April 22, 2017
By Megan Golden
BOSTON — The No. 11-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team finished 4-3 in conference play and earned the No. 4 seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships. The Irish are scheduled to face No. 5 seed Boston College in the first round of the tournament on Thursday and will face the Eagles for the second time in six days.
Notre Dame, which is 2-3 in the tournament in three years since joining the ACC, advanced to the semifinals in each of the past two seasons. The Irish will try to advance to the ACC Championship for the first time in program history.
Following Saturday’s 16-10 loss at Boston College, the Irish are scheduled for a rematch against the Eagles in the first round at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday at Sports Backers Stadium (Richmond, Virginia).
“We were really kind of matched up with Boston College no matter how the game went today,” Irish head coach Christine Halfpenny said. “In multiple different scenarios, we would be lined up against them. We have five days to take a look at what we did today and to hit the reset button. It’s not too often you get a second chance, and we get a second chance against a very, very good opponent.”
North Carolina finished atop the ACC with the No. 1 seed in a conference that features seven nationally-ranked teams. The Tar Heels are followed by No. 2 Syracuse and No. 3 Virginia in the top three.
No. 5 Boston College, No. 6 Louisville, No. 7 Virginia Tech and No. 8 Duke round out the standings.
“Now, it’s win or go home. The stakes are much higher here in the postseason,” Halfpenny said. “I’m thrilled to get back at it with this group here. We’ve got a great group; we’ve got a club that wants to win really badly. They know what it takes to win, and now they have some extra motivation. We are looking forward to getting the job done on Thursday.”
The four first-round winners will meet in the semifinals at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET on Friday, April 28, and the final two teams standing will square off in the ACC Championship on Sunday, April 30.
To view the full ACC Championships bracket, click here.
All tournament games will be broadcast on the ACC Regional Sports Network (RSN) and will be available on the ACC Network Extra.
For a closer, behind-the-scenes look at the Irish women’s lacrosse program, follow @NDWomensLax on Twitter.
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Megan Golden, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since August of 2016. In her role, she coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse and cross country/track and field programs. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Golden is a 2014 graduate of Saint Mary’s College and former Irish women’s basketball manager. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, she worked in public relations with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.