They came with more confidence and intensity. But when it was all over, the Northwestern lacrosse team (5-8, 2-3 American Lacrosse Conference) just couldn’t come up with a win.

The outlook for the Wildcats was great Wednesday at Lakeside Field, when NU hosted No. 10 Notre Dame. The Cats had won three of four and almost scored an upset over No. 15 Penn State on Sunday. The Fighting Irish (10-3), on the other hand, came to Evanston having lost three of their last four.

But the Big East powerhouse quickly showed why it’s ranked No. 10. The Irish scored in the first 30 seconds and four more times in the next seven minutes, pacing themselves for an 11-3 win.

“I’m disappointed that we didn’t show up today, ” NU coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. “We were well-prepared. We just never picked it up.”

The Cats two leading scorers, Sarah Albrecht and Angela McMahon, were limited to a combined two goals.

NU came as close as 5-3 with goals from Albrecht, McMahon and freshman Jenna Gantner in the first half. But Notre Dame’s trap proved too tough, holding the Cats to four first-half shots.

“Every time I had the ball, I almost felt alone,” sophomore Courtney Koester said. “They were everywhere.”

The combination of the trap and overall sloppy play left NU with a total of 29 turnovers.

Notre Dame came out in the second half much like it did in the first, scoring repeatedly and quickly. Danielle Shear put the ball in the net twice in 39 seconds, giving herself a hat trick. She leads the Irish with 45 points this season.

NU took only three more shots on goal in the second half. But the Irish dominated the game by controlling the clock, making clean passes and winning 13 of 16 draw controls, the equivalent of a face-off in ice hockey.

After a shaky start, freshman goalie Ashley Gersuk finished with 13 saves.

The Cats finish the season at home against Vanderbilt (9-3, 5-0) on Saturday. But a win won’t come easy – Vanderbilt recently clinched the regular-season ALC title.

“Hopefully this game served as motivation and we can use this loss to do better,” said Albrecht.

Amid talks of a budding rivalry between NU and the Irish, the Cats wanted to prove something. So they came out charged.

“The refs had to calm us down a lot,” Koester said.