After a heartbreaking 12-11 loss on the road to Syracuse, the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team will return to Arlotta Stadium for an ACC matchup against the No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels on Sunday at 3 p.m. Sitting at 1-4 in conference play, Notre Dame is currently ninth in the standings. A win would be vital for the young Irish program, as only 10 teams qualify for the tournament and the Irish are currently on level terms with Pitt and Louisville, only holding the edge via a tiebreaker.
Defeating the 9-0 Tar Heels will be a steep hill to climb for Notre Dame. However, head coach Christine Halfpenny’s team is hungry for a victory after her team’s loss against Syracuse. Against the Orange, Notre Dame went down 4-1 in the first quarter but showed no signs of quitting. They responded with three unanswered goals to open the second quarter. Led by graduate midfielder Kristen Shannahan’s five-goal performance, Notre Dame eventually took a 7-6 lead early in the third. Both squads continued to exchange goals back and forth, but in the end, the experienced Syracuse squad prevailed to see out a win.
Notre Dame’s season has been defined thus far by narrow losses. The Syracuse loss was the third of their four conference defeats that have come by two goals or fewer. Their only greater loss came against reigning national champions and national No. 1 Boston College.
Freshman midfielder Madison Rassas leads the way for the Irish attack. Her 29 goals on the year have kept Notre Dame in many of these tightly-contested games. Before facing Syracuse, Rassas had notched hat tricks in three straight games, including a four-goal performance against No. 24 Harvard. Notre Dame will also seek to keep feeding Shannahan. Her five-goal performance against Syracuse put her at 21 on the year, which she’s complemented with 10 assists. The Irish have four players with double-digit goals in 2025: sophomore midfielder Kathryn Morrissey, junior attacker Emma Murphy, sophomore attacker Kate Timarky and sophomore Angie Conley.
North Carolina owns the second-best scoring offense in the country, outscoring their opponents 165-49. Defensively, the Tar Heels are no less dominant. Goalkeeper Betty Nelson is the frontrunner for the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Goalkeeper of the Year award — and deservingly so. Nelson’s 6.21 goals-against average ranks her at the top of the country by a healthy margin. Collectively, the three North Carolina goalkeepers who have recorded minutes this season combine for an NCAA-leading .585 save percentage. Notre Dame’s attack will likely need a near-perfect game to get by a Tar Heels team that has been a thorn in the side of every opposition they have faced thus far.
North Carolina have beaten common opponents Syracuse and Clemson — two teams the Irish lost to — and are scheduled for a non-conference game against No. 3 Northwestern, who Notre Dame fell to in their season opener, on Thursday night. Aside from No. 1 Boston College, the Tar Heels may very well be the best team Notre Dame faces all year.
While North Carolina seeks to keep its undefeated season alive, Notre Dame aims to pull off an upset on Sunday afternoon. The game will air on the ACC Network with face-off in Arlotta Stadium set for 3 p.m.
