Sept. 22, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Looking for a school-record fifth consecutive NCAA Championships berth, and a deep advancement once her team gets there, Notre Dame women’s lacrosse head coach Christine Halfpenny has compiled a difficult fall slate for the Irish.
Notre Dame, which returns 11 of its 12 starters, including four All-Americans, and added the third-best recruiting class in the nation, will take on four of the top 10 teams in the nation from last year in Maryland, Duke, Penn State and Northwestern. The Irish will also face 2014 NCAA participant Towson and regional foe Marquette.
“Our team is excited to utilize our fall scrimmages as opportunities to learn about ourselves, experiment with a variety of personnel combinations, and track our growth from week to week,” Halfpenny said. “As always, we will be playing some of the most competitive teams in the nation. Four of our six opponents advanced to last year’s NCAA tournament, finishing the year in the top 10.
“We are fortunate to have an outstanding home venue, Arlotta Stadium to host two of our fall competitions keeping some of the most competitive lacrosse right here in the midwest. We are all eager to kick off fall ball competition this weekend!”
Notre Dame faces Marquette first, taking on the Golden Eagles at 9:30 a.m. this Saturday at Arlotta Stadium. Next weekend, the Irish head to Maryland. Notre Dame will face Towson on Oct. 3 at the Tigers’ Johnny Unitas Stadium before heading south to College Park on Oct. 4. Notre Dame will face Duke, Maryland and Penn State on the Terrapins’ home field before heading home. The midwest’s biggest women’s lacrosse rivals will face off at 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 10 at Arlotta Stadium as Northwestern comes to town for the final fall scrimmage.