NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team has earned an NCAA Tournament berth for the seventh time in eight seasons and will take on Stanford in the first round this Friday, May 10th in Evanston, Illinois. Opening draw is set for 7 p.m. CT at Martin Stadium.
The winner of the first-round matchup between Notre Dame and Stanford will take on fourth-seeded Northwestern on Sunday, May 12th at 1 p.m. CT.
Friday’s contest marks the 18th meeting all-time between the Irish (13-4) and Cardinal (13-5) with Notre Dame holding a 10-7 advantage in the series. The Irish earned a 13-9 victory the last time these two teams met on February 13, 2016.
“It’s great to be one of the 28 teams that gets to practice together for at least another week,” said head coach Christine Halfpenny. “I’m very excited to start this NCAA Tournament journey with this group and can’t wait to compete on Friday.”
2019 marks the 13th trip to the NCAA Tournament for the Irish and seventh berth in eight seasons under Coach Halfpenny.
That NCAA Tournament feeling. ☘️#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/x3hJmoge0k
— Notre Dame W Lax (@NDWomensLax) May 6, 2019
The 13 wins Notre Dame collected in the regular season matched the 2012 and 2006 Irish squads for the most regular-season wins in program history, and the five ACC wins were the most the Irish have earned since joining the conference in 2014.
Notre Dame also knocked off four opponents ranked in the top-25 of the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Poll, including a road win over fifth-ranked Virginia on March 16th and the program’s first-ever win over #4 North Carolina on March 31st.
Entering the NCAA Tournament, the Irish lead the ACC in scoring defense, caused turnovers per game, ground balls per game, free position percentage and shots on goal per game. They also rank second nationally with a draw control percentage of 63.5%.