NOTRE DAME, Ind. — With NCAA Tournament appearance in seven of the last eight seasons, the University of Notre Dame women’s lacrosse program is ready to compete in 2020 as head coach Christine Halfpenny announced the 16-game slate on Tuesday (Dec. 10).
Five of Notre Dame’s 16 opponents made the NCAA Championship field last season, including three of the national semifinalists in Boston College, North Carolina and Northwestern.
“After a fall season full of growth, our team is ready to start our journey towards Memorial Day Weekend together,” said Halfpenny. “We are excited to play strong competition right out of the gate in February. The ACC will again be the strongest conference in the country and we are looking forward to those battles. Out of conference, the balance of old rivals and new opponents should serve us well as we compete for a 13th NCAA tournament selection in May.”
The Irish earned 14 victories last season, which tied the 2016 Irish squad for the third-most wins in a single season in program history.
Notre Dame returns a pair of First Team All-ACC honorees in Andie Aldave and Maddie Howe, along with Second Team All-ACC midfielder Savannah Buchanan. All three players were named to the watch list for the 2019 Tewaaraton Award. Aldave was also named a First Team IWLCA All-American while Howe was tabbed a Second Team All-American.
Notre Dame also welcomes a seven-member freshman class that has been ranked second-best by Inside Lacrosse. The Irish landed the top two recruits in the Class of 2019, with midfielder Kasey Choma named the nation’s top prospect and attacker Madison Ahern coming in at number two.
In addition, attacker Jackie Wolak was named the nation’s 15th best prospect while attackers Jane McAvoy and Ellie Mooney were also named to Inside Lacrosse’s Watchlist as Top 100 incoming freshmen.
2020 Notre Dame Women’s Lacrosse Schedule
All Times ET
Feb. 9 – vs. Marquette (Noon)
Feb. 14 – at Northwestern (8 p.m.)
Feb. 16 – vs. Central Michigan (Noon)
Feb. 23 – vs. Ohio State (1 p.m.)
March 1 – vs. Duke (1 p.m.)
March 7 – vs. Boston College (TBA)
March 11 – at Vanderbilt (5 p.m.)
March 15 – at North Carolina (Noon)
March 18 – vs. Duquesne (4 p.m.)
March 22 – at Hofstra (1 p.m.)
March 28 – vs. Syracuse (Noon)
April 1 – at Butler (3 p.m.)
April 4 – vs. Virginia (TBA)
April 11 – at Virginia Tech (1 p.m.)
April 14 – vs. Liberty (4 p.m.)
April 18 – at Louisville (1 p.m.)
—ND—