in 49 minutes of play.

The Gators finish the 2025 campaign with an overall record of 5–10–2 and a 3–3–2 mark in conference play, showing resilience and growth throughout the season under head coach Nathan Rauscher's squad which won a playoff game for the first time in the modern era of NDMU record keeping (2009-present). With only one graduating senior and seven starters on the team that were in their freshman season, the future looks bright for the women's soccer program.