ND WOMEN’S l ACROSSE Irish prepare for No. 13 Duke

By J.J. POST sports Writer

n otre d ame women’s lacrosse will face a major test s aturday when they travel to c harlotte, n orth c arolina to take on n o. 11 d uke.

The b lue d evils have gotten off to a strong start to the year so far, posting a 3-1 record over the opening month of the season.

o pening with a threegame win streak, d uke recovered from a 17-8 loss to n o. 4 b oston c ollege with a bounce-back win over Liberty on Tuesday.

Katie d e s imone has gotten off to a torrid start for the b lue d evils, taking an early team lead in goals. With 19 tallies and seven assists, d e s imone has had a hat-trick in four of d uke’s five games so far this season.

The i rish, who themselves are coming off a key victory over an upstart c lemson side at home, are in search of their first ranked win of the season. n otre d ame was able to dispatch s an d iego s tate and c entral m ichigan with ease but fell short of a potential upset of n o. 3 n orthwestern on the road. h ead coach c hristine h alfpenny has emphasized the importance of her deep stable of veteran attacking options. a nd, the i rish scoring has been divided accordingly. Through four games, five different players have five or more goals. d raw control success has also been a major strength of h alfpenny’s squad. n otre d ame has won 78 draw controls on the year and has only lost 37. e ven when n orthwestern amassed a nine-point lead late on in the fourth quarter, h alfpenny’s side kept battling. They unleashed an ultimately futile but spirited four-goal run in the final minutes in e vanston to turn a rout into a respectable finish against one of the nation’s best.

The d uke game marks the start of an important stretch for an i rish squad looking to make a deeper tournament run than last season’s first-round exit. a fter d uke, the i rish stay on the road to face an even higher-ranked s yracuse o range team. i n a deep acc , results in either of those games away from home could allow the i rish to make an important early statement. The i rish showed plenty of grit against n o. 3 n orthwestern a few weeks back. n otre d ame took the lead in the opening minutes. Whenever the brilliance of Wildcat i zzy s cane seemed to put the game out of reach, the i rish didn’t relent.

With games against the likes of n orth c arolina and b oston c ollege, ranked n o. 1 and n o. 2 in the nation, respectively, looming down the line, the schedule won’t get easier for the i rish going forward. n otre d ame isn’t expected to record a consistent string of see Lacrosse PAGE 12

Friday and scored a PPG of his own saturday. recently, big-bodied players have freed up notre dame’s outside shooters by creating traffic around opposing goalies. bavaro’s goal, a slap-shot fired through the visual obstruction of 6-foot-6 forward Jack Adams, was a prime example. Adams and fellow tall graduate chayse Primeau will look to frustrate msU in the same sense.

Well-rested spartans look to get over the hump

There’s an elephant in the room with michigan state’s program. The spartans have lost their last 15 postseason games dating back to 2013. however, if there’s an msU team to break the curse and send the Irish home, it’s this one.

In his first year in east Lansing, head coach Adam nightingale has orchestrated a remarkable turnaround. The spartans ended last season on a 1-15 nosedive. now, they sit at a respectable 16-16-2 after competing well in the loaded big Ten.

“I think [nightingale] made some really good choices as far as building his roster, and they’ve done an incredible job of getting their guys to buy in,” Irish head coach Jeff Jackson said. “It reminds me a lot of when I started at notre dame. It’s about building a culture and an identity in how you play the game.”

Like notre dame, michigan state enters south bend with an appetite for vengeance. Two weeks ago, msU unexpectedly lost its final regular season game to lowly Wisconsin, allowing the Irish to steal the four seed. After last week’s bye, the spartans have had plenty of time to heal up and chew on its loss of home ice. contrary to michigan, msU doesn’t have big names but thrives on balanced offensive contributions. That starts with nicolas muller’s 29 points. he scored both times the spartans beat notre dame last month.

Jagger Joshua has posted seven power-play goals but has taken an alarming number of penalties lately. meanwhile, msU’s experienced defensemen have stepped up down the stretch. Fifth-year man cole Krygier has 10 goals on the year, while senior erik middendorf has assisted seven times in his last five games.

“our style is that we want to clog up and make teams play not as fast, but they do similar things,” bavaro said. “I think they play a little bit heavier than most other teams — more structured with less run-and-gun. They’re gonna be physical, and they’re not afraid to dump pucks in.”

An epic showdown between the pipes bischel currently sits second in the nation with a .932 save percentage and leads the country with 1,095 saves. on the other side, st. cyr carries a .914 save percentage and will likely eclipse 1,000 stops over the next two games. both goalies have seen it all this year, playing in a combined 59 of 68 games. michigan state has been notre dame’s second-worst matchup among big Ten opponents this year. The spartans took eight of 12 points from the Irish in the regular season, including a shootout victory at compton on oct. 29. This weekend’s puck drop times are 7 p.m. Friday, 4:30 p.m. saturday and, if necessary, 6 p.m. sunday. each game will be broadcast on Fs2.

Among all the storylines, this weekend’s goaltending matchup might top the list. michigan state’s dylan st. cyr and notre dame graduate student ryan bischel have a history together. The former spent his first four collegiate years in south bend with bischel backing him up for the final two. The two split time in the 2020-21 season before bischel‘s concussion put st. cyr in charge. Though they are still buddies off the ice, the former teammates have found another gear when facing one another. In their four meetings this season, bischel has a .952 save percentage to st. cyr’s .944.

Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu