During the university’s spring break, Notre Dame athletics compiled a record of 22-16, with several teams also competing in NCAA Championships. Here’s a look at how each team fared over the past week.
Women’s Basketball
Head coach Niele Ivey’s group captured the ACC Tournament Championship, finishing as the last team standing for the first time since 2019. The Irish, who entered the tournament in Greensboro, N.C., as the No. 4 seed, defeated No. 5 Louisville 77-68 two Fridays ago. They then blew past top-seeded Virginia Tech 82-53 in last Saturday’s semifinal. Finally, after losing senior forward Kylee Watson to a torn ACL in the semifinal win, the Irish outlasted No. 2 NC State 55-51 in last Sunday’s championship game.
Freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo garnered the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award, averaging 19.3 points per game across her three contests in Greensboro. Her 22 points in the championship game stood alone as a game-high.
Notre Dame now enters the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed in the Albany 1 Region. The Irish will host No. 15 Kent State at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday in the Round of 64.
Men’s Basketball
Head coach Micah Shrewsberry’s team ended its regular season with an 82-76 loss at Virginia Tech on March 9. Four Irish players scored in double-figures, including freshman guard Markus Burton’s team-high 24 points. He dueled all day with junior point guard Sean Pedulla, who delivered a game-high 28 points for the Hokies.
Notre Dame then entered the ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C. The Irish defeated Georgia Tech 84-80 on Tuesday before transitioning to the offseason after a 72-59 Wednesday loss to Wake Forest. Burton scored 21 points in both games, while fellow freshman guard Braeden Shrewsberry scored 23 in the Georgia Tech win.
Track and Field
At last weekend’s NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, senior Jadin O’Brien won the pentathlon event with a facility-record score of 4497. She also earned a first-place finish in shot put, a second-place finish in the 800-meter race and a fourth-place result in the 60-meter hurdles. The Irish DMR team also produced a runner-up result with a time of 10 minutes, 53.14 seconds.
On day two of the championships, graduate students Olivia Markezich and Michael Shoaf captured All-American honors. Markezich posted a runner-up finish at 8:46.71 in the 3000-meter race. In the men’s shot put, Shoaf placed sixth with a 19.43-meter throw.
Fencing
The Notre Dame fencing team put forth a strong performance in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Detroit on March 9. Placing 11 of 12 fencers on the podium, the Irish produced five gold medalists with the women sweeping gold. Senior epee Amanda Pirkowski, sophomore foil Josephina Conway and junior sabre Jadeyn Williams won their respective weapons. In the men’s scene, senior sabre Luke Linder and graduate epee Valentin Matveev grabbed their own gold.
The Irish will go for their fourth consecutive NCAA National Championship beginning this Thursday in Columbus, Ohio.
Hockey
Head coach Jeff Jackson’s skating Irish saw their season come to a close in the Big Ten quarterfinals last weekend. Notre Dame lost a pair of tight games at Michigan, 5-4 on Friday and 4-3 on Saturday.
In the days immediately following the season’s end, two Irish seniors signed professional contracts. Team captain and forward Landon Slaggert inked an entry-level NHL deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, the franchise that drafted him in 2020. Slaggert made his NHL debut Friday against the Los Angeles Kings — just six days after playing his final contest with Notre Dame.
Undrafted defenseman Drew Bavaro also signed a one-year contract with the Boston Bruins. Bavaro reported to Providence, Boston’s AHL affiliate, and made his professional debut on Friday as well.
Even more recently, graduate students Patrick Moynihan and Ryan Bischel signed professional deals of their own on Monday. Moynihan, a forward, signed with the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League after a 159-game, 95-point career in college hockey. Bischel, a Big Ten Goaltender of the Year finalist, inked a one-year deal with Providence. One of the top netminders in recent history, Bischel finished his college career with a 47-44-7 record in 105 games.
Men’s Lacrosse
Head coach Kevin Corrigan’s second-ranked Irish defeated two Big Ten opponents during Spring Break. On March 9, Notre Dame went to Columbus and topped Ohio State 13-10. Junior attacker Chris Kavanagh scored five goals — a career high — in the road win.
A week later, graduate attacker Jake Taylor two-upped Kavanagh with a seven-goal showing against No. 19 Michigan. Taylor’s performance helped Notre Dame to a 19-9 home win this past Saturday. Kavanagh also contributed a career-best six assists, while graduate goalie Liam Entenmann locked up the Wolverines with 14 saves.
The Irish have this week off before they return to ACC action against No. 6 Syracuse on March 30.
Women’s Lacrosse
Head coach Christine Halfpenny’s fifth-ranked women’s lacrosse team picked up two big road wins after a home loss to No. 9 Virginia on March 9. Notre Dame eked out a 16-15 Wednesday win at No. 22 Brown, as senior midfielder Mary Kelly Doherty scored the game-winning goal with 36 seconds remaining.
Three days later, Doherty showed her flair for the dramatics again. She scored another game-winner with 15 seconds, clinching a 15-14 Irish triumph Saturday at No. 4 Boston College. With the win over the Eagles, who were ranked second at the time, Notre Dame earned a victory in Chestnut Hill for the first time since 2003.
The Irish will play two more games this weekend at Clemson and Mercer.
Softball
Head coach Deanna Gumpf’s Irish softball team enjoyed a fruitful Spring Break, going 8-2. Notre Dame started with Marshall March Madness last weekend in Huntington, W.V., where they went 4-1. The Irish swept Friday’s action, picking up 5-2 and 6-4 wins against Indiana State and Marshall, respectively. After dropping Indiana State 11-9 on Saturday, Notre Dame suffered a 12-3 loss to Ball State. Finally, the Irish wrapped up with an 11-3 pushback win over the Cardinals on Sunday. Freshman infielder Addison Amaral and senior catcher Carlli Kloss each achieved five-RBI games in West Virginia.
Notre Dame then opened its home schedule with a doubleheader sweep of Bowling Green. In game one, a 4-0 win, graduate right-hander Alexis Laudenslager compiled her best start in an Irish uniform. Her complete-game shutout included 10 strikeouts and just one hit allowed. Neither team pitched well early in game two, as Notre Dame lost an 8-2 lead in the middle innings. However, junior catcher Rachel Allen played hero for the Irish, tying the game at 9-9 with a home run in the seventh before winning it with an RBI single in the eighth.
Most recently, Notre Dame won a series at Georgia Tech in its second ACC series. Though the Irish allowed a walk-off blast to lose Friday’s game 7-5, they took the final two games by scores of 6-3 and 6-5. Saturday’s win featured a five-run Irish seventh that overcame a 3-1 deficit, with senior infielder Karina Gaskins plating the go-ahead run with a two-RBI double. On Sunday, Notre Dame erased Yellow Jacket leads of 2-0 and 5-4 to win by a run.
With a 16-10 overall record, Notre Dame will start a five-game homestand by facing Michigan State on Tuesday.
Baseball
Head coach Shawn Stiffler’s squad went 2-6 during the break, starting 0-6 in ACC play. The Irish after a 9-2 start and home opener win over Purdue, suffered a lopsided sweep at the hands of Virginia Tech between March 8-10. Notre Dame surrendered double-digit runs in all three games in Blacksburg, losing by scores of 11-3, 10-5 and 11-8. Graduate outfielder David Glancy homered in each of the final two games, tying sophomore infielder Estevan Moreno for the team lead with six long balls.
The Irish then headed down the road for a two-game, midweek series at Radford – a series that they swept. Notre Dame won 10-3 on Tuesday thanks to a fine start from freshman right-hander Jack Radel, who shut out the Highlanders over three innings. A day later, the Irish pulled out an 11-6 victory, using eight pitchers and receiving an eighth-inning grand slam from graduate infielder Simon Baumgardt.
To end spring break, Notre Dame returned to conference play with a three-game series at Florida State. The Seminoles swept the Irish in a much more competitive series, winning by scores of 8-4, 4-2 and 4-3. After playing from behind in each of the first two games, Notre Dame coughed up a 3-1 lead midway through Sunday’s game.
Now at 11-8 overall, the Irish will start a five-game homestand on Tuesday with a game against Western Michigan.
Women’s Tennis
Notre Dame women’s tennis went 3-1 over the past two weekends, beginning with consecutive 4-0 sweeps of Louisville and No. 68 Xavier on March 10. Sophomore Akari Matsuno and sophomore Bojana Pozder each went 2-0 on the day in singles.
Swinging back into conference play, the Irish defeated No. 38 Florida State 4-3 on Friday. However, Notre Dame couldn’t find the same close-match success in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to No. 20 Miami (Fla.).
The Irish will hit the road and face Georgia Tech and Clemson next weekend.
Men’s Tennis
The Irish went 1-2 during Spring Break, opening with a 4-0 home sweep of No. 50 Northwestern on March 8. A week later, Notre Dame struggled in its return to ACC play, losing 4-3 at Virginia Tech and 6-1 at No. 3 Virginia.
The Virginia Tech match in particular could have gone either way, with five singles matches requiring a third set. Sophomore Sebastian Dominko took part in two ranked wins for Notre Dame, downing the Hokies’ 80th-ranked doubles team with senior Jean-Marc Malkowski and defeating 60th-ranked Ryan Fishback in singles. At Virginia, freshman Chase Thompson earned Notre Dame’s lone point in No. 4 singles.
He and the Irish will return home this weekend to face NC State, Wake Forest and Xavier.
Men’s Golf
Notre Dame competed in the Johnnie-O at Sea Island from March 11-12 and the Schenkel Invitational from March 15-17. The Irish won the former event at Sea Island Plantation Golf Course, shooting a 32-under score of 832. Freshman Jacob Modleski emerged with his first individual victory, shooting 12 under with a score of 204. Trying to catch up to Modleski’s final-round 65, graduate student Palmer Jackson finished two strokes behind in third place.
Following the win, Notre Dame took second place in the Schenkel, producing a 23-under score of 841. Jackson (T5) and Modleski (T11) once again produced top-15 finishes, combining to go 14 under par.
The Irish will tee off next at the Hoosier Collegiate on April 6.
Women’s Golf
Irish women’s golf headed down to Louisiana for the Tulane Classic from March 10-12. There, the team played to a fourth-place finish with an overall score of 896. Graduate student Lauren Beaudreau paced Notre Dame individually, taking outright second place with a 1-under par 215.
The Irish will finish the month of March and the regular season next weekend at The Bruzzy.
Rowing
Over the weekend, Notre Dame rowing took part in its first competition of the season, the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational. The Irish produced wins in the Third Varsity Eight (6:45.454) and the Varsity Four (7:18.621), besting the likes of Indiana, Wisconsin, Navy, Alabama and Louisville on Saturday morning.
Notre Dame will compete next at the Lubbers Cup Regatta on April 6.
