NOTRE DAME, Ind. — For the 14th time in program history and eighth time in the last nine completed seasons, the Irish women’s lacrosse team has earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Irish have earned the No. 5 overall seed in the tournament, and will open play against Robert Morris this Friday, May 14 at 1 p.m. at Arlotta Stadium. The Irish and Colonials are joined in South Bend this weekend by Virginia and UConn, who will meet on Friday at 5 p.m. ET.
The winners of those two matchups will meet in the second round this Sunday, May 16 at 1 p.m. ET at Arlotta Stadium with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line. Every contest this weekend in South Bend will be streamed live via ESPN3.
#5 NOTRE DAME vs. ROBERT MORRIS
Date/Time: Friday, May 14 – 1 p.m. ET
Location: Arlotta Stadium, Notre Dame, Ind.
Coverage: ESPN3
Live Stats
Twitter Updates: @NDWomensLax
Game Notes (PDF)
FOR STARTERS
- Entering the NCAA Tournament, Kasey Choma leads the Irish with 38 goals and 42 points and has racked up 16 goals in her last four outings.
- Bridget Deehan enters the tournament as the ACC’s leader in saves per game at 9.33 and has hit the double-digit saves mark in seven contests while being named the IWLCA’s National Defensive Player of the Week twice.
- Four different players have between 39 and 42 points in a balanced Irish offensive attack, including Kasey Choma (42), Jackie Wolak (40), Madison Ahern (40) and Maddie Howe (39).
- Savannah Buchanan currently leads the Irish with 27 caused turnovers and her mark of 1.80 caused turnovers per game ranks second in the ACC.
2021 NCAA TOURNAMENT
- The 2021 NCAA D1 Women’s Lacrosse Championship features 29 teams, with the top-eight teams nationally seeded and the top-three seeds earning a first-round bye.
- A nations-best six schools from the ACC are in the NCAA Tournament, including five of the eight national seeds in #1 North Carolina, #3 Syracuse, #4 Boston College, #5 Notre Dame and #7 Duke.
- The winner of the South Bend Regional will meet the winner of the Chestnut Hill Regional next weekend (May 22-23). The Final Four is slated for May 28 & 30 and will be hosted by Towson University at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland.
IRISH IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
- The Irish have now made the NCAA Tournament on 14 occasions, including eight of the past nine completed seasons under head coach Christine Halfpenny.
- The Irish will be aiming to earn their fifth trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals with a pair of wins this weekend at Arlotta Stadium (2002, 2006, 2009, 2016).
- Notre Dame owns a 7-6 mark all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, including a 4-0 mark at home.
- The Irish have made the Final Four on one occasion in 2006.
IRISH VS. OTHER SOUTH BEND REGIONAL PARTICIPANTS
- The Irish and Colonials will be meeting for the second time this season after the Irish earned a 16-2 triumph in the first-ever meeting between the two schools on March 6.
- Maddie Howe led the Irish with four goals and six points in that victory while Bridget Deehan stopped eight of nine shots she faced.
- If Notre Dame and UConn meet in the second round, it would be the 16th meeting between the two schools with the Irish holding a 12-3 edge in the series.
- If the Irish and Virginia meet in the second round, it will be the 10th meeting between the two schools with Notre Dame holding a 6-3 advantage.
- Earlier this season, the Irish earned a 12-10 road win on April 3 in Charlottesville with Bridget Deehan making 14 saves and Samantha Lynch netting a team-high four goals.
- The Irish and Cavaliers have never met in the NCAA Tournament.
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