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-Greg McKenna | Tuesday, August 31, 2021
In the face of worldwide condemnation for leading the effort for a breakaway European Super League in April, Florentino Perez told the football world that “the beautiful game” was dying. “We have to save football. Everything I do is for the good of football, which is in a critical moment,” the Real Madrid president said.
Greg McKenna | Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Whether it’s to play mind games with the opposition or insure against allegations of underachievement, soccer managers around the world love downplaying expectations to the media. After missing out on the NCAA Tournament for a second time in three years at a traditional women’s collegiate soccer blue-blood like Notre Dame, many coaches would be wary,
Greg McKenna | Friday, May 21, 2021
Playing during a college basketball season during a pandemic presents enough uncertainty in itself. One might think replacing a hall-of-fame coach without summer practice as well would be an overwhelming experience for any player. Freshman forward Maddy Westbeld, however, admits she didn’t know anything different heading into her first collegiate season. “I mean, definitely going
Greg McKenna | Friday, May 21, 2021
Though the Irish played only 13 games, Notre Dame’s women’s soccer 2020-2021 season was anything but condensed. Even though the NCAA tournament was postponed to the spring, the ACC still held a fall season that determined qualification for November’s ACC Tournament, which meant each game in a nine-month slog had critical postseason implications. The traditional
Greg McKenna | Friday, May 21, 2021
In August of 2020, head coach Jesse Urquhart said that while his team was obviously disappointed about the postponement of their fall season, he was excited about the prospect of using the fall as an extended offseason to prepare for a spring campaign. So when the Belles found out Saint Mary’s would postpone fall sports entirely,
Greg McKenna | Wednesday, May 5, 2021
On senior day, it was an underclassman who stole the show. Sophomore attack Pat Kavanagh became the first Notre Dame player in program history to record ten points in a single game — five goals and five assists — as the No. 4 Irish (7-3, 3-3 ACC) romped to a 22-8 victory over No. 9
Greg McKenna | Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Dear John W. Henry, Shame on you. At least that’s what I was planning on typing this time last week after Liverpool, along with 11 other clubs in England, Spain and Italy, officially announced their mutiny from UEFA to form the infamous “Super League” and its dreaded “closed shop.” Alas, I was not scheduled to
Greg McKenna | Friday, April 23, 2021
Almost two weeks after Notre Dame made Kevin Corrigan the winningest head coach in Division-I history with a home victory over then-No. 1 Duke, the rematch between the No. 2 Irish and No. 3 Blue Devils in Durham Thursday night followed an almost identical plotline to the first showdown for over 50 minutes. For almost
Greg McKenna | Friday, April 16, 2021
Deanna Gumpf isn’t complaining. Notre Dame has had its last five scheduled games cancelled following positive COVID-19 tests within the program last week, but the Irish head coach said her team has dealt with too much to let rust be an excuse when Notre Dame (18-12, 9-10 ACC) hosts Virginia (13-21, 9-16 ACC) for a four-game
Greg McKenna | Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Notre Dame closed the 2020-21 regular season with a fourth successive loss Friday night as the Irish (8-9-0, 4-7-0 ACC) fell 2-0 to Virginia Tech (6-6-2, 5-5-2 ACC) during their senior night at Alumni Stadium. With the win, the Hokies kept their second straight clean sheet at Alumni Stadium. Virginia Tech had bested the Irish