Mike Brey to Retire: Legendary Irish coach steps down after 23 years
After 23 years at the helm of the Notre Dame men’s basketball program, Mike Brey...
Crunch Time
What to expect from men's and women's soccer, and volleyball.
Sports
By the Numbers
Notre Dame sports, by the numbers.
Baseball Season Update
Link Jarrett was hired as the 21st head coach in team history — after seven seasons at the helm of UNC-Greensboro — the summer before the 2020 season. Since then, the Irish have experienced a total resurgence.
Women's Lacrosse Season Update
At the start of the 2021 season, the Irish found themselves ranked in the same spot they ended the 2020 season: No. 2.
Men's Golf Season Update
Although the COVID-19 pandemic cut the team’s 2020 season short, Notre Dame’s 2021 performance thus far has proven that the Irish coaching staff and players viewed the pandemic as an opportunity to improve.
Featured Performer: Palmer Jackson
Palmer Jackson was a toddler when his dad bought him his first set of golf clubs — a plastic set, perfect for a young child yet to be entrusted with metal clubs.
Men’s Lacrosse Season Update
While the team’s ACC record may not resemble that of a top five team in the nation, the Irish have beaten No. 2 Duke and No. 8 Syracuse and their three losses have come by a combined four goals.
Softball Season Update
Midway through the season, the Notre Dame softball team (13-8, 6-6) is hitting its stride — literally, in a sense.
Mid-Season Lacrosse Update
The sport has returned this spring, and both teams have found success thus far this season.
Featured Performer: Caroline Meuth
Meuth is a sophomore outside hitter on the Notre Dame volleyball team. As a freshman, she finished second on the team kills with 366, while starting in all 29 matches.
Volleyball Spring Season Update
Since returning to the court, the Notre Dame Volleyball team has been on a roll, winning five of their first seven matchups.
Notre Dame Baseball has Found its Missing Link
The Irish finished up 2020 at 11-2 and on a seven-game win streak, providing the momentum to propel the team forward into Jarrett’s first full year at the helm.
A New Journey With Head Coach Niele Ivey
Under the guidance of new head coach Niele Ivey, who took on the role after the retirement of legendary head coach Muffet McGraw, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team has been hard at work.
Featured Performer: Alex Steeves
As the Notre Dame hockey season starts winding down, it is time to highlight one of the team’s best players: Alex Steeves. The Irish currently boast a record of 10-12-2, which has them tied for third place in the Big Ten standings, and Steeves is a major reason for that.
Steeves has played in all 24 games and has 26 points, which leads all Irish skaters. Steeves also leads the team in goals with 13, including two against Wisconsin on Feb. 20, which was a come-from-behind shootout win for the Irish.
Results from ND’s Trip to the Track ACC Championships
The Notre Dame men’s and women’s track teams traveled to Clemson Feb. 25 to 27 to participate in the ACC Indoor Championships. Both squads looked to build off strong performances in the 2020 championships, which saw the women finish third and the men finish fourth.
Notre Dame Men’s Basketball Still Looking to Get Over the Hump
The Notre Dame men’s basketball team now sits at 9-11 overall, and 6-8 in the ACC, putting them at 11th in the conference standings. The biggest standout for the Irish thus far has been forward Nate Laszewski, who is averaging 14.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game (both team highs) while shooting a remarkable 64.8% from the field and 51.5% from beyond the arc, ranking him 23rd and seventh respectively among shooters in NCAA Division I basketball. Guard Prentiss Hubb has added 13.7 points per game while leading the team in assists with 6.2 per game, and Guard Dane Goodwin has seen his role on the team expand and is averaging 12.5 points per game.
Hockey Season Update
The Notre Dame hockey team soared in its recent games against Ohio State. The series against the Buckeyes marked a bright spot on the schedule after the Irish dropped a series to Michigan and split a series with Penn State. The team won its second game against Penn State after a close loss the night before, despite 34 saves from goalie Dylan St. Cyr.
By The Numbers
4 — The number of third-period goals scored by the Irish on Feb. 20 in a game on the road against Wisconsin. The Irish entered the third-period trailing 3-1 and staged a major comeback that ended in a shootout victory for the Irish.
USF
Given the circumstances: a new offensive coordinator, brand new offensive skill position starters across the board, and limited offseason practices, it was unrealistic to expect the Irish offense to come out firing on all cylinders in their first game. With that being said, as No. 7 Notre Dame prepared for another home contest against the University of South Florida, there were still plenty of questions to be answered.
Louisville
After cruising through the first three games, No. 4 Notre Dame hit its first major roadblock of the season versus Louisville. Against the backdrop of future foe Clemson’s 73-7 rout of Georgia Tech, the Irish (4-0, 3-0) survived against the Cardinals (1-4, 0-4) 12-7. The team extended the FBS-longest active winning streak to 10 games, but with a matchup against No. 1 Clemson looming on the horizon, the win was anything but far-reaching.
Pitt: Proving their Prowess Away From Home
A month and a half after their first game, with a season-threatening COVID-19 outbreak in between, the undefeated No. 3 Fighting Irish were finally forced to leave the friendly confines of Notre Dame Stadium and go on the road to face the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Georgia Tech: Get Through to Get to Clemson
Facing a mediocre 2-5 team with the Clemson matchup on the horizon, No. 4 Notre Dame’s game against Georgia Tech had the markings of a trap game. But in order to stay on track for a playoff berth, the Fighting Irish needed to handle business in Atlanta on Halloween.
Clemson: A Victory that Will Go Down in History
Notre Dame’s 42-14 loss to Alabama in the 2013 national championship game marked the nascence of murmurs that, maybe, the Irish weren’t cut out for the big games. Those murmurs began to crescendo over the years as Notre Dame lost top-10 matchups against Florida State (2014), Ohio State (2015), Miami (2017) and Clemson (2018). Add in two close losses to Georgia (2017, 2019), two last second losses to Stanford (2015) and Clemson (2015) along the way and by the time No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 1 Clemson met inside Notre Dame Stadium in 2020 the roars were loud and clear: “Notre Dame can’t win a big game,” “Notre Dame doesn’t belong with college football’s elite.”
Boston College: An Irish Victory in the “Holy War”
There were many factors to consider before Notre Dame’s game against Boston College: it was only Notre Dame’s third away game of the season, it was quarterback Phil Jurkovec’s opportunity for revenge against his former school, and it took place a week after Notre Dame’s thrilling double-overtime win against No. 1 Clemson. The setting felt eerily similar to the 1993 Boston College upset against the Fighting Irish only a week after Notre Dame’s win in the “Game of the Century” against No. 1 Florida State. Despite Notre Dame being projected as a 13-point favorite, these factors combined to make many Irish fans feel nervous before kickoff.
UNC
After a well-deserved bye week, the No. 2 Irish (8-0) traveled down to Chapel Hill for a Friday afternoon game against the No. 19 North Carolina Tar Heels (6-2). Notre Dame came into the game off of two of their best wins of the year but also had given up 71 points in those two games, which was more than they had allowed in the first six games. This could’ve been a major problem, as the Tar Heels touted a strong offense led by their two star running backs: Javonte Williams and Michael Carter.
Wake Forest: The Matchup that Never Was
It was a matchup that was supposed to happen on Sept. 26 at Wake Forest, but because of COVID-19, the game was rescheduled to Dec. 12. Unfortunately, seven Notre Dame football players tested positive for the virus several days before the originally scheduled game, which resulted in the isolation of 13 players. Furthermore, the Notre Dame football program wanted to ensure the safety of the rest of its players, so it paused all football-related activities for several days. Head coach Brian Kelly stated that “with student-athlete health and safety our primary focus, we will continue to follow our prevention protocols and ongoing testing procedures.” In the meantime, it was time for the team to redirect its attention to the upcoming game against Florida State.
ACC Championship: Clemson’s Revenge
On Dec. 19, the undefeated Fighting Irish arrived at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., marking the beginning of the playoff season for the team. The ACC Championship set the stage for the highly anticipated Notre Dame-Clemson rematch, after the No. 4 Irish defeated the then-No. 1 Tigers during their regular season matchup in South Bend.
Column: A Window Into the Future
For the first time in over 27 years, Notre Dame football defeated the No. 1 ranked team in the nation with a thrilling double-overtime victory over the Clemson Tigers.