Print Edition (cont.) of The Observer for Friday May 19, 2017

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The observer | FRIDAY, May 19, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com

football | 4-8

fencing

Early struggles prove too much for Irish to overcome

ND wins ninth national title

By BEN PADANILAM

By JACK CONCANNON

Editor-in-Chief

Sports Writer

Just about nothing went as expected for Notre Dame this season.

Heck, it even ended with it raining on it in Los Angeles.

The 2016 season started with high expectations; the Irish were ranked as a top-10 squad in both the AP and Coaches preseason polls. But that first stop on their season-long journey would be their peak, as everything went downhill for the Irish from there en route to a 4-8 record and the first Notre Dame season not to end with a bowl game since 2009.

The trouble started a week before the season was set to kickoff in a Sunday showdown with Texas. Six Irish players — seniors Max Redfield and Devin Butler, sophomores Dexter Williams, Te’von Coney and Ashton White, and freshman Kevin Stepherson — were arrested in two separate incidents. The consequences were immediate for two of the players:

Senior foilist Lee Kiefer was a member of the 2012 and 2016 Oly mpic teams. She has competed at the Junior World Championships. And when she defeated Cornell’s Luby Kiriakidi at the NC A A championships in Februar y, she clinched a national title for the Irish.

This year’s national championship was the ninth in program histor y, the team’s first since 2011 and the first for Irish head coach Gia Kvaratsk helia. The Irish racked up 186 team points, defeating finalists Ohio State (161 points), Columbia (152 points), Princeton (145 points) and Har vard (124 points).

Kvaratsk helia was especially proud of the title because he felt it was an accurate representation of the hard work his team has put in.

see FOOTBALL PAGE 32

EMMET FARNAN | The Observer

Irish junior quarterback DeShone Kizer prepares to throw a pass during Notre Dame’s 28-27 loss to Navy at EverBank Field.

“We put in so much work in the pre-season, planning how to build a team culture that would be conducive to w inning championships and that would honor the tradition of Notre Dame fencing,” Kvaratsk helia said.

“Winning a championship validates and rewards all the faith our kids invested into what we were doing and all the work our kids put in from Day One until the last day of NCA As.” The Irish women took home t wo of the three indiv idual national championships, as Kiefer won the foil event and junior Francesca Russo took home the sabre national title.

Kvaratsk helia felt that, overall, the men’s team success in the epee and both the men’s and women’s sabre teams helped propel the squad through the season to the national title. see FENCING PAGE 31

outstanding senior athletes

Senior icons solidify lasting legacies Two-time All-American Sergio Perkovic aims to lead Irish to first national championship

By BEN PADANILAM Editor-in-Chief

One hundred ten goals.

Only eight players in the history of Notre Dame lacrosse have hit the century mark in goals scored over the course of their Irish careers. And only one of those players has ever done it from the midfield position.

Sergio Perkovic has accomplished plenty in his career: His scoring tally is tops at his position in program history; he’s twice earned a spot on the all-tournament team for the NCAAs and thrice been selected as an All-ACC honoree. And he’s even been named to the All-ACC academic team in each of the previous three seasons.

In short, the senior midfielder has taken advantage of all the opportunities being a four-year starter at Notre Dame has offered him.

Then again, he always knew that would be the case; in fact, that’s exactly the reason Perkovic choose Notre Dame in the first place.

“Once I got recruited by Notre Dame and looked at it — I mean, I knew it was an awesome school and a lot of people from my area in Michigan had gone, the combination of academics and athletics and how they were a very solid lacrosse team at the time and, obviously, a very good school academically and it wasn’t too far from home — I guess all of that combined, I knew Notre Dame would offer me just a ton of opportunities

and would be an amazing school,” Perkovic said. “So I always kind of liked Notre Dame and when I knew I had a chance to come here to play lacrosse, I knew I kind of wanted to take that right away.”

But that doesn’t mean Notre Dame lacrosse was the only opportunity he had; not only was Perkovic a two-time high school All-American in lacrosse at Brother Rice in Michigan, he was also an All-State football player as well. With his two-sport success came a choice: He could play lacrosse at Notre Dame or play football at one of the several Big Ten schools — including Northwestern, Michigan State and Iowa — that had offered him.

“At the end, I decided I liked lacrosse a little more and I really liked Notre Dame more than the other schools that recruited me for football, even though they were good schools,” Perkovic said. “ … In the back of my mind, I always wanted to come to Notre Dame, and I kind of wanted to play lacrosse more than football.”

And soon after stepping on campus, Perkovic got to work. Early on, he said wasn’t sure what exactly his role would be and how competitive he would be given he was coming from a state in which the game was still in its growing stages. But as soon as he stepped on the field for that first practice, he realized he could make an immediate impact and set out to do just that. see PERKOVIC PAGE 30

Four-time national champion Lee Kiefer establishes place in international record book

By TOBIAS HOONHOUT Associate Sports Editor

For Lee Kiefer, fencing has always been about family.

The daughter of Steven Kiefer, who fenced collegiately at Duke, Lee was exposed to the sport at a young age, along with her older sister Alexandra — who fenced at Harvard — and brother Axel — a current Notre Dame sophomore and foilist who was named a second-team All-American this past season.

But over time, she began to forge her own path, resulting in her committing to Notre Dame. Once again, it was family that drew her in.

“Fencing is a sport where you have to dedicate a lot of your time to it if you want to do well,” Kiefer said. “ … I looked at just a few schools when I was applying — ones that had really strong fencing programs but also were strong academically — and during my visit to Notre Dame, their fencing team was really close and everyone had such a strong community, and my visit definitely was an accurate representation of what the team ended up being.”

But before her time at Notre Dame, Kiefer was already an elite fencer. In 2009, at 15 years old, she became the youngest member of the Senior World Team and won a bronze medal at the 2011 championships, becoming just the second American woman to ever accomplish that feat. She also participated in the 2012 London Olympics,

in which she placed fifth individually.

Kiefer took the collegiate world by storm her freshman year, winning the 2013 foil championship with a 32-6 overall record and being named a first team All-American.

At the NCAA Midwest regional, she came in first with an 18-1 record, only losing to Ohio State’s Mona Shaito, a fellow All-American, and moved on to the championship tournament in San Antonio, where she only lost once — to her sister Alex, no less. Kiefer avenged her previous defeat to Shaito in the semifinals and then won the NCAA title in convincing fashion over Jackie Dubrovich of Columbia.

She had achieved immense success on the strip in just one season. But off of it, Kiefer struggled to find a balance between school, friends and fencing.

“I used to get sad that I didn’t have an opportunity to have friends outside of fencing,” Kiefer said. “It’s similar to when you’re younger and you are training and traveling, and then you get to college and you have school work and it’s just crazy. I felt like I was missing out on part of the Notre Dame experience, but then I came to learn that it’s ok that your fencing life and your personal life overlap; my teammates are also my friends and my family.”

Kiefer’s talent forced her to blend international competition and collegiate fencing, a relationship that saw her compete in see KIEFER PAGE 30

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The observer | friday, may 19, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com

Kiefer Continued from page 29

a limited role for the Irish during her sophomore year. But Kiefer still managed to capture her second straight individual title, finishing pool play with a 19-4 record and earning the No. 1 seed at the NCAA championships. She steamrolled her way to the final, where she beat teammate and current volunteer coach Madison Zeiss, 15-11.

“It’s weird because when you’re not in college, you don’t realize that college fencing is actually a big deal, because a lot of athletes who go to fencing schools are also trying to compete on the national and international circuit,” Kiefer said of the relationship between college and the international scene.

“It took me my first year to get adjusted to the whole team spirit and the whole environment, and then each year, I wanted to win more and win for my team.”

As a junior, Kiefer was dominant. Facing some of the top fencers not only collegiately but also internationally, she posted a record of 51-6, winning the first ever ACC women’s foil championship while helping the Irish capture the first ever women’s ACC title as well. She cruised through NCAA regionals with a 16-0 record and won her third consecutive NCAA title at the championships, besting Columbia’s Margaret Lu 15-13.

Kiefer took the 2015-2016 season off to prepare for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she finished 10th overall. For Kiefer, representing her country at the highest level for the second time was not only a dream come true, but also a valuable

Perkovic Continued from page 29

“The first practice we had, I was obviously super excited … once I was scrimmaging with the guys and saw I could do a lot, even though I was a freshman on the field, and do some things that other guys couldn’t, I really wanted to contribute and knew that I could,” Perkovic said.

His contributions were perhaps even greater than he expected; Perkovic scored 28 goals in his first season, the most ever scored by a freshman midfielder in program

experience.

“Obviously, it was an amazing experience being able to represent my country at London and in Rio, but it was just very different” she said of the comparison between collegiate fencing and the Olympics. “At Notre Dame, you have to be so much more emotionally invested [in the team], and each competition is so intense, and it’s really exhilarating being on the international scene and at the Olympics, but you’re more relying on yourself and your skills. “ … I definitely have a lot more experience than a lot of people, being in any type of pressure situation, being tired or frustrated — just dealing with a lot of factors I think that are more normal to me and are part of my life [as a competitor]. It helps to stay calm and stay motivated throughout the long season, and then just being able to stay fresh with your skills, always trying to work towards something … I never feel like I’m not ready to compete.”

Coming into her senior season, Kiefer had one more goal to cross off her list: an NCAA team championship. The Irish won in 2011, just before she began her collegiate career, and although she had won back-to-back-to-back individual titles, Notre Dame had yet to capture a team title during Kiefer’s career.

“Just the year before, when we would come to school, we would just spend hours talking about the team, our hopes for it and what we thought people could do, and then we got here and everyone was so excited and the team got really close,” Kiefer said of the goals for the season. “This year, I really wanted a victory for the

history. Five of those goals came on the game’s biggest stage: the national championship. Although that Irish team lost to Duke, 119, his performance signaled his coming-out party to the rest of the nation.

“The Final Four is obviously the biggest stage in the sport of lacrosse, so when I was able to do what I did against Duke, I guess you could call it a breakthrough performance,” Perkovic said. “It gave me a little notoriety in the sport of lacrosse and kind of showed people that [I] was a pretty good player.”

Over the next two seasons, Perkovic would continue to play a

KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer

Irish senior midfielder Sergio Perkovic looks for the ball during Notre Dame’s 11-10 loss to Syracuse on April 1 at Arlotta Stadium.

EMMET FARNAN | The Observer

Irish senior fencer Lee Kiefer is interviewed during the ACC championships on Feb. 28, 2016, at Castellan Family Fencing Center. Kiefer is a two-time Olympian and has won four individual national foil titles.

team, because I’ve won individually before, and obviously that’s amazing and such an honor, but I felt like I had the ability to help my teammates, and help push them towards overall victory. “ … Being a senior, I was so much more involved with everyone, using that experience to help the freshmen get adjusted or push other people to get more intense during the competition, or sleep more when they needed to take care of their bodies. So honestly that was my goal — to help the team win a championship — and then I knew if I could do that and keep taking care of myself, I had a good chance of winning, too, so I think the goals overlapped a bit and everything just fell into place.”

Kiefer finished first in the preliminaries at NCAAs with a commanding +70 differential before becoming only the third fencer ever to win four individual titles on the collegiate circuit with a 5-1 win over Cornell’s Luby Kiriakidi,

which clinched the team title for the Irish as well.

“We just peaked at the perfect time,” Kiefer said of the win. “I don’t think we ever struggled because of a loss of passion or training, there were just a lot of small elements out of place, and we just kept pushing through it, trying to make adjustments, and we were able to win.

It was really a hard-fought season overall for everyone.”

Kiefer’s legacy will forever be cemented in both Irish fencing history and the sport itself. This past March, she earned the No. 1 world ranking after winning her second FIE Grand Prix gold medal, the first American woman to ever achieve such a feat.

“It was one of the best feelings in the world,” Kiefer said of the honor.

“As a young athlete, everyone first wants a medal at the Olympics, and then I think the second best thing would be reaching that milestone and being able to say, ‘Yes, I am the best fencer in the world.’

But at the same time, that just puts so much more responsibility on myself to keep training hard and being a good example for other people to help them try and reach their goals, too.”

And after graduation, Kiefer has set her eyes on only more greatness: The two-time Olympian has already set her eyes on the 2020 Tokyo games, as well as achieving her career dream of getting through medical school and becoming a doctor.

“I definitely won’t forget all of the people who helped me reach all of these amazing milestones — just the whole process has been so amazing,” Kiefer said of her Notre Dame career. “You don’t come to school and are just a winner, you have to work your way to the top.”

After her career, the only question for Kiefer is where “the top” really is.

prominent role in a program reaching its greatest heights; he scored a team-high 34 goals his sophomore season — another program record at the midfield position — and added another 26 his junior season, a mark good for third on the team. Alongside some of the other most decorated players to don the blue and gold in program history, Perkovic has helped to take Notre Dame lacrosse to a level it had previously never reached, he said.

“It was awesome playing with guys like [Matt Kavanagh] and Matt Landis who were so accomplished and were getting so much notoriety because Notre Dame was a big lacrosse school before this, but Matt Kavanagh and Matt Landis and guys like that took this program and took the name of Notre Dame lacrosse to a different level and people kind of respected us more,” Perkovic said. “We just became a lacrosse team to emulate, and a lot of kids looked up to us, so it was cool just being around for those guys and seeing how they performed each and every single game day, and it made me want to follow in their footsteps.”

And serving as a senior captain this season, he has done just that; learning from their example, he has both led by the example he always has set and also taken more responsibility in helping to bring the younger players in the program along this season.

“Just the way guys like Matt Kavanagh would talk to players about certain little things on and off the field and the confidence he would instill in people was one thing I tried to take with me … because that’s how you play the best [as a team],” Perkovic said. “Matt Kavanagh did a good job of that, and I’ve tried to do the same thing. “ … I’ve tried not to change too much just because I’m a captain and everything like that. But also in the back of my mind, I do understand that the younger kids are really looking up to guys like me and other senior leaders on the team.

You just kind of have to be wary of that and know that you can have like a big impact on those younger guys — how you influence them, what you say to them and things like that.”

Although his accomplished career at Notre Dame nears its close, Perkovic still plans to play lacrosse after graduation. The Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, native was invited to try out for the U.S. national team in July ahead of the next summer’s international tournament. And while that is going on, he will also be working in New York for Credit Suisse. All in all, Perkovic said he is thankful for both the opportunities he has received, and he owes much of to the opportunities opened to him by Notre Dame.

“It’s pretty crazy that four years goes by fast and I’m almost done

here,” Perkovic said. “I really have just looked back and I’m extremely thankful for all the opportunities that this University has given me, both in the classroom and athletically. I really feel like I couldn’t have the same experience at any other school, so I’m really happy I chose Notre Dame.”

And although he’s already started to reflect on his time at the University, Perkovic also realizes his work isn’t done quite yet. After a 15-9 win over Marquette last weekend in the first round, the Irish will play its quarterfinals match of the NCAA tournament against Denver on Saturday at Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, New York. The senior understands his team has to take the tournament one game at a time, but he also recognizes the Irish are only three more wins away from closing out his career with the last accolade that has eluded him thus far: a national championship.

“I’m really excited for this team and for the tournament,” Perkovic said. “I honestly don’t think there are any limits to what we can do. … We just take it one game at a time. Really, just all you have to do is win four games and you win a national championship, so we understand that, but we [also] understand it’s just one game at a time.”

Contact Tobias Hoonhout at thoonhou@nd.edu

Contact Ben Padanilam at bpadanil@nd.edu

Sports

ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 19, 2017 | The Observer

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Fencing Continued from page 29

CAITLYN JORDAN | The Observer

Irish junior Francesca Russo lunges at her opponent at the ACC championships on Feb. 27, 2016 at Castellan Family Fencing Center. The Irish women went on to win the event and Russo went undefeated on the day. Russo took home one of Notre Dame’s two individual titles in March.

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“Our men’s epee was huge at ACCs; they were a rock,” Kvaratsk helia said. “At regionals, our sabre squads put ever y thing together, overcoming a season’s worth of adversit y and became what we thought they were capable of.”

On the women’s side, it was an undefeated road to the national championship. The team was laden w ith stars including national indiv idual champions Kiefer and Russo. Sophomore epeeist Amanda Sirico was named a first team A ll-American, while sophomore foilist Sabrina Massialas earned second-team honors.

W hile no men won indiv idual titles the team made significant contributions to the squad’s point total. Freshman and firstteam A ll-American honoree Ariel Simmons went tied for third in the epee, going 15-8 on the day, while senior Kristjan Archer, junior Jonah Shainberg and sophomore A xel Kiefer also contributed 15-8 championship records.

With a veteran team heav y on seniors, Kvaratsk helia felt their leadership was a critical aspect of the v ictor y.

“We were luck y to have great leadership from our top fencers, seniors and underclassmen,” Kvaratsk helia said. “I can’t single one person out [as the leader]; ever yone played their part.”

Without those seniors next season, Kvaratsk helia w ill be looking to various other members of the team to step up and help the squad defend its title — which is something Kvaratsk helia does not have at the forefront of his focus. Kvaratsk helia also noted that he is not concerned about the team becoming complacent, as it w ill come back hungr y for more success.

“Some have asked how we w ill defend our title. We aren’t ‘defending’ any thing; we’ll be attacking like always,” Kvaratsk helia said.

“The 2017 title is something that can’t be taken away.

Next year, we w ill have a brand new team that hasn’t won any thing. A nd that team’s goals w ill be to work hard and improve ever y day.”

Contact Jack Concannon at jconcan2@nd.edu

Follow us on Twitter. @ObserverSports

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Football Continued from page 29

Butler was indefinitely suspended, and he ultimately never played a down for the Irish all season, while Redfield was dismissed from the program.

“You have to be prepared as a college coach, unfortunately, to deal with some poor decisions,” Kelly said Aug. 24. “And they crop up, and I think you have to be fair, but I think you also have to be quick in making decisions. And when [the players’ actions] don’t square with your mission or your philosophy in your program or your university, you can’t be afraid to make decisions, and you can’t be swayed by external factors.

You’ve got to do the right thing.”

Just a week later, the loss of its starting safety and a veteran corner had a noticeable impact on the Irish defense in its first game: The Longhorn offense steamrolled the Irish defense for 517 yards and 50 points in a double-overtime defeat in Austin, Texas, to open the season.

But the problems leading up to that opening 50-47 defeat were not just off-the-field ones. Even a week before the arrests, Kelly announced both senior Malik Zaire and junior DeShone Kizer would see time during the Texas game, turning the offense into a twoquarterback show for a couple weeks. While Kelly said he thought he was making the best decision for the team given the level at which the two had been practicing, both Zaire and Kizer expressed skepticism of the plan at that time.

“I did it for a reason,” Kelly said Aug. 19 of his decision to play both quarterbacks. “I think now they can just settle into getting better every day. They don’t have to worry about a competition for the Texas game. They can just focus on getting better. You know, whatever the byproduct of that is, I thought would be a positive, and that’s why I made the decision at this time.”

The plan backfired, however, as Zaire and the offense stalled on his three series at the helm, while Kizer led the offense to scores on two of his first three drives. Kelly committed to the junior for the rest of the game, leaving many left to wonder what could have been had Kelly committed to him ahead of the game as opposed to during it.

The decision Kelly made during the Texas loss, however, would be a permanent one, as Kizer would start every game for Notre Dame going forward. The commitment to Kizer seemed to galvanize the Irish at first, as they cruised to a 39-10 win over Nevada the next week. But just a week later, the Irish would falter on both sides of the ball again in a 36-28 loss to rival Michigan State on Sept. 17. The 1-2 start opened a lot of questions about personnel, which Kelly answered by pointing to the inexperience up and down the roster.

“I mean, you guys I think all know what our personnel is,” Kelly said Sept. 18. “Any guy that we put on the field now is a true freshman. We’re playing true freshmen.

Really at this point, it’s a matter of the guys that we have are the guys

we have to continue to work with and develop. Each game becomes an experience that they have to take and learn from and get better from.

Kelly also had to answer questions about the coaching, particularly the job security of defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, and he firmly stood by his staff at that point.

“That’s not even part of the conversation,” Kelly said Sept.

18. “There’s not a question about scheme. There’s not a question about who’s leading it with Brian [VanGorder].”

Yet, just a week later, the inexperience continued to be an issue and the coaching conversation was very different. After a 38-35 home defeat to Duke, Kelly made some changes. VanGorder was out as defensive coordinator, and Greg Hudson would step in to take his place.

“This is a difficult decision,” Kelly said in a Sept. 25 press release announcing the change. “I have the utmost respect for Brian as both a person and football coach, but our defense simply isn’t where

it should be and I believe this change is necessary for the best interest of our program and our student-athletes.”

While the decision yet again provided a momentary spark for the Irish in a 50-33 win over Syracuse, no change Kelly made could overcome the problems created by the roster’s inexperience.

Self-inflicted wounds became the tale of the season for the Irish, as they went 2-5 after the Syracuse win with four more one-score defeats — resulting in a 1-7 record in those close contests on the year.

“At this point, what else am I supposed to say?” Kizer said Nov. 19 after the team’s final such loss of the season, a 34-31 defeat to Virginia Tech on Senior Day. “It’s just unfortunate that this is how the season has gone. I do believe that in every game we’ve played, we’ve had an opportunity to win.

We beat ourselves in a sense, from stupid penalties to stupid decisions on reads. I think that, once again, every opportunity that we’ve been out there we’ve had a chance to win the game, and for us to come up short by an average

of something around five points in all those games is very frustrating.”

And the season would end on its lowest note yet: a 45-27 defeat to rival USC on Nov. 26 — the only loss the Irish suffered by more than one score on the season.

All while playing in an unexpected downpour at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Although the USC loss was Notre Dame’s largest defeat of the season, the pitfalls in that eighth loss were the same as they were in the first seven, according to Kelly: inexperience and self-inflicted wounds.

“I thought we could play with anybody this year,” Kelly said Nov. 26. “We just have not been able to sustain consistent performances for four quarters. We’ve shown a propensity for self-inflicted wounds, be it special teams or offense or defense. We’ve eliminated a lot, and they’re all correctable through experience and our offseason program.”

Like the hurricane the Irish played through against North Carolina State, the rainfall in Los Angeles or the compounded

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issues that resulted in a 4-8 record, Notre Dame’s offseason changes followed the definitive theme of the 2016 season: When it rains, it pours.

Seven new coaches — including a new offensive, defensive and special teams coordinator — poured into the program, and a new Irish quarterback — current junior Brandon Wimbush — will be leading the way after Kizer left early to enter the NFL Draft, becoming one of two players — defensive end Isaac Rochell being the other — on the 2016 squad to be drafted.

And with the new faces around him, Kelly hopes the 2017 version of the Irish can avoid drowning due to their own mistakes like it did in 2016.

“We made quite a few changes,” Kelly said Jan. 30. “It’s important to certainly look at where you are, where you were and for me, I know I’m going to always be reminded about last year, and I clearly understand that ... we fell short of all those goals [in 2016].”

Contact Ben Padanilam at bpadanil@nd.edu

Sports

ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 19, 2017 | The Observer

33

hockey | 23-12-5, 12-6-4 hockey east

Denver ends Notre Dame’s Frozen Four trip

By TOBIAS HOONHOUT Associate Sports Editor

Coming into the 2016-2017 season, there were a lot of question marks surrounding Notre Dame.

Fresh off a first-round exit from the NCAA tournament to Michigan, the team came into this season with only two seniors on the roster, backup goalie Chad Katunar and reserve forward Ben Ostlie.

For head coach Jeff Jackson however, the expectations were high from the get-go.

“It was a year in which we had a younger group, especially on the back end, where we had four underclass defensemen, and we had a number of underclass forwards too,” Jackson said. “It was a younger group, and there’s always enthusiasm with them. So expectations were always high when we started the season, and I think we were a little inconsistent in the first half of the year, probably because of that youth and the inexperience, but I think we settled down and really came into our own in the second half.”

Jackson’s trust in the youth was evident from the beginning, as he named junior goalie Cal Petersen captain, along with three other juniors — forwards Anders Bjork and Jake Evans and defenseman Luke Ripley — as assistant captains.

“Seniors are always good to have, as far as from a experience standpoint and a leadership standpoint, but our junior class has been pretty solid over the past three years, and I think a number of guys, including Cal and Anders, took a big step,” Jackson said of the junior class taking on the challenge. “We had a number of guys in that class that I thought did a good job of stepping up and taking on the leadership role.”

The first months of the season were rocky, however, as the relatively inexperienced Irish (23-12-5, 12-6-4 Hockey East) were baptized by fire with games against NCAA tournament teams Minnesota Duluth, Penn State and Hockey East rival UMass Lowell. After opening the season with a convincing sweep of Arizona State, the Irish struggled to stay consistent, failing to sweep another opponent over the first half of the season. For every good win — like a 3-1 win over Duluth on Oct. 15 — there was a bad loss — like the 5-4 loss to Hockey East bottom-dweller Massachusetts on Dec. 2.

But there were still inklings of greatness. Coming up against then-No. 3 Boston College, who was undefeated in conference play, on Dec. 10, Notre Dame came back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2. On one end, Petersen made several huge saves for the Irish to keep them in the game, and on the offensive side, Bjork dazzled with two goals, including the game-winner, to give the Irish a huge win.

Fresh off the confidence booster, Notre Dame came back from winter break with a renewed focus, and things started to turn around. The

Irish began playing competitively in every game, and, more importantly, winning the games they were supposed to win. Although they lost to Boston College (21-154, 13-6-3) 6-4 on Jan. 28, it was the moment it finally started to click for the team, according to Jackson.

“I thought we got some confidence in the last game of the first half against Boston College, and we came back in January with an improved mindset as far as being able to do the things that were going to help us win,” Jackson said.

“After that second game at Boston College, I think that’s where the light switch totally went on, and they recognized how they had to play to be successful. “ … We had a number of [good games] as we progressed during the second half — we had some tough wins against Vermont and Providence, and I think that’s where we really started to think that we could potentially do some damage in the NCAA tournament or even in the Hockey East Playoffs.”

The Irish only lost three games over the final months of the season but headed into the Hockey East tournament still looking to cement their position in the NCAA tournament. Facing them in the quarterfinals was Providence (2212-5, 12-7-3), a team that had been one of the hottest in the country over the final stretch of the season, winning nine straight before playing the Irish on Feb. 17. Notre Dame managed to win and draw that two-game series earlier in the season, but the Friars were hoping to get revenge.

Led by their two stars in Petersen and Bjork, however, the Irish played some of their best hockey all season with convincing 5-0 and 5-2 wins. For Jackson, the Irish had all the right pieces, it just took some time to get everything on all cylinders.

“Our team was very close, but I think they came to grips with how they had to play in order to win, and especially against really quality programs,” he said. “We probably played a bit more risky in the early stages of the season, and I thought we played with a lot more poise and just doing things that helps you win games — not taking unnecessary penalties, not turning the puck over in dangerous areas on the ice, our special teams did a pretty good job and, obviously, we had good goaltending with Cal, so obviously we had all the right ingredients and it was just a matter of taking care of the details of the game to really be a successful team.”

In the semifinals, however, the team slipped up against UMass Lowell (27-11-3, 14-7-1), losing 5-1 at TD Garden in Boston. It was a difficult loss that Jackson in part attributed to the factor of playing with a young team in a big venue.

But its record was good enough to earn a No. 4 seed in the tournament, sending Notre Dame to Manchester, New Hampshire, for a chance to make the Frozen Four.

KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer

Irish junior forward Anders Bjork looks to pass the puck during Notre Dame’s 6-1 loss to Denver in the Frozen Four on April 6 at the United Center in Chicago. Bjork took one shot in the game.

Coming up against top-seeded Minnesota in the first game, the Irish came back to win, 3-2, thanks to two goals from Bjork. The Irish then came up against UMass Lowell again, with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line. Despite being blown out only a week before, Notre Dame battled throughout the game to eventually win in overtime off a Bjork feed to sophomore forward Andrew Oglevie, who buried his shot past the goalie to send Notre Dame to its third Frozen Four in program history.

“Our team had been playing real well, and the youth and inexperience from the first half I think showed up under the bright lights and in the big buildings, against UMass Lowell in the Boston Garden,” Jackson said on the turnaround. “But our team had been playing extremely well, and then going into Manchester [for the NCAA regional], that was probably like a more typical college building, so I thought our team played really well and very similarly to how we had been playing prior to that game against Lowell, and we played two high-quality opponents, and I think we showed that we could certainly play against Lowell and have success. And we were very fortunate in that game to win in overtime, but it was certainly a much better performance by our team against Lowell in that championship game of the Northeast regional.”

Heading into the Frozen Four as the only non-No. 1 seed, the Irish were the underdogs but were happy to take on the role as the host team, with the games being played at the United Center in Chicago.

But the Irish hit a roadblock in top-ranked Denver, who had been knocked out of the Frozen Four a year prior and were a team on a mission. The Pioneers (33-7-4, 20-4-3) dominated the Irish 6-1 on their way to the title, and for Jackson, the Irish can take a page out of that book in growing from a valuable experience.

“I think this past year was certainly a good stepping stone for this group, especially our sophomore and junior classes, but also our

freshman class, which I think is going to blossom,” Jackson said on the future. “We have a bright future, and we had to go through some of those rough spots like at the Boston Garden and in Chicago to figure things out and recognize that we need to play our game regardless of the venue, and regardless of the opponent, and we certainly have the quality of players coming back and some good freshmen coming in that will hopefully make us take an even bigger step heading into next season. “ … As a freshman, I think [defenseman] Andrew Peeke and [forward] Cam Morrison both took big steps in the second half [of the season], as did [forward] Cal Burke. Overall, on the season I thought [sophomore forward] Andrew Oglevie took the biggest step of anyone; as the season went on, he continued to be an extremely impactful player in our lineup.

We had a number of guys who had good years, and hopefully there’s still a lot more left in some of them.”

Part of the growth in the young forwards can be attributed to Bjork, who led the Irish in goals and assists, as well as being named coMVP alongside Petersen.

“Anders, more so by an example, was a guy who could show the younger guys how hard you have to work in the weight room and how seriously you have to take the game,” Jackson said on Bjork’s leadership. “He’s a pretty humble kid, so what he did off the ice in community service, I think just the overall impact of him doing things the right way and showing guys what it takes to be a good athlete but also a good person, and I thought that he was somebody for our younger guys to watch and learn from.”

Looking ahead, the Irish move from the Hockey East to play in the Big Ten next year, which will pose a new test for the team.

“I think it’s going to be another challenge for us in that in the first few years of the conference, there were some great teams that were having some down years, and now with some coaching changes and the history of some of the

programs, [things are changing],” Jackson said. “Wisconsin is on its way back to being a power program, Michigan has always been one and Michigan State will become one, and so the conference is going to be tough. “ … They’ve done a great job at Penn State, building that program, and Ohio State has been a much improved program over the last few years under [head coach] Steve Rohlik, and I think that the conference will certainly be one of the best in the country next year and certainly moving forward. The travel will be better for us, and I think it will be better for our fans — just the identity of the teams we’re playing against will be more recognizable to the casual fan.”

Another question that remains is the future of Bjork and Petersen, who both could sign for their respective NHL teams this summer.

While Jackson is hopeful the duo will stay, he feels the Irish should still be able to be competitive next year regardless.

“I know they’re both seriously considering returning for their senior season, and I think a big reason is first of all, they value the education at Notre Dame, but probably more importantly the relationship with their teammates and the potential that this team could have next year and the drive and desire to try and win the first-ever national championship in hockey for Notre Dame is an incentive for them to possibly return,” Jackson said. “They have to obviously be concerned about their own pro careers down the road, but frankly, I think if they approach it the right way, they can certainly continue the path of development to eventually play in the National Hockey League from Notre Dame.” “ … If they return, it will certainly give us a much better opportunity to be a great team. I think we have good ingredients regardless, but those two guys are obviously the cornerstones for a program this past year and certainly would be next year.”

Contact Tobias Hoonhout at thoonhou@nd.edu

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The observer | friday, may 19, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com

nd women’s basketball | 33-4, 15-1 acc

Irish miss out on Final Four in heartbreaker

By ELIZABETH GREASON Sports Editor

It was a year of highs and lows for the Irish, as they looked to rebound from last season’s shocking early exit from the NCAA tournament. History repeated itself, however, as perennial No. 1-seeded Notre Dame fell to Stanford — the team that took it out in the Sweet 16 in 2016 — in heartbreaking fashion in the Elite Eight.

As the dominant force in the ACC, Notre Dame had its talent called into question after a home loss to No. 1 UConn a month into the season. The Irish (33-4, 15-1 ACC) then went on to drop their first — and ultimately only — ACC contest of the year to North Carolina State in what was a huge upset for the Wolfpack (23-9, 12-4 ACC). Notre Dame’s third and final loss of the regular season came weeks later, as Tennessee scored in the final minute to upset the Irish by two.

After this 71-69 loss to the Volunteers (20-12, 10-6 SEC), however, the Irish went on a 14game winning streak to close out the season, taking their fourth consecutive ACC title — both the regular season and postseason titles — becoming one of only two programs to do so.

The squad earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for the sixth consecutive year and advanced to the Sweet 16 after

defeating No. 9 seed Purdue 88-82 in overtime at Purcell Pavilion. However, the Irish lost junior All-American forward Brianna Turner to a torn ACL during the game. The team stepped up in her absence, defeating No. 5 seed Ohio State in convincing fashion, 99-76, advancing one step farther than the previous year.

The Irish then faced off against Stanford (32-6, 15-3 Pac-12) in the Elite Eight — a rematch of last season’s Sweet 16. And despite getting out to a 14-point lead at halftime against the Cardinal, the Irish fell to them once again after Stanford was able to make a comeback, winning by one point and sending Notre Dame home.

“I think for the freshmen and sophomores, who are a huge part of our team, to have them get that experience of playing in the game that could get you to the Final Four, now they have that experience,” Irish head coach Muffet McGraw said on her team advancing one game further than in 2016. “So, we moved one game forward this year and then, next year, hopefully they’ll know how to get past that one into the Final Four.”

Despite having a worse regular season record than in 2016, McGraw said she was proud of her team’s performance and strong run to finish the year.

“I was really, really pleased

EMMET FARNAN | The Observer

Irish junior forward Kathryn Westbeld looks toward the ball during Notre Dame’s 88-82 overtime win over Purdue on March 19.

EMMET FARNAN | The Observer

Irish senior guard Lindsay Allen drives around a defender during Notre Dame’s 88-82 overtime win over Purdue in the second round of the NCAA tournament on March 19 at Purcell Pavilion.

with the way the team just kept getting better,” McGraw said.

“I thought we were playing our best basketball in March. We really looked good. We started to peak during the ACC tournament. To win four consecutive ACC tournaments and regular season [titles], I think, is a phenomenal accomplishment that this team really had to earn.

And then, to go into the NCAA tournament without an AllAmerican, Brianna Turner, and still manage to get to the Elite Eight — I thought was a great accomplishment for this team.”

The regular season losses and early exit from the NCAA tournament were not the only hardships for the Irish. On top of losing Turner in the postseason, junior forward Kathryn Westbeld battled an ankle injury from early January throughout the rest of the season and ultimately needed surgery in the early offseason. Westbeld, who had started every game until her injury, missed two games before returning off the bench for the Duke game.

Westbeld’s injury overlapped with an injury to junior guard Mychal Johnson, who also required surgery after the season.

Despite the injury, Westbeld produced on the court, picking up a double-double against Ohio State.

“It was huge [that Westbeld played through injury],” McGraw said. “We never would have accomplished what we did without her. She has showed tremendous mental toughness.

She wasn’t allowed to practice, played through pain and just, what great leadership she showed, what great team-first attitude she showed. She’s always been the glue that keeps up together, and it was just such a marked difference. When she was in the game, we were a completely different team.”

Looking to the future, the health of the Irish roster is still in question, as the decision as to whether Turner will be able to

play next season will likely not be made until just before the start of the season. However, whether or not Turner will be in the lineup, McGraw is expecting the rest of her team to step up, as they did in the final two games of the season. “[Sophomore guard] Arike [Ogunbowale] had a phenomenal season,” McGraw said. “She was the MVP of the regional. I mean, as a sophomore, I don’t think that’s ever happened before for us. So, she just really played with a lot of confidence, and we just need her to be great again.

“I think [freshman guard] Jackie [Young] showed a glimpse of her future here. The sky’s the limit for her because she’s so talented. She wants to be good. She’s going to be the next great player. And [sophomore guard] Marina Mabrey.

I think all three of them. They had great years, and they’ll be even better next year.”

The Irish are looking to add depth to the roster, something McGraw plans to achieve with the addition of three new players: incoming freshmen Danielle Patterson and Mikayla Vaughn and graduate student transfer Lili Thompson, who will be coming from Stanford.

McGraw said the combination of those three players will bring a new level of added defensive intensity to the table — something McGraw felt her team was missing at points this year.

“I’m expecting the freshmen to come in and learn a lot in a short period of time. I consider them both to be exactly what we need,” McGraw said. “They’re both high-energy; they are going to be extremely hard workers. I think they’re kids that just want to get better. They want to win. I think they want to play their part and contribute any way they can. I’m really, really excited about both of them. We weren’t a great defensive team in some spots, and so now, I think they’re going to be able

to guard a lot better. I think it enhances our chances of pressing. It makes us a completely different team defensively, and Lili’s ability to guard the ballhandler, along with Mychal Johnson is something we really need.

“So, now we have two people that can really guard the ballhandler and also to help us press. And I think Lili’s — just her presence, and she’s played in the Final Four. She knows what it’s like to be on the big stage. She’s a good 3-point shooter, which is something that we always are looking for.

So, I think that she’s going to make an immediate impact and really help.”

Thompson will be an addition to an already strong senior class made up of Westbeld, Turner, Johnson and graduate student Kristina Nelson. After losing senior guard and alltime Notre Dame and ACC assists leader Lindsay Allen, who was drafted as the 14th overall pick by the New York Liberty in the 2017 WNBA Draft, the Irish will be facing a leadership void. McGraw said she does not expect one single player to fill Allen’s shoes in terms of her leadership, but that the class of 2018 will work together to do so.

“I think it’s going to be a great leadership team,” McGraw said.

“I think that [the seniors] are going to each play a role in how they lead, and I think they’re all going to be really important to our success this year.”

As a perennial contender in the NCAA tournament who spent the majority of the regular season as the No. 2 team in the country, McGraw feels her team is poised for progress — her ultimate goal.

“We want to take another step,” she said. “We want to do what we did this year and then some. We want to get to the Final Four. That’s our goal.”

Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu

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men’s basketball | 26-10, 12-6 acc

Irish fall in second round of NCAA tournament

By MAREK MAZUREK Assistant Managing Editor

Notre Dame gets no respect.

If you regularly follow Notre Dame basketball, that’s a selfevident fact, and this year was no different. The media picked the Irish to finish sixth in the ACC despite coming off back-to-back Elite Eight appearances — the only team in the country able to say that.

But if you follow Notre Dame, you also know that the Irish have made it a habit to shatter expectations in recent years under Mike Brey.

Notre Dame (26-10, 12-6 ACC) fell short of its third consecutive Elite Eight berth in the 2016-2017 season, but the Irish proved they can be a perennial contender, finishing third in the ACC during the regular season and making a run to the finals of the ACC tournament.

“It’s a chance to hang a banner,” Brey said of the ACC tournament final loss to Duke on March 13. “One of the neat things we were able to talk about after the Florida State game was, ‘Fellas, we could have another banner hanging up and cutting nets down. You’re playing for a championship.’ … The program has gotten to the semifinals, we’re used to getting close, and now we’ve played in two out of three championship games.

That’s something they go for.”

Notre Dame started the year by cruising through its nonconference slate, starting 9-0 and winning the Legends Classic in Brooklyn, New York, over Power-5 opponents Colorado and Northwestern.

The trip to Brooklyn also marked the emergence of junior guard Matt Farrell. Brey inserted Farrell into the starting lineup for the 2016 NCAA tournament and the then-sophomore was a steady presence for the Irish. But at the Barclays Center, Farrell took his game up a level, scoring 38 points over the two games.

“It’s not like we’re shocked,” Brey said Nov. 28 of Farrell’s performance following the Legends Classic. “I think his teammates and his coaches, we’ve seen this confidence growing since the run he helped us make in March.

He had the team in the summer, it was his group to run and I love his aggressiveness. I think he’s kind of finding a niche for us.”

The Irish ran into trouble near the end of nonconference play when they dropped two straight contests to then-No. 1 Villanova and then-No. 15 Purdue in midDecember, despite holding halftime leads in both games.

Brey was brutally honest with his team after the two defeats, telling the squad it had work to do if it wanted to be great.

“We’re not in the league of the two high-level teams we played. I told them that,” Brey said Dec. 17.

“We’ve got a nice team. I love our

team. We’re not in their league right now. We’ve got some work to do before New Year’s Eve.” Hours before fireworks went off to celebrate the new year, Notre Dame started ACC play with some excitement of its own. On the road in Pittsburgh, the Irish escaped by the skin of their teeth with a win thanks to senior captain Steve Vasturia’s game-winning 3-point shot with 2.5 seconds left in overtime.

Vasturia scored eight of Notre Dame’s 10 overtime points.

Four days later, the Irish sent another message, taking down then-No. 9 Louisville at Purcell Pavilion 77-70. Vasturia again proved his worth with a careerhigh 24 points and a make on a late runner that put the game away for Notre Dame.

“When we went to Brooklyn to play in the Legends [Classic], I talked about, ‘a week to make a move.’ And we did,” Brey said Jan. 6 of Notre Dame’s start to the ACC schedule. “We talked about this week as a week to make a move. We get the third one [against Clemson on Saturday], and we’ve made a heck of a move in early January.”

That move would continue, as the Irish beat the Hurricanes in Miami and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, off of a diving steal and assist from Farrell in the game’s final minute.

The Irish sat at 16-2, with a perfect 5-0 ACC record in midJanuary, but ran into a rough patch soon after.

From Jan. 18 to Feb. 5, the Irish lost five of six games, including a three-point defeat to then-No. 10 Florida State (26-9, 12-6 ACC), a loss at the buzzer to Georgia Tech and home losses to Virginia and Duke.

During that stretch, Brey changed up his starting lineup, inserting sophomore guard Rex Pflueger in place of junior forward Martinas Geben, thus adapting Mike Brey’s small-ball strategy.

“I’m proud of our group. We hung in there and gave ourselves a chance,” Brey said Feb. 6 after Notre Dame’s 83-76 loss to North Carolina. “They’re really good; we knew we were gonna have to absorb some pounding in the paint ’cause we played small. We did that, and it helped us get back into the thing. We just couldn’t get over the hump.”

The Irish figured out their issues in their next homestand and came back to win six in a row, with revenge victories over the Seminoles and Yellow Jackets (21-16, 8-10 ACC).

During this stretch, junior forward and captain Bonzie Colson solidified his spot as one of the ACC’s top players. Colson had a 27-point, 16-rebound performance against Wake Forest on Feb. 7, and then followed it up with a career-high 33-point game versus the Seminoles four days later.

“That was one of the great performances in our program’s history,” Brey said after Colson’s record setting performance against the Seminoles. “Just the adjustments we’ve made playing small and having him out on the perimeter touching it has really helped him. He’s just in an unbelievable groove right now. I turned to [associate head coach Rod] Balanis and said, ‘Do you think he can go for 40 tonight?’ I felt that good about him.”

Colson earned a spot on the first-team all-ACC team as the league’s leading rebounder and only player to average a doubledouble throughout conference play in the league’s history.

Colson was the first Irish player to earn first-team all-ACC honors since Jerian Grant in 2015 and finished third in voting for ACC Player of the Year.

Vasturia, Farrell and senior forward V.J. Beachem joined Colson with all-ACC honors, as the trio earned ACC honorable mentions.

Brey said he thinks his team’s senior captains, Vasturia and Beachem, are two of the best in Notre Dame’s history. Vasturia and Beachem will graduate from Notre Dame tied for the most wins of any class of Irish players with 97, including seven NCAA tournament victories.

“Steve and V.J. are two of the greatest winners in the history of this basketball program. Given what they’ve been part of, total wins and especially what they’ve done in the NCAA tournament,” Brey said before Notre Dame’s Senior Night on March 1. “It’ll be a special night for those guys, and it’ll be hard for me to watch them go out one last time.”

The Irish finished their ACC regular season with a loss to Louisville (25-9, 12-6 ACC), but secured the No. 3 seed in the ACC tournament.

For the tournament, the Irish traveled back to the familiar setting of Brooklyn. With the double-bye earned by their thirdplace finish, the Irish took on the Cavaliers (23-11, 11-7 ACC) in the quarterfinals. Behind 21 points from Colson, Notre Dame defeated Virginia for the first time since joining the ACC, 71-58.

After a dominant victory over Florida State, Notre Dame’s run came to an end in the tournament’s final game against Duke (28-9, 11-7 ACC). Colson led the team with 29 points, but the Irish couldn’t find enough on the defensive end to stop Blue Devils freshman Jayson Tatum, as Duke won 75-69.

Pflueger said the ACC tournament gave the team the confidence it could play against anyone in the country.

“The positives are that we can play with anybody,” Pflueger said March 13. “A lot of people are saying Duke’s the best team in the country. They’re a great team, I’m not going to lie, but I

MICHAEL YU | The Observer

Irish junior forward Bonzie Colson dribbles down the court during Notre Dame’s 83-71 loss to West Virginia on March 18.

think we’re just as good as them.

We can play with any team — I think we proved it at that tournament, and it gives us confidence going into [the NCAA tournament].”

Notre Dame was awarded a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament and shipped off to Buffalo, New York, for first-round action.

The Irish almost saw their time in the Big Dance cut short in the first game of the tournament. No. 12 seed Princeton gave the Irish a scare, taking the first-round game all the way down to the final shot. But Tigers sophomore and Mishawaka native Devin Cannady missed a long 3-pointer for Princeton, and Notre Dame lived to play another day.

“It was really ugly, but we won,” Colson said after the game. “The object of the game is to win, and we did that. We got to advance and play again.”

Notre Dame’s luck ran out two days later when the Irish ran into No. 4 seed West Virginia. The Mountaineers (28-9, 12-6 Big 12) and their famous full-court press gave the Irish problems in the game’s first minutes. West Virginia took a 10-0 lead just four minutes into the game and never looked back.

Brey rode Colson in the second half, even after the junior picked up his fourth personal foul. Colson shot 10-of-15 from the field, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, to lead the team with 27 points. Unfortunately for Notre Dame, it wasn’t enough as the Irish fell 83-71.

“That’s the ‘Coaching 101’ textbook that doesn’t mean a damn thing,” Brey said March 18 about Colson’s performance and keeping him in with four fouls. “If I take him out, we lose by 20. He’s smart enough, he’s a veteran — he’s got to play and he’s gonna be smart defensively, which he was, but he’s scoring for us.”

With forward Austin Torres electing to stay in South Bend for his fifth year of eligibility, Notre Dame’s only departing players are Vasturia and Beachem.

“It’s tough. Two really good players and two really good guys; I’m just going to miss them off the court, you know,” Farrell said March 18. “But they’ve got something to celebrate. Two great careers here — I’m trying to remember all the fun times we had — really good players and even better guys off the court.”

Contact Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@nd.edu

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nd Volleyball | 22-10, 13-7 ACC

ND’s newfound success halted by injury

By ELIZABETH GREASON Sports Editor

After winning just seven matches in 2015, the Irish were looking for a clean slate this season. And that is exactly what they got.

With the addition of junior setter Caroline Holt, a transfer from Loyola University Chicago, and outside hitter Jemma Yeadon, a freshman who quickly made her way into the starting lineup, Notre Dame (22-10, 13-7 ACC) set out to achieve its goal for the season of winning the ACC. The Irish started the season on a strong note, going 9-3 in their first four events before beginning conference play. Irish head coach Jim McLaughlin was vocal about his team’s goal from the start: Win the ACC. Notre Dame jumped out to the best ACC start in program history, going 6-0 in its first six games, including a 3-1 win over Duke, one of the conference’s top teams, before falling to North Carolina.

The Irish rebounded, however, recording a 10-3 record in conference play before losing Holt, the ACC leader in assists at the time, to a broken leg. Sophomore outside hitter Rebecca Nunge and freshman setter Hanna Klein stepped up in her absence, but Holt’s absence proved to be too much for the Irish to combat in their pursuit of the ACC title.

“What I can define is there was gradual improvement of course until Holt went down,” McLaughlin said on the team’s progress this season. “ … The other thing I noticed is we won [three of the last four matches] without Holt. And those were the same kids that went through a real tough year the year before and they were able to beat some of those teams that had kind of

clobbered us. So, I thought that said something about this group.

“And then, the biggest thing was they never gave up. Even when Caroline went down, they kept grinding, they kept working and it was just good to see them get the return from that and the gratification from the hard work.”

McLaughlin said his squad’s 180-degree turnaround between last season and this one was a result of hard work and an improved ability to learn as players.

“I think the individuals on our team grabbed onto the process a little bit better,” McLaughlin said. “And when I say that, I mean they learned how to learn better. Every athlete’s got to learn how to learn and learn how to change and how to use their mind. And I thought we just got a little bit better at learning. Some learned a little bit faster than others, but also, it was just we’re improving. “ … We served better, we passed better, we attacked with a higher efficiency.

Caroline set better. We blocked better, we dug better.

But, having said that, we have to improve in all those areas and we did that this spring.”

Four Irish players nabbed All-ACC honors, as Yeadon was named to the All-Freshman team, Holt, sophomore libero Ryann DeJarld and junior middle blocker Sam Fry made Second Team All-ACC. McLaughlin was particularly impressed with Yeadon’s ability to be successful from the outset of her collegiate career, especially with her ability to handle the high expectations he placed on her.

“The sky’s the limit with her.

I think the expectations are very, very high,” McLaughlin said of Yeadon. “But, Jemma and all the players on our

team are starting to feel more comfortable with those expectations. We want to win the ACC. We should win the ACC. But, we’ve got to do the things that we need to do and meet the standards we need to meet with great regularity.

But, those are the standards for Notre Dame. And, I think Jemma, over the course of the year, began to feel more comfortable with the expectations that I think she can meet, and she will.”

In addition to Yeadon, McLaughlin is looking for DeJarld, Holt, Fry, sophomore middle blocker Meg Morningstar, junior libero Natalie Johnson and junior outside hitter Sydney Kuhn to step up into leadership roles on the team after each had strong seasons in the spring.

They will look to fill the voids left graduating senior middle blockers Katie Higgins and Simmone Collins, and graduate student outside hitter Haley Bonneval will also be leaving. McLaughlin said Higgins especially leave big shoes to fill in terms of being a role model, both on and off the court.

“Katie Higgs, in 28 years of coaching, she made some progress offensively that, maybe more progress than any kid I’ve ever coaching.

I mean, it’s remarkable,” McLaughlin said. “She, to her credit, she just kept working.

She was a good teammate and it was really neat to see her get the return. I think she should have been all-conference and she deserved that. But, we’re going to miss her.”

Going into next season, McLaughlin is, once again, hoping his team will be able to achieve its goal of winning the conference title as it also aims to improve with each day.

“Win the ACC. That’s the goal,” McLaughlin said. “And then, just to improve every day and to really grab onto that and to understand: Here’s where I’m at, here’s where I want to go, am I making progress forward every day? But they’ve got to come back with a recharged battery, a new battery and be ready to go because it will be tougher, but it will be better and greater if we make the progress we should make every day. That’s the deal.”

Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu

WEI CAO | The Observer

Irish junior Caroline Holt prepares to set the ball during Notre Dame’s 3-1 win over Duke on Sept. 30 at Purcell Pavilion. Holt was the ACC leader in assists when she broke her leg in the middle of the season.

Rowing

Notre Dame progresses over course of season

By BRENNAN LEE Sports Writer

Notre Dame has followed an upward trending trajector y all year on the water.

After a decent fall season, the Irish turned it up a notch, putting together stronger performances in the spring.

Facing nationally ranked boats all year, including representatives from top schools such as No. 2 California, No. 3 Texas and No. 8 Stanford, the Irish were able to hold their ow n.

“On the water, we raced a great schedule and represented Notre Dame ver y

well,” Irish head coach Martin Stone said.

In fact, Notre Dame just capped off a fruitful regular season w ith a second place finish overall by the First Varsit y Eight at the Dale England Cup on April 29, edged out only by No. 16 Indiana. The Irish even outperformed No. 17 Duke, a positive sign as they entered the postseason in the coming weeks.

At t he ACCs in Clemson, Sout h Carolina, Notre Dame capped its season w it h a t hird place f inish. The Varsit y Eight team of freshman Emily Stinebaugh,

senior Gretchen Bruggeman, senior Erin Boxberger, junior Treasa O’Tighearnaigh, sophomore Laura Migliore, senior Cat herine Wagner, junior Elizabet h Gilbert, junior Lauren Saunee and junior coxswain Reilly Kearney f inished second overa ll, coming in just behind No. 11 Virginia and placing higher t han No. 13 Sy racuse.

In overall standings, the Irish finished behind Virginia and Sy racuse, but edged out Duke for the second straight tournament. After a stellar season, Stinebaugh was named ACC freshman

of the year. Boxberger and O’Tighearnaigh also earned A ll-ACC honors.

The team hopes to translate this outstanding showing into championship caliber success at the impending NCA As, where the team w ill be hoping to earn an at-large bid.

“We became a much better team as the year progressed and continue to grow as we enter the championship segment of the season,” said Stone.

Some of the team’s greatest feats came outside of the water as well. A seminal year for the program, they put in

place some critical pieces for future success as well.

“The dedication of the McConnell Family Boathouse was a tremendous event for the Notre Dame Row ing Family,” Stone said.

The McConnell Family Boathouse, which was finished just last year, has the potential to revolutionize the program. With easy access to the St. Joseph River, the Irish now have the resources in place to bring the team to the next level.

Contact Brennan Lee at blee18@nd.edu

Sports

ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 19, 2017 | The Observer

43

Men’s Golf

Irish focus on positives after spring struggles

By CONNOR MULVENA Sports Writer

Notre Dame capped off a season filled with ups and downs with a 10th place finish in the ACC championship on April 21.

The team, led by head coach Jim Kubinski, managed to achieve five top-10 finishes throughout the season, including a first-place finish at the Georgetown Intercollegiate and a tie for second at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic.

Despite not finishing the season on an ideal note, Kubinski feels there were definite positive highlights to the season overall.

“We had several highlights this season, including posting the lowest team season scoring average in school history at 289.52,” Kubinski said. “We won four times, including the full-field event at Georgetown and the Yestingsmeier Match Play, and went 17-1 at home on the season. We also shot the lowest team round (268) and lowest tournament score (836) in school history, so we had our team playing great golf at different points.”

Nevertheless, with this confidence comes awareness. The

team faced several challenges and obstacles throughout the year, and Kubinski and his squad are determined to overcome those next year.

“Our challenge was, really, that we didn’t always finish tournaments,” Kubinski said.

“We had three or four events, including the ACC championship, where we were in first, second or third, in strong position, about halfway through and dropped back. A large part of that is the experience it takes to finish. We had 65 percent of our rounds played by freshmen and sophomores this year, so there were lessons learned that should lead to more strong finishes moving forward. “ Through all of the ups and downs of its long season, the team has developed in both skill and team chemistry.

With strong bonds among underclassmen who will go on to lead the team in the future, Kubinski is confident in the team’s future, as the underclassmen have impressed their coach so far.

“Our group of underclassmen, from all the travel together this season, have bonded in a great way,” Kubinski said. “We had all six compete for us, each on

multiple occasions, so they’ve shared a lot of experiences together. “ ... Everyone wants to win. These guys are doing or learning the things it takes.

They work hard, put the little things that don’t matter behind them and keep moving forward, growing.”

Heading into next year, Kubinski said he wants the Irish to develop their stamina.

At several points in their season, they found themselves in strong position early before struggling toward the end of the tournament.

“The mental energy necessary to compete, having strong emotional maturity, is another adjustment to college golf,” Kubinski said. “Most players must learn not to invest so much on each shot that their emotional tank is taking hits in Hour 1 of that 10-hour day. Our players are growing in this process, which has us excited for the upcoming season.”

As the season ends, the team says farewell to three senior leaders in Blake Barens, Liam Cox and Matthew Rushton.

Kubinski lauded Rushton’s consistency throughout his years on the team and praised Cox’s work ethic and low

scoring average this season. “[Rushton was] consistently a solid player for us over the years,” Kubsinski said. “ ...

[Cox’s career best scoring average this season was] a testament to his work ethic ... [which was] as strong as any player we’ve had.”

Kubinski relished Barens’ win at the team’s home event in October.

“It was one of those moments when you had watched a guy struggle mightily as a freshman and sophomore and yet persevere to enjoy the moment of holding the trophy, in front of teammates, friends and family, with our Golden Dome as a backdrop,” he said.

Contact Connor Mulvena at cmulvena@nd.edu

MICHAEL YU | The Observer

Irish senior Blake Barens hits his tee shot during the Battle at the Warren on April 15, 2016 at Warren Golf Course.

ND Women’s Golf

Albrecht shines as ND strives for consistency

By MIA BERRY Sports Writer

Throughout the year, the Irish struggled to find their footing, y ielding inconsistent results.

Irish head coach Susan Holt said, if there were one word to describe the season, she would summarize it as a “disappointment.”

“Overall the season was a disappointment based on

the talent that we have,” Holt said. “We had a ver y competitive schedule that we just didn’t play through ver y well. With the schedule we had, we needed to be much more consistent from round to round than we were. We need to put up three solid rounds each tournament and we just didn’t get the job done on a consistent basis.”

Despite an overall lackluster season, Notre Dame Paid Advertisement

did collect top-10 finishes at the Ok lahoma Schooner Fall Classic, the Texas State Jim West Challenge Inv ite, the Texas Betsy Rawls Longhorn Inv itational and the Wisconsin Westbrook Spring Inv itational.

Holt said that, despite struggling w ith results in events overall, there were certain rounds that proved to be bright spots for the squad.

“The first round of the Jim West Challenge in Houston Texas we shot seven-under-par and were in second place,” Holt said. “The final round at the Universit y of Texas tournament we shot eight-under-par, which was the low round of the tournament.”

The team w ill be losing t wo seniors this year in Jordan Ferreira and Janie Fineis.

Ferreira finished her Notre Dame career ranked fifth in program histor y w ith a 75.66 career stroke average, while Fineis is a walk-on who has made her presence know n over her four years.

“Jordan Ferreira has had a really solid career,” Holt said of her seniors. “She played in every tournament for four years and was a very consistent player for us over the span of her career. Her consistent scoring from day to day was key to our success over the last four years. ...

Janie Fineis was a true walk on for us and was able to play in nine tournaments over the span of her four-year career.

She was able to get some good tournament experience.”

The season for the team concluded w ith a ninth place finished at the ACC

championship resulting from a team score of 901.

W hile the team failed to qualif y for the NCAA tournament, sophomore Emma A lbrecht qualified as an indiv idual. Holt said she was thrilled about A lbrecht’s selection. “[I am] really happy for Emma and her selection to represent Notre Dame in the NCAA regional ... at Ohio State,” Holt said. “She works really hard on her game and had a great year. I am glad she has been recognized for it. I think she has played some of the most consistent golf of anyone in the countr y this spring. She had the best spring season stroke average (72.8) in program histor y.

Her overall season stroke average (73.44) ranks second all-time.”

A lbrecht finished the regional in a tie for 13th, the second-best NCAA regional finish in program histor y. Her three-over-par 219 left her t wo strokes behind Maddie Szer yk of Texas A&M, who filled the final spot for an indiv idual to advance to the next round.

Contact Mia Berry at mberry1@nd.edu

44

Sports

The observer | Friday, May 19, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com

Track & FIELD

ND stars earn individual records and ACC titles

By MEAGAN BENS Sports Writer

Although the Irish had a tough season filled with injuries, multiple individuals broke personal and school records to carry the team in 2017.

“You would want a normal trajectory kind of heading up, but it kind of looks like a stock chart, but it has been upwards as a whole,” Irish head coach Alan Turner said on the progression of the team. “And I say that because I am talking about my women’s team right now. Getting everyone healthy and as of right now our top athletes have been our distance ladies. Throwers have been pretty solid, [senior] Indi Jackson has been doing well and my short hurdlers have been coming along pretty well.” “... We’re going to need a lot of point production from the sprints and the throws to help our distance runners so we can improve on that fifth-place finish we had indoors. Of course we are expecting [sophomore] Anna Rohrer to lead the way for us and also [junior] Jessica Harris and [graduate student]

Danielle Aragon. Those three have been having an outstanding outdoor season.”

With the women’s side relying on the distance runners to lead at the ACCs, the men are mostly relying on the throwers and field players to pick up the team.

“Men’s sprints we have just been totally devastated by injuries,” Turner said. “But we do have [freshman] Troy [Pride Jr.] who is going to run for us and I think he is going to make the finals in the 100 and the 200. [Sophomore] Zach Zajdel, former soccer guy, he’s run pretty well in the 200 so hopefully he can sneak in that final.

[Junior] Drake [Stimson] was in the finals last year for the 400 in hurdles. Our throwers have been pretty solid all season. [Senior] Anthony Shivers broke his own school record again in the hammer throw.

[Freshman] Logan Kusky has come along well in the hammer and so has [freshman] Shae Watkins in the shot and hammer. All those guys are top 12 in the conference so I think we can get some good points out of the throwers.” “... For the field side, you

have [sophomore] Matthew Birzer in the high jump, he’s been runner up a few times in the ACC and he has been very consistent. Then you have [senior] Nathan Richartz in the pole vault, he has been over 18 feet three times, but he is going to have his hands full because Georgia Tech has a couple 18 footers as well. So if he is on, he will pull off a victory. On the distance end, the guys just really have to show up, like [seniors] Jacob Dumford and Chris Marco who’ve run the 1500-meters. These guys were the finalists in the mile indoors so I expect to see the same outdoors there. In our longer distances, [junior] Brent Kennedy is going to be running the 10,000-meters, he is rested and ready to go. I think he can definitely score some points. [Junior] Kevin Pulliam, he ran well and I think we can get some points in the 5,000 and 10,000 as well too.”

Knowing the team will not be winning an ACC title, Turner plans on watching his women’s distance runners ending on a high note and returning next year, while the Paid Advertisement

men’s side will have fresh runners coming in to improve the team.

“I don’t think we have enough athletes now to win an ACC title,” Turner said. “Some teams in front of us are really going to have to mess up and we’d have to give everything at the same time to win, but I don’t see that happening.

Molly Seidel isn’t going to be running at the ACC this year.

She is going to be running at the regionals, we think she has two good races left in her this season, so we will see what happens there. “...

[Sophomore] Anna Rohrer should definitely be at the Nationals unless there’s a disaster at the regional meet.

[Junior] Jessica Harris will be in the 800 and Dani Aragon will be in the 1500. So I think those four women can go to nationals and become firstteam All-Americans and score a good number of points so we can at least be in the top 20 nationals. As for the women, we don’t have a lot of people leaving except for Molly [Seidel] and Danielle [Aragon]. But the bulk of the team is returning ... For the men’s side we have

totally reloaded with distance.

We are bringing in a ton of guys for distance. We are going to be new and improved when it comes to distance, I put a lot of my eggs in that basket.”

Turner’s comments were backed up in a number of ways at the ACC championships this past weekend.

While the men finished 12th overall and the women seventh, the team had a number of standout individual performers. On the men’s side, Richartz captured his second career ACC title in the pole vault with a 5.27 meter jump.

Dumford came in 10th in the 1500-meters with a time of 3:48.59, and Pride Jr. earned second team All-ACC with a sixth place finish.

On the women’s side, Anna Rohrer had a stellar weekend with two titles in the 10,000-meters and the 5,000-meters. In the 1,500-meters, Aragon and Harris both finished in the top five, coming in second and fourth, respectively, good enough for All-ACC honors.

Contact Meagan Bens at mbens@nd.edu

Sports

ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 19, 2017 | The Observer

45

Saint Mary’s sports: year in review Lacrosse and golf have best-ever program finishes; softball finishes third in conference Lacrosse

By DARCY DEHAIS Sports Writer

Saint Mary’s ended the season in second place in the MIAA conference, its best finish in the program’s four year history, only to have the season come to an early end with a loss to Hope in the first game of the MIAA tournament.

The Belles (10-7, 7-1 MIAA) began the season with a tough schedule early on, recording a 19-9 loss to Smith, an 18-13 loss against Wooster and a 19-9 loss against Western Connecticut State during their first three games over spring break.

Belles head coach Amy Long said the difficult matchups against nonconference opponents were key to the team learning its strengths and coming in prepared for the rest of the season’s games.

“In those three games on that spring break trip, we definitely played teams that were at a much higher level than us,” Long said.

“We learned that we can rise to a higher level. Playing those quicker teams with very established programs and very strong skills across the board on their team, we were able to prove to our girls that we can hang. We rise to the occasion when we play somebody a little bit stronger than where we’re at.”

Although the nonconference schedule was formative in preparing the Belles to play at a high level, Long said the majority of the team’s focus was on the eight MIAA games played during the season.

“Our energy and intensity level rises because we know that this is one of those eight games that

we’ve worked so hard in all of our practices and in all of our nonconference games to prepare for this moment,” Long said. “They were able to rise to that challenge and work together to apply everything that we had learned from all those non-conference games prior.”

The Belles won seven of their eight regular season MIAA games this season, falling short only in the game against Calvin on April 11. However, Saint Mary’s lost in the opening round of the MIAA tournament 12-11 against Hope on May 3, a team it had beaten 1311 in the regular season.

Long said both games were competitive, citing the Belles’ turnovers in the tournament loss.

“There wasn’t a lot of difference — I feel like both games were really close,” Long said. “Hope definitely brought more knowing that it was the tournament. We went in very confident in ourselves, and I think we expected to win. We didn’t go in big-headed or anything, but there was utter shock that we lost. All the stats were very even, but it just ended up that we were ones down when the game ended.”

In the program’s four-year history, the Belles have finished eighth, seventh, fourth and second in the MIAA each season, respectively. Seniors attack Lauren Telford, defender Katlynn Dee, attack Emilie Vanneste and goalkeeper Shannon Weyer are the first class to be a part of the program for four years. Long said that the seniors provided critical leadership and experience.

“Those four were here from day one, so they’ve definitely built this program from the ground up,” Long said. “They’ve worked

Thank you to the graduating sports writers for their countless hours of service and dedication to The Observer.

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Zach Klonsinski Alex Carson Renee Griffin Manny De Jesus Kyle Barry

so hard and diligently to create and sustain a positive team culture. Without their determination over the past four years, our program wouldn’t be where it is today.”

Although the team will lose talent in their seniors, Long said a strong group of freshmen are set to take their place. The Belles are setting their sights even higher next season with hopes to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament.

“The biggest goal for our team next year is to win conference and win the conference tournament,” Long said. “Our goal was just to finish in the top four this year, so the fact that we finished second means that as a team we are coming to the realization of what we can achieve.”

Contact Darcy Dehais at ddehais@nd.edu

Softball

By MEAGAN BENS Sports Writer

The Belles started their season with something to prove and finished it by doing just that, finishing third in the MIAA. Belles head coach Kelli Zache said she felt the season was their best ever for her Saint Mary’s (2415, 12-4 MIAA) squad.

“This is my fourth season here and I think it was our best year in terms of competition and rising to the occasion and overcoming adversity,” Zache said. “We were third in the conference. We are usually underestimated, but we showed that we were ready to compete. I would have to say it was our best season.”

Zache was especially impressed with her team’s ability to find success in a competitive conference.

“For each opponent in the conference, we come in thinking how to outscore them. We are in one of the toughest conferences in the nation,” Zache said.

“We have four pitchers and every pitcher is different, which can stop our opponents from gaining momentum. Our team is based on speed and fast play. We definitely win off of our quickness to attack when the opponent is on their heels or they are sleeping.”

Reflecting on the season, Zache said the team focused on being resilient despite the conditions.

“I would have to say the word resiliency represented our season,” Zache said. “We focused on mentally bouncing back after every day. It’s all about momentum and having the least amount of errors. Next season, I would like to continue that, but also capitalize on being aggressive on the bases. I want to focus on improving our strength and lifting a lot also.”

Looking ahead at the next season, St. Mary’s is only losing one senior first baseman Caitlyn Migawa. Zache said she was confident the juniors would be able

to step up in her absence.

“We are losing one senior, Caitlyn Migawa,” Zache said.

“She was a rock as a leader and embodies the whole essence of leadership. She is leaving behind big shoes to fill because she inspired the team throughout then season and did all the right things as a leader. But we have six juniors and they know what it takes. They’ve been in all the situations and know what to do.”

Contact Meagan Bens at mbens@nd.edu

Golf

By JACK CONCANNON Sports Writer

The Belles are coming off their most successful season in program history, coming up just a few strokes shy of qualifying for the NCAA Division III tournament.

The Belles second place finish in the regular season earned them one of four coveted playoff spots, while four Saint Mary’s players — sophomore Taylor Kehoe, freshman Lauren Read and seniors Courtney Carlson and Ali Mahoney — ended the season by being honored as AllMIAA competitors.

Freshman Emily Besler said the Belles’ success in the regular season was exciting for the team, as their main goal was to make the playoffs.

“We set high expectations for our team and held each other accountable all season long,” Besler said. “We knew with hard work we could advance past the fall and have a shot at a trip to the NCAA championship. None of us wanted to stop playing after the fall, so we were thrilled to continue our season into the spring.”

After completing their fall season, the Belles went into a spring season that included both conference tournaments and opportunities to compete with bigger programs. Saint Mary’s placed 10th in the Division III National Spring Preview Tournament in Houston, a tournament in which freshman Kaitlyn Gray felt her team could have performed better.

“We could’ve done a little better,” Gray said. “We all shot a few shots higher than we usually do and our placing wasn’t very good.

We could have definitely been better.”

The Belles bounced back from that result in the first round of the MIAA tournament. The Belles’ second-place regular season finish earned them the right to host the first day of the tournament, while the regular season champion Hope hosted the final two rounds played the next weekend.

The Belles led the way after the first round at Knollwood Country Club, edging out Hope to end the day with a one-shot lead.

Mahoney paced the team with an 80 to finish second individually

in the field.

“The first day went well. Some of the girls were looking to shoot a bit lower, but it went really well,” Gray said of the first round.

“Considering the conditions on the course, it was a good first day and put us in good position to keep doing well.”

Hope was able to take advantage of playing on its home course the following weekend. The Belles played solid golf, but ultimately fell short by two strokes. This put the team as close as it have ever come to earning the automatic spot in the NCAA tournament.

Despite the disappointing result of the tournament, Besler feels there is much for the team to look forward to going forward.

“We’re a very young team,” Besler said. “We’re getting some great recruits soon. We’re on the rise. To get back to the position we were in [at the end of the tournament] is definitely going to be our goal.”

Contact Jack Concannon at jconcan@nd.edu

Cross Country

By MIA BERRY Sports Writer

Returning nearly all of their runners, the Belles used their experience to excel during the 2016 season.

Highlights and top-10 finishes for the Belles in the 2016 season included the MIAA Jamboree, Bethel Invitational and the Calvin College Invitational where the Belles placed sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.

The Belles placed fifth overall in the MIAA championship, which helped them finish sixth in the final conference standings.

The 2016 cross-country season featured numerous Belles earning personal bests in both the 5K and 6K races. Seniors Brittany Beeler, Kaitlyn Alessi and Maggie Pacana, juniors Caitlin Blum, Anna McClowry and Reilly Pieri and sophomores Adele Edmonds, Mary Philbin and Sarah Allen all recorded personal bests over the course of the season.

The Belles roster features five seniors in Alessi, Beeler, Pacana, Kathryn Marshall and Colleen Ogren.

Alessi, a co-captain, said the class of 2017 is a unique one to the program and one that she will hold close to her heart.

“This class is especially important because it is the first class that will have started and ended with the exact same group in the history of Saint Mary’s,” Alessi said. “We didn’t add anyone else and no one quit. We’ve all become very tight-knit and bring our own uniqueness to the program. I know that our leadership will be missed but I am certain that the underclassmen will be able to carry on our legacy.” see SMC SPORTS PAGE 46

46

Sports

The observer | Friday, May 19, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com

SMC Sports Continued from page 45

The Belles concluded their season at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional where they placed 18th overall. Beeler finished 15th individually and was named AllRegion for the third time in her career.

Beeler also took fourth place at the MIAA championships and became the second Saint Mary’s runner to earn first team AllMIAA multiple times. Beeler has earned three All-Region awards and became the first runner in program history to earn the honor multiple times. In the school’s record book, Beeler also hold the fourth and fifth fastest times in the 6K and the 5K races, respectively.

Contact Mia Berry at mberry1@nd.edu

Tennis

By BRENNAN LEE Sports Writer

After one of the best seasons in program history, Saint Mary’s fell to Hope in the MIAA semifinals on May 4.

The Belles (10-12, 5-3 MIAA) finished in the top-four of the conference to bring them to their fourth-straight MIAA postseason tournament. Coming off the heels of a successful season last year, Saint Mary’s had its ups and downs, according to Belles head coach Dale Campbell.

“I would say a highlight of the season was our growth as a team in doubles,” Campbell said. “We played well against most teams in doubles, getting off to a quick start in matches. We had more options in doubles and we had some big wins. If there is a negative, we probably did not master the fundamentals well enough with our returns of serve, net play, etc. to be able to handle the regionally-ranked and nationally-ranked competition.”

With improvement in play as the year progressed, the Belles concluded the regular season on a strong note. They won seven of their last 10 matches after a rocky stretch in March wherein they dropped five straight.

Nevertheless, the team is already looking forward to next year. Despite four 9-0 shutouts this season, Campbell feels the Belles have the ability to aim higher next season.

“We reached one of our goals by finishing in the Final Four of our conference, but we felt we could have beaten Calvin or Kalamazoo in our conference season to gain a higher seed for our tournament,” Campbell said.

“I’m sure that will be a goal for the next season.”

Campbell is excited for the coming season, as only two seniors will be graduating, so the core of the lineup will return.

“We have a very good core back for the next season,” Campbell said. “We lose two starting players in our lineup but have potentially three seniors and three juniors back, as well as some

strong incoming first-year athletes. Our team could be a lot better, but it will take hard work in the offseason by the individuals on the team and leadership to get us to that level.”

Contact Brennan Lee at blee18@nd.edu

Basketball

By RYAN KOLAKOWSKI Sports Writer

The Belles endured a year of transition on the hardwood, struggling to collect wins with a new head coach.

Despite its struggles, Saint Mary’s (2-23, 1-15 MIAA) remained optimistic throughout the season. Belles head coach Melissa Makielski said she was impressed with her team’s resilience throughout the year.

“I was most impressed by the determination and competitiveness of this team,” Makielski said.

“Regardless of what the score was, they continued to battle and improve in every game and practice. They never wanted to quit on the team or each other.”

The Belles brought a young team to the court this season, with only two seniors on the roster. Makielski said she expects this year of experience will benefit the team going forward.

“Our underclassmen got a lot of playing experience this season against some of the top teams in the country,” Makielski said.

“The players that will be returning next season now understand the level they need to compete at in order to improve the program.

They have learned that during practice, they have to compete in every possession and carry that over to the games. You cannot take possessions off and expect to see positive results.”

Makielski was especially excited by the growth of the freshman class, as freshmen made up half of the roster for the season.

“I give a lot of credit to the freshman class,” Makielski said.

“At any level it can be difficult to make the jump from high school to college. They had the added stress of a coaching change during the summer and a lot of expectations on them throughout the season. They came into the season knowing they were going to have to contribute right away.

They handled the adversities thrown their way and continued to work every day to get better.”

While the Belles are stacked with youth, the team will have to deal with some transition as seniors graduate. Senior forward Kelsey Ronan contributed an average of seven points per game, but Makielski is especially concerned with replacing leadership on her young team.

“I think for us more so than the points they provided, we need to replace their leadership and playing experience,” Makielski said.

“Ronan was a solid four-year contributor for our program. We can replace the points with recruiting but it is the leadership and experience that I will be looking for early on next season.”

Makielski is excited to

transition to the 2017-2018 season, and she has high expectations for her newcomers going forward.

“The expectations for the newcomers are that they are prepared to step in right away and contribute,” Makielski said. “The goal is to recruit quality student-athletes who can challenge the returners for playing time and to make each other better during practice.”

Contact Ryan Kolakowski at rkolakow@nd.edu

Soccer

By CONNOR MULVENA Sports Writer

The Belles faced various obstacles throughout their season including limited time for preparation, an inexperienced squad and a competitive conference, however, they are looking forward to rebounding from a tough year in which they won only one game.

Belles’ first year head coach Jesse Urquhart said he believes the coaching staff will be the key in turning the tide next season for his Saint Mary’s squad (1-17, 0-15 MIAA).

“Our ability to put a more cohesive and competitive team on the pitch next season starts with me,” Urquhart said. “My staff and I have spent countless hours planning sessions that will benefit our players, both individually and as a team. We do everything we can, in the scope of DIII athletics, to provide our players with as much as we can. We’ve seen players grow on and off the pitch. For the majority of our first-year players, there was a big adjustment from high school to college. A realization that to be successful, priorities of the individual have to align with the team and program.”

Urquhart noted that his players have learned what it takes to truly be a successful unit in such a competitive conference.

“Physically and mentally, there is a commitment to more than just showing up to training and matches,” Urquhart said. “For some, this was apparent early in the season while for others it took a bit longer. At the end of the season, reality set in for the group and a lot of players have a busy summer ahead of them. In the longer run, the players and program will be better off for it, however, we are still left knowing we had a 1-17 season and if that doesn’t motivate a player to aspire to a new level of commitment, not much else will.”

Yet, with all of these obstacles in mind, Urquhart is excited for the 2017-2018 season. “ ... As a team, we will focus on out technical and tactical development in preparation for the 2017-2018 season,” Urquhart said. “We are excited to get the 2017-2018 season underway. I’m looking forward to seeing the returners in preseason who have redirected their efforts and commitment to the program. I’m also extremely excited for our 2017 class of freshmen. Although we will be a very young team, I have the utmost confidence

KELLY VAUGHAN | The Observer

Saint Mary’s freshman forward Shayleigh O’Donnell battles for the ball during the Belles’ 4-1 win over Manchester on Sept. 2.

that the returners and incoming players will balance out our roster, technical levels and tactical knowledge.”

The squad will be losing three seniors in midfielder Kate Vasile, forward Liza Felix and defender Emily Rompola. Urquhart said each of the seniors and their leadership will be missed.

“Kate’s tireless work ethic and versatility on the pitch was evident was a pleasure to watch,” Urquhart said. “On and off the pitch, that same work ethic and versatility will be at the forefront of her future success. ... Liza’s passion for soccer is hard to duplicate. She played every match like it was her last, even on days when she was physically limited.

The passion and perseverance Liza applies to everyday life is admired and will be missed. . .. Emily was a defensive stalwart for the Belles soccer program. A player of her defensive eminence and technical ability is hard to find.”

Contact Connor Mulvena at cmulvena@nd.edu

Volleyball Observer Sports Staff

Looking to sustain its recent program success heading into the 2016 season, Saint Mary’s accomplished its goal with a third straight 15-win season, marking the first such stretch since 1987-1989.

While tying the program record for conference wins, the Belles (15-14, 11-5 MIAA) also tied for their highest conference finish, trailing only Hope and Calvin — the eventual NCAA Division III champion.

However, Saint Mary’s struggled at the Emory Classic to begin the season, losing all four of its matches in Atlanta. While the Belles bounced back on the road against Manchester to grab their first win, they started

MIAA play by quickly losing to Adrian at home and Calvin (331, 16-0) on the road, falling to 1-6 on the season. Saint Mary’s rebounded by winning six of their next seven contests, including four of five conference games, to end the first half of the season at .500 (7-7).

Although the Belles struggled again at a tough tournament by losing three of four at the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Tournament, they responded by winning seven out of their final 10 conference matches, including three straight wins against Olivet, Albion and Trine to reach 15 wins and the third-place finish, earning themselves a spot in the MIAA Tournament for the first time since 2013. Facing off against No. 2 seed Hope (25-6, 13-3), Saint Mary’s came up short in its upset bid to lose 3-1, ending the season.

After the match, senior captain Meaghan Gibbons and freshman Kaylin Szucs both earned All-MIAA recognition, with Gibbons a first team AllMIAA selection and Szucs a second team honoree. Gibbons led the Belles with a singleseason career high 304 kills in 2016 while juniors Rachel Bonek (233) and McKenzie Todd (162), senior Colleen Kilgallon (156) and junior Leah Buck (146) all posted career-best kill efforts.

Szucs burst on the scene with 479 digs as the team’s starting libero — the third-highest among rally scoring season marks in digs in the history of the program.

Senior setter Alexis Grady and Clare McMillan become the first classmates to each reach 1,000 career assists, with Grady posting a single-season career best 721 assists in 2016, while McMillan concluded her career in third place all time among rally scoring era setters in program history with 2,596 assists.

Sports

ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 19, 2017 | The Observer

BASEBALL | 26-27, 10-17 ACC

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nd softball | 33-21, 13-11 ACC

ND earns 19th After slow start, Irish hope straight NCAA bid for postseason berth

By ALEX BENDER Sports Writer

Coming into the season, the Irish were not ranked in the top 25, but there were still high hopes for a squad with a lot of promise. As the season went on, however, things did not gone as planned.

After a slow start, the Irish currently sit at 26-27 on the year with 10-17 conference record, good enough for just 10th place in the ACC. As the close-to-.500 record might indicate, Notre Dame has seen itself in a number of tight contests right from the very start of the season.

“Our expectations were pretty high. I feel like we have some good quality players, but I think the thing that derailed us a little bit was how poorly we started the season,” Irish head coach Mik Aoki said. “I think at a point we were 1-8, and that was really unexpected for us […] When we sat at 1-8, I truly felt like we could have been 8-1, and if we were 8-1 in that stretch, we’re probably sitting here thinking about what regional we’re going to be heading towards.

Outside of those first three weeks, I feel like we’ve played

well and played to who I think we can be.”

To even fight back to around .500 on the season has been an uphill battle after a slow start to the season. The team struggled to pick up any wins over the course of the first few weekends which included trips to San Antonio, San Diego and Cary, North Carolina, for various tournaments. Since then, the team has seen some improvement, especially at home where the team holds a 17-9 record. Aoki credits his team for their mental toughness after the tough start to the season.

“I think a lot of it was that we got back to not putting so much pressure on ourselves and not pressing so hard,” Aoki said. “Often times, when you press like that, you get one bad outcome like a walk, and it turns into two or three walks. I think that was sort of our ‘modus operandi’ early in the year where I think we’ve now been able to kind of overlook some of those negative plays, whether it be an error or a walk or a home run, and just continue to compete and play.”

As the season progresses, the team still has work to do if Paid Advertisement

it hopes to land a spot in the ACC tournament. While Notre Dame won two of three games in a home series against Austin Peay, before a 10-2 win over Western Michigan, the Irish head out to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, for a final series with Boston College that may determine who squeaks into the tournament and who doesn’t. Aoki has confidence that his team can get the job done, but regardless of how things shake out, he’s still proud of the team’s resiliency this season.

“I’m proud of the way they’ve bounced back.

Especially in this day and age, a lot of these young kids after starting 1-8 could have just packed their lunch box and gone home, but they didn’t,” Aoki said. “They continued to work really hard, they’re a really likable group, and they’re great kids and ambassadors of our university. I’m proud of them, and obviously we’d like to get on the plus side of .500 and play some postseason baseball, but we’ll see how it goes. Overall, it’s been a great group to work with.”

Contact Alex Bender at abender@nd.edu

By DARCY DEHAIS Sports Writer

Throughout many highs and lows this season, Irish head coach Deanna Gumpf said the team’s focus was to take things “one inning at a time,” focusing on the present moment without worrying about overall outcomes.

Notre Dame (33-21-0, 13-11-0 ACC) began the season with a tough schedule against many ranked opponents, often facing them on the road. Losses to No. 2 Minnesota, No. 17 Michigan, No. 10 UCLA, Texas and No. 22 Arizona State left the Irish with an 4-8 record after their first twelve games.

Gumpf said the demanding schedule early in the season was ultimately beneficial, allowing her team to learn from its mistakes and identify what needed to be changed.

“I don’t think we could have planned a more difficult schedule,” Gumpf said. “Looking back on it, through that time, we figured out who we wanted to be and who we needed to be to play well. We’ve seen the team that does it, and we’ve seen the team that doesn’t.

There’s no doubt — if you asked every single player on this team who we need to be and what they need to bring, they’re going to know exactly what they need to do.”

When ACC play began, Notre Dame’s struggles continued, as they lost two of three games at Georgia Tech and dropped another three games at No. 4 Florida State.

Despite its troubles early on, Notre Dame managed to turn a corner after these series. It won seven games in a row to close out March and start April on the right note, including victories over ACC opponents Virginia Tech and Louisville.

Gumpf said the pitching against Virginia Tech (19-34-0, 5-19-0) and Louisville (31-190, 14-8-0) made the difference in the wins, noting that holding their opponents to no more than three runs is a key to success.

“We just straight-up played better softball,” Gumpf said.

“Our pitchers gave us a chance to win the game. If you can keep a team three runs or under, you’re going to give our offense a chance to win the game. We know that three is the magic number. If we can stay within three runs, we can win the ballgame, and that’s a pitcher’s job.”

The season was filled with ups and downs from then on, highlighted by three wins in the series against North Carolina State.

Gumpf said the length of the NCAA softball season means

there are typically strong and weak points for every team. She emphasized the importance of staying consistent throughout the season.

“When you’re playing a 60game season, you’re going to see the good, the bad and the ugly,” she said. “We’re going to see our very best softball at some points, and we’re going to see our very worst softball at some points. It’s just the name of the game and the name of the season, and there’s not a team out there that hasn’t had their highs and their lows. As long as we remain somewhere in the middle and stay consistent, we’re fine.”

A high point in the season came on April 8 against one of the ACC’s top offenses in North Carolina when junior pitcher Katie Beriont threw her first career no-hitter to secure the 2-0 win for the Irish at Melissa Cook Stadium.

Gumpf praised Beriont, calling her performance “awesome” and “beautiful.”

“It was really fun to watch Katie do that because, that day, she didn’t do anything extra special,” Gumpf said. “She just hit spots so well and kept them off-balance with her change up.”

The Notre Dame team was led this year by seniors Dana Bouquet, Rachel Nasland, Kimmy Sullivan and Karley Wester. Gumpf said the class of 2017 set an important example for the underclassmen on the team and provided critical leadership throughout the season.

“All four of them bring such a different and important aspect to our team,” Gumpf said.

“Combined, they’ve done an amazing job of having a good standard for this team and knowing what’s expected of them. All four of them are so important and a huge part of the puzzle. When they’re intact, good things happen.”

The Irish closed out the regular season with a series win over Boston College. They defeated the Eagles (31-22-0, 14-9-0) once again in the first round of the ACC tournament. They fell in the second round, however, to Florida State (50-6-1, 24-0-0).

Their play down the stretch was just enough to qualify them for the NCAA tournament for a 19th straight season, meaning their season is not over just yet.

On Sunday, Notre Dame found out it would first challenge California in the first round of NCAA regional action.

The Irish and Golden Bears will square off Friday at 2 p.m. at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn, Alabama.

Contact Darcy Dehais at ddehais@nd.edu

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Sports

ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 19, 2017 | The Observer

Nd WoMEn’s Tennis | 18-10, 7-7 ACC

men’s TENNIS | 13-13, 4-8 ACC

14-1 start marks ND’s best since 2009

By ELIZABETH GREASON and TOBIAS HOONHOUT

Irish fall short of NCAA bid

By MICHAEL IVEY Sports Writer

Sports Editor and Associate Sports Editor

After falling to UCLA in the first round of last year’s NCAA tournament, the Irish returned in 2017 aiming for more success.

Notre Dame (18-10, 7-7 ACC) opened the season with two 7-0 sweeps of Western Michigan and Wright State at home, before winning 6-1 on the road against Pittsburgh.

Although the Irish then lost their first match to then-No. 13 Michigan 6-1, the squad started to get hot, with a March 17 win over No. 23 Wake Forest, marking the longest win streak for the program since 2010. The win over the Demon Deacons (18-11, 7-7) marked Notre Dame’s first over a top25 team since 2014, and at 14-1 the team had already equaled last year’s win total and was off to its best program start since 2009, in which the Irish went 28-5 and reached the semifinals of the NCAA tournament.

Irish head coach Jay Louderback said the successful start to the season was due, in part, to a back-loaded schedule, but that his team’s confidence increased immeasurably during that win streak.

“I feel like we started strong, but our ACC schedule was back-loaded this year with four of the top six teams we played at the very end of the year, which made the beginning more manageable,” Louderback said. “But we won three or four close 4-3 matches early, and we just kept winning. It was great. I felt like our confidence was very good.”

But with Wake Forest marking the first of a streak of 10 conference matches for the Irish, the always-tough ACC proved a challenge. Notre Dame went 2-7 over the team’s final nine matches, and headed into the ACC tournament hoping to turn things around.

While the Irish were able to defeat Pitt (3-16, 0-14) 4-0 in the first round, the team was unable to repeat the same success against Clemson, and fell 4-0 in the second round.

“When we ran into three of the top ACC teams, we lost a tight 4-3 match to Duke, and they’re in the final 16 right now, and even though we played well, it was a tight match, when you start losing a couple, confidence goes and we started to struggle a little bit with confidence,” Louderback said on his team’s end-of-year woes.

With a final record of 179, Notre Dame achieved the

MICHAEL YU | The Observer

Irish senior captain Monica Robinson prepares to serve during Notre Dame’s 5-2 win over Purdue on Feb. 22 at Eck Tennis Pavilion.

program’s 22nd consecutive NCAA appearance with a first round matchup against Kansas. Looking to pick up its first NCAA win since 2014, the Irish went up 2-0. Kansas (1311, 4-5 Big 12) battled back in singles to even the match at 2-2. While Broda won her singles match to put the Irish up one, the Jayhawks battled back to even up the series at 3. With the season on the line, Miller battled back from a 1-4 deficit in the third set to eventually clinch Notre Dame’s win in a 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 victory.

“Then, I felt like we were starting over with the NCAAs. We had two weeks off, which we don’t usually get during the season,” Louderback said of the success in the first round.

“We were able to restart and act like it was a new season and I felt like we had a really, very good win against Kansas. “ … I think [the win against Kansas] really will help us.

And, we both were ranked within two spots of each other, so we knew it was going to be a tight, tight match, and to win the way we did with Allison Miller — she was down a match point — and she came through, she won that one, won the next two games to win for us.”

In the second round, Notre Dame faced off against second-ranked Ohio State, who boasted the nation’s best singles player in sophomore Francesca Di Lorenzo, and although the Irish battled, their

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postseason run ended in a 4-0 defeat.

Notre Dame graduates three seniors in Monica Robinson, Mary Closs and Jane Fennelly, each of whom Louderback said will be missed.

“They all three did a great job this year. We felt like for us to do well this year, all three of them were going to have to have good years, maybe their best years and they really did,” Louderback said. “Monica stepped up, played No. 4 as a freshman and ended up this year playing No. 1. She had some huge wins early in the year. … She is a great competitor, fights hard on the court and that is something that we’ll miss.

“You always knew Mary was going to play as hard as she could possibly play. She stepped up and ended up playing No. 1 doubles this year — she started off playing No. 2.

“Jane played doubles all year and was in and out of the singles lineup this year, but played a lot of singles in the past. The big thing with her was that every day in practice, she was there and she was going to work. … She kept trying to get better, even as a senior and that is something that, hopefully the younger kids see that.”

Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu and Tobias Hoonhout at thoonhou@nd.edu

Notre Dame finished the 201617 season April 27 when it fell to Louisville 4-3 in the second round of the ACC tournament. The match turned out to be the final match of the season for the Irish, who fell just short of a team NCAA tournament bid.

Senior Josh Hagar will represent the Irish (13-13 4-8 ACC) at the NCAA men’s singles championship, which will take place beginning May 24 at Dan Magill Tennis Center in Athens, Georgia. Hagar recorded a 20-15 overall singles record and is currently ranked No. 51 nationally.

The Irish recorded a 10-5 home record but struggled on the road, finishing with a 2-7 road record and a 1-1 mark at neutral sites.

The Irish started their fall schedule Sept. 16, when they participated in the Chowder Fest Tournament in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After sending players to compete in individual tournaments in California and Oklahoma, the Irish hosted the Bobby Bayliss Invitational, which began Oct. 7 at Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish finished their fall schedule at the Gopher Invitational in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Notre Dame started its spring 2017 schedule on January 20, winning a home match against Ball State, 7-0. After losses to Kentucky and No. 9 North Carolina, the Irish won seven of their next eight matches. After an up-anddown month of March, the Irish lost seven of the 10 matches they played in April, culminating in the loss to Louisville (22-9, 6-6).

Irish head coach Ryan Sachire said some of the positives that came out of this season were Hagar’s strong play, as well as the experience the younger players gained.

“Josh had a really great year,” Sachire said. “It’s not easy playing as a No. 1 for a team like ours because of the competition level you are playing against as a No. 1 is really high, and I think Josh did a great job of really improving and learning from losses and ultimately became a much better player at the end of the year than he was at the beginning of the year.

“I think the second positive was all the young players we had play.

We had a lot of freshmen in our lineup that gained a lot of valuable experienced and learned and made progress. We’re obviously disappointed by the overall tenor of the season and the results that we had, but at the same time, I think there was a good amount of building and improvement made throughout the year by our young guys and hopefully we can benefit from that down the road.”

Sachire said his team has some individual things to work on

before next season.

“A lot of it is individual for each guy on what they need to improve,” Sachire said. “Tennis is an individual sport up until college, and a lot of our guys have never been on teams before and I think that got exposed a little bit. So I think the answer is to use each other more and to compete as a collective group better when we’re playing matches. That means feeding off of one another and when one player has a big moment in his match, the other guys understand and recognize that they thrive off of that confidence boost over on their courts as well. I think we can do a better job of that and we will. That comes with maturity and a lot of guys who play college tennis understand that more and more, but clearly it is something we can do better and will do better next year.”

Sachire said his team’s win over No. 21 Northwestern and Senior Day were his top-two moments of the season. “[Northwestern was] a top-15 program last year and were as high as No. 8 in the country this year at one stage,” Sachire said.

“For our team to beat them relatively easily back in February, I think was a great night for us. We love playing home night matches here at Holy Cross, and that was a great environment to play in and a great experience and certainly a great moment for our season.

“The second memory is the last home match [Hagar] and [senior] Eddy [Covalschi] played. As a doubles team, they beat the No. 1 doubles team in the country, and then Josh beat the No. 3 ranked singles player in the country in singles in that match against Wake Forest. Our team lost, so it wasn’t necessarily a great day for our team, but for those individuals to kind of conclude their Notre Dame home schedule with such a positive moment for both of them and a moment they’ll remember for the rest of their lives, I think that was a positive too.”

Sachire said he wants his team to use the negative experiences they went through this year to help them learn and grow for next year.

“Our goals are to improve and learn from the experiences that were a little bit painful to go through this year,” Sachire said.

“We lost so many close matches and matches we were in a great position to win and you have to learn from that and have to learn what held us back in those moments and as individual competitors and as a team and be better because of it. I think we’re all determined to be a great team next year and learn from what we went through this year.”

Contact Michael Ivey at mivey@hcc-nd.edu

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Sports

The observer | FRIDAY, May 19, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com

MEn’s SOCCER | 12-7-2, 3-3-2 ACC

Irish earn No. 1 rank, fail to reach Final Four

By MEAGAN BENS Sports Writer

2016 was a season of highs and lows for the Irish, as the team reached the No. 1 position in the NSCAA poll in early September, only to fail to reach the Final Four in the NCAA tournament.

Although the rest of the season did not mimic the beginning of the season, Irish head coach Bobby Clark noted Notre Dame (12-7-2, 3-3-3 ACC) had one of the toughest schedules in the country.

“It was one of those seasons where you are off to a phenomenal start,” Clark said. “We were number one in the country for five or six consecutive weeks,” Clark said.

“I don’t know if we’ve ever done that actually. Then we had some hiccups. To be fair, we arguably play the top schedule in the country. The ACC itself is the strongest soccer conference in the country.

We just had some hiccups in that spell and we never quite got over it to be honest. We made both the ACC tournament, we beat Duke in the first round and then we fell to a very good Wake Forest. Then we were a top-16 seed so we got a bye in the first round of the NCAAs and then lost to Louisville. Louisville was a good team and that night they were better than us. … In many ways, nothing is going to satisfy the group unless they win the ACC tournament and win the national championship.

I think they were a pretty gritty squad. They started the season superbly well. They didn’t give up.

At the end of the day though anything short of that is going to be a disappointment. I like the fact that this team and program looks at success at being the best.”

Notre Dame started the season with only one loss in the team’s

first 12 games, but after a 1-0 loss to Virginia on Oct. 14, the Irish only won two of their final eight games.

Despite the disappointing end to the season, Notre Dames’s success stemmed from the notable performances and leadership on and off the field from the upperclassmen, according to Clark. “[Senior] Brandon Aubrey went as a first round draft pick to Toronto. He was a center back, no question he was a top player for us,” Clark said. “For a center back he scored nine or 10 goals, for a defender thats pretty phenomenal. [Junior] Jon Gallagher was the ACC offensive player of the year. There were a lot of other steady senior players, you can look through the class, [graduate student] Michael Shipp was steady as an attacking right full back.

[Graduate student] Evan Panken, he was a fifth year lad, he came back and played very well. The whole senior class consisted of really good guys. That class, their attitude and support throughout was phenomenal. [Senior] Patrick Connolly, is a three time winner of the spirit award, first time had someone win it three times, and he is just a phenomenal young man. [Senior] Chris Hubbard is coming back for a fifth year with [senior] Matt Habrowski. Matt is a leader, he was a captain last year, and Chris is very steady goalkeeper, along with other guys like [senior] Mark Mishu and [senior] Andrew Cupero.”

Although Notre Dame will miss some key players from last year, Clark believes the team is more than capable to fill the vacant slots.

“Well, if you are good team and you are graduating players, there’s always going to be holes,” Clark

ALLISON CULVER | The Observer

Irish junior forward Jon Gallagher goes in for a tackle on a Loyola player during Notre Dame’s 1-0 win in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Nov. 20. Gallagher led the team in goals and assists.

said. “But if we’ve done our homework, we should fill the holes. We will obviously miss Aubrey but you hope that [junior] Patrick Berneski can fill in that hole. He will be a rising senior, he saw quite a lot of time as a sophomore when we had injuries, he didn’t quite see as much time this year, but I think he is ready to step up into Aubrey’s shoes. [Sophomore] Sean Dedrick played as a left full back last year, but I can see him moving to right back because he is a natural right footed player. At the moment, at least over the spring, [sophomore] Felicien Dumas can fill that other full back spot. … Outside of that we have

people that we will miss. Evan Panken, he was our left sided midfield player but [freshman] Jack Casey, [junior] Kyle Dedrick, [sophomore] Sean MacLeod are all midfield players from the underclass. I think they can all fill there. Jeff and John Gallagher have been the starting forwards, but the other person that would come in there is [senior] Mark Gormley, I think that is still up for grabs for who is going to be the forward.

[Sophomore] Ian Aschieris has done well in the spring as well as [freshman] John Rea. That position preseason will partially determine who will actually become the forwards.”

As long as the team maintains their health and energy, Clark said their will be another promising season ahead.

“We’ve had a pretty good spring,” Clark said. “I’d say we are quite sharp. But a lot of it will depend on fitness and staying healthy. So hopefully we can stay healthy and the boys will follow the fitness program over the summer and come back fit and excited.

I never try to let myself get carried away. But if everything falls into place, it can be a pretty good sight.”

Contact Meagan Bens at mbens@nd.edu

ND Women’s Soccer | 13-3-5, 7-1-2 ACC

ND secures ACC title, falters in tournament

By DANIEL O’BOYLE Sports Writer

Buoyed by a formidable home record, Notre Dame earned its first ever ACC regular season title. However, the Irish couldn’t find a goal in their NCAA tournament opener with SIUE and were eliminated on penalties in the first round.

The Irish (13-3-5, 7-1-2 ACC) began the season having lost four starters to graduation and three more to the FIFA U-20 World Cup. However, they began the season with two wins, defeating Wright State 3-0 before shutting down Wisconsin’s senior midfielder Rose Lavelle in a 1-0 victory.

Although the Irish lost to Michigan on the road, three more home victories set the team back on course before three draws followed by a win in a four-game road trip. Notre Dame defeated Pittsburgh 4-0

before beating Louisville in overtime and Clemson 1-0 to bring their winning streak to four. But against Virginia, the team conceded its only home goal of the year in a 1-0 defeat. Irish head coach Theresa Romagnolo said the team’s impressive defensive record throughout the year was a team effort.

“I think as a group, we defended very well,” Romagnolo said.

“When we lost the ball, our team worked very hard to win the ball back, [and] we didn’t give teams much time on the ball. Our forwards applied pressure, our midfielders would pick up a lot of loose balls and 50/50s — they covered a lot of ground. And if it got to our back four, they did a tremendous job of staying organized and winning their onevs-one battles. Then, if it got to Kaela Little in goal, she was always able to make a big save. So I think everyone was ready to

step up. Defensively, everyone understood that what they did mattered. They couldn’t take a play off, they had to play hard every second of the game.”

A scoreless draw with Virginia Tech and a win over Wake Forest kept Irish hopes of a regular season ACC title alive going into the final game with Miami.

With Duke and Florida State both losing, the Irish earned the regular season conference title and top seed for the ACC tournament with a 2-0 win over the Hurricanes.

Although the Irish defeated North Carolina State in the ACC tournament, the Irish hopes of adding an ACC tournament championship were dashed when a late North Carolina winner ensured a 2-1 victory for the Tar Heels in the ACC semifinals.

Coming into their 24th consecutive NCAA tournament, the Irish earned a second seed after an impressive regular season

and faced off against Ohio Valley Conference champions SIUE in the opening round. Despite taking 21 shots to their opponents’ three, Notre Dame couldn’t get the ball past Cougars goalkeeper Juli Rossi as the game went to penalties. With each team having one of its first five efforts saved, Cindy Pineda stepped up but struck the inside of the post, with the Cougars converting their final spot kick to win and advance. Romagnolo said the defeat showed the team’s difficulties in scoring that had been present all season.

“I hate to say it, but I think that game was the epitome of our whole season,” Romagnolo said. “We didn’t score more than one goal in most games.

We scored only 26 goals all year.

So I knew going into the tournament that that was going to be one of our weaknesses: the ability to put the ball into the net. So you could see during the game

that we had plenty of opportunities, but we just didn’t have anyone step up and do it. In previous games, we didn’t score a lot of goals but someone always found a way to get it done, but in that game we had those opportunities but we just didn’t capitalize.”

Romagnolo had special praise for her senior class, who she said were the leaders of the squad.

“They did a tremendous job of leading this team,” Romagnolo said. “We had a lot of different personalities that contributed in different ways, but as a class they came together with a united mission on what they wanted to accomplish and how they wanted to accomplish it, and they did a great job in empowering the team and making the team believe in what was possible.”

Contact Daniel O’Boyle at doboyle1@nd.edu

Sports

ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, May 19, 2017 | The Observer

ND Cross Country

men’s SWimming

Rohrer, Aragon lead squad

By JOE EVERETT Sports Writer

In a season of ups and downs, improvement and stagnation and accomplishments and disappointment, the Notre Dame cross country team found a lot of things to celebrate, and conversely, to grow from and build off of in 2016.

After graduating not only their best runners, but the true leaders on the team, the Irish found themselves needing to fill some pretty big shoes on both squads. Irish associate head coach Matt Sparks commented that while the men’s side struggled to accomplish that task in 2016, the future looks brighter.

“On the men’s side, we lost our two front-runners and senior leaders in Timothy Ball and Michael Clevenger from the previous season, and the seniors this year struggled a bit to fill that void,” Sparks said. “Tony Williams really improved throughout the year and we’re excited about what he can do. This season we had a really young group, and it didn’t pan out in the 2016 season like we hoped, but with a lot of our guys returning, we feel pretty good about where we’re at moving forward.”

The Irish caught a glimpse of said promising future at the ACC championships in late October, where the young men’s team surprised with a 10th-place finish.

Williams, a rising junior, led the way for the Irish in the 8K, finishing in 28th place with a personal record of 24:02.1.

However, it was the women’s team that grabbed most of the headlines throughout the year for the Irish. Despite graduating national champion Molly Seidel the year before, the Irish had several runners who rose to the occasion throughout the season.

“On the women’s side, there were a lot of uncertainties coming into the season without Molly,” Sparks said. “The leadership duties were picked up by Dani [Aragon], and the performance aspect was

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largely picked by Anna [Rohrer].

[Sophomore] Annie Heffernan in particular made significant strides and really improved from her freshman year – she and Dani, who we didn’t expect as much from coming into the year, really helped solidify our team performance.”

Aragon came back from an injury suffered at the end of outdoor track to lead the way for the women’s team, on and off the course.

The fifth-year grad student, who earned All-ACC as well as AllRegion honors and finished 52nd individually at the NCAA championship, reflected upon the season, her role within it, and what made the Irish successful.

“We were able to gradually build throughout the year, and overall I thought we had a pretty special season,” Aragon said. “I’ve never been the best runner, but I’m always trying to encourage my teammates. It’s not just me – we have a lot of great leaders on this team – and their attitude rubs off on myself and others and makes us all better.”

With the absence of Seidel, the burden of star athlete and number one runner fell to Anna Rohrer, and the sophomore from Mishawaka took it in stride. Rohrer finished first the Notre Dame Invitational and ACC championships, was runner-up at the NCAA regionals, and finished third at the NCAA championships. Her performance garnered her the ACC Performer of the Year, and Aragon commented on the all-around growth she saw from Rohrer throughout the season.

“I think Anna has grown tremendously in several ways,” Aragon said. “Not only physically as a runner, but mentally as far as handling her studies, building her confidence, and growing as a leader on the team. Her growth shows not only at the meets but also by her presence on the team every day.”

Contact Joe Everett at jeveret4@nd.edu

EMMET FARNAN | The Observer

Irish sophomore Anna Rohrer runs in the Notre Dame Invitational on Sept. 30. Rohrer finished first, while the team finished eighth.

Irish have best-ever finishes at ACCs, NCAAs

By BRENNA MOXLEY Sports Writer

The Irish were offered a fresh start this season under head coach Mike Litzinger, who took over the men’s and women’s teams midseason last year. Notre Dame has not had a combined swimming program since 1995, and this was seen as the change needed to make the Irish serious contenders for the 2016-17 season.

Prior to winter break, the Notre Dame men’s team was 6-1, with their only loss coming courtesy of Virginia Tech. In midNovember, the Irish traveled to the Greensboro Invitational to close out the fall season in style.

The team finished second out of eight teams, only bested by the defending ACC champions North Carolina State.

In January, the Irish defeated Iowa at home and bested Northwestern on the road the following day. Notre Dame then lost on the road at Louisville in a top25 matchup, but bounced back the next day with a victory over IUPUI in Indianapolis.

The Irish gained serious momentum late in the season when the team hosted the Shamrock Invitational. The men’s team, then ranked No. 21 nationally, finished

first in the tournament over a talented Wisconsin team.

The Irish then defeated Ball State in the Downstate Dual on the road, before ending the regular season with the Ohio State Invitational Tournament, in which the team managed several NCAA B-Cut times.The Irish are no strangers to swimming on the road; Litzinger designed the schedule to train his team for conditions characteristic of conference meets.

Litzinger was especially proud of the freshmen and sophomores, many of whom had their best performances of the season.

However, he also mentioned seniors as having a huge impact for the squad.

“The leadership we got from this particular senior class is incredible,” Litzinger said. “One of our captains, [senior] Reed Fujan, did an unbelievable job along with the rest of the senior guys.”

In the postseason, the Irish claimed third at the ACC championships in Atlanta, the first topthree finish for the team since joining the ACC. Notre Dame shattered several team records in the process, including junior Justin Plaschka’s record in the 100-meter freestyle and junior Robby Whitacre in the 200-meter

backstroke. Junior Joe Coumos claimed the program’s first-ever ACC championship in the 1-meter dive.

Notre Dame finished the NCAA championships 25th overall with a program record 29 points. The Irish boast a bevy of achievements this season, including four program records set at the NCAAs in the 200 free relay, 400 free relay and 50 freestyle, nine athletes sent to the NCAAs, third at the ACCs and a national ranking of No. 14 at the best point in the season.

Litzinger reflected on this season as being the best ever.

“It was certainly the best year that the men have ever had, led by [senior] Trent Jackson who is a first-team All-American in the 200-breaststroke. Our men jumped from seventh in the ACC in 2016 to third so Notre Dame is definitely on the map.”

Litzinger expressed optimism for the future of the program.

“The future is certainly bright,” he said. “We have a high-level recruiting class and we have really ramped up the competition for next season and are looking forward to the next challenge.”

Contact Brenna Moxley at bmoxley@nd.edu

Women’s Swimming

Notre Dame sets 11 school records over season

By BRENNA MOXLEY Sports Writer

The No. 24 Irish started their season on a strong note, taking fourth at their first invitational of the year in Greensboro, North Carolina, where the 200-meter freestyle relay team broke the oldest school relay record.

The squad had a strong fall, going into the Invitational with a perfect record. It traveled to Naples, Florida, over winter break to help shake off the rust before the upcoming meets, since it had been nearly two months since the team’s last competition. Towards the end of the break, the Irish returned home and swiftly topped both Illinois and Iowa.

The meet against Northwestern occurred less than 24 hours after the meets against Iowa and Illinois concluded. However, the squad proved victorious when it beat the Wildcats. Notre Dame fell the following Friday when the it lost to Louisville in its first ACC matchup of the season, but it soon bounced back with a victory over IUPUI.

The women’s squad was edged out by No. 12 Wisconsin in a highly competitive matchup at the Shamrock Invitational — the final home meet for the seniors. Then, the women defeated Ball State on the road. Up next for the Irish was the Ohio State Invitational, in which senior Molly Barry picked up a major win for the Irish in the 500-meter freestyle.

Irish head coach Mike Litzinger brought 17 swimmers and two divers with him to Atlanta for the ACC championships.

The women took seventh place and surpassed school records in four relays: the 400-meter freestyle, 200-meter freestyle, 200-meter medley and 800-meter freestyle.

Litzinger was proud of the growth the team showed this season.

“It was a tremendous improvement,” he said. “We went 11-2 in dual meets and qualified 10 individuals for the NCAAs, which is a huge turnaround from one last year. We are making great strides and the women are doing what

it takes to get to the highest level. I am really excited about our future.”

The team competed at the NCAA championships and brought nine women to compete in four relays. Litzinger said Mulquin was the star of the championships for the Irish.

“The standout performer at NCAAs was Catherine Mulquin, who was AllAmerican in the 100-[meter] backstroke — a huge honor for her,” he noted. “All in all, the women set 11 Irish records this year and it was an exciting year all around.”

Freshmen and sophomores set eight of those school records, but Litzinger said he was also impressed by the roles the senior women took on.

“Our senior women have been through two coaching changes and stuck through it,” Litzinger said. “They did a tremendous job making adjustments and helping guide our program.”

Contact Brenna Moxley at bmoxley@nd.edu

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Sports

The observer | FRIDAY, May 19, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com

MEn’s LaCROSSE | 9-5, 2-2 ACC

ND Women’s LAcrosse | 11-8, 4-3 ACC

Irish overcome difficult schedule, set for NCAAs

By R.J. STEMPAK Sports Writer

With the toughest schedule in the nation this season, the No. 7 Irish faced ups and downs throughout.

After starting the season 3-0 — including a 5-4 win over No. 1 Maryland — Notre Dame (9-5, 2-2 ACC) dropped a close rematch of the 2015 NCA A semifinal game against Denver.

The team had two more win streaks of two or more games, as well as two more sets of consecutive losses, giving the season its hot and cold character.

Notre Dame’s last victory before the NCA A tournament began came over No. 6 Duke in the semifinals of the ACC tournament, before falling to No. 9 North Carolina in the ACC title game. But at the end of the day, Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan said he is pleased with what his team has done, given the difficult schedule.

“Resilience is the strongest attribute of this team,” Corrigan said. “We have played the hardest schedule in the country, and if you look at the top six or seven teams right now, I think we have played them all. It’s hard to play a schedule like we have, and it takes a team with some mental toughness to tee it up every week and come back against another top team, regardless of what happened the week before.

“I am proud of how our guys battled. We haven’t been out of a game all year,

and we have won our share, which I think is pretty great, given the task we have had.”

The team has been anchored on the defensive end by senior captain and goalkeeper Shane Doss. Doss has led the No. 22 scoring defense in the country with a .524 save percentage. Alongside Doss all year has been fellow senior defenseman Garrett Epple, who earned back-toback ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors during the season, and is currently No. 19 in the nation in turnovers caused per game with 1.54. Corrigan said the team has been led by the entire senior class, who have helped the captains throughout the year.

“In large, I think the seniors have been very good,” Corrigan said. “I think we have a group who took it as a collective responsibility to handle our leadership this year. Our captains have certainly been a part of it, and done their role, but it really has been the whole class, from the beginning of the year until now that has decided that they want that leadership to be a part of their legacy and I think they have done a very good job with that, right from the start of fall practice until now.”

Offensively, standout sophomore attack Ryder Garnsey leads the team in points with 42. Junior attack Mikey Wynne leads the team in goals with 30 and sophomore midfielder Brendan Gleason has begun to make a name for himself, emerging with two hat tricks in the

final two games of the regular season.

Garnsey has been the focal point of the offense, a deadly scorer from the wing. He tallied six goals in the season opener, a 16-10 victory over Georgetown.

Since then, he has been the focus of opposing defenses and he has been able to lead the team in assists with 22.

Corrigan said Garnsey must work on his consistency for the team to play to the best of its ability.

“Ryder is a very good player, but he has to become more consistent in order for our team to reach its potential,” Corrigan said. “I think Ryder is like a lot of our guys, in that he is a work in progress. He has made progress from a year ago and needs to continue to make progress.

Our year is not over, so I am still looking for him to make progress, along with the rest of the team, in the … weeks we hope to have left in our season.”

In the first round of the NCA A tournament, the No. 4 seed Irish took down Marquette at Arlotta Stadium, 15-9. They were lifted to victory by five goals from Gleason and a careerhigh four goals from junior midfielder Brendan Collins.

The Irish will continue their NCA A tournament berth as they once again face off against No. 5 seed Denver (12-3, 5-0 Big East) in the tournament quarterfinals at Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, New York.

Contact R.J. Stempak at rstempak@nd.edu

MICHAEL YU | The Observer

Irish junior attack Mikey Wynne celebrates an Irish goal in Notre Dame’s 15-9 win over Marquette in the first round of the NCAA tournament on May 14 at Arlotta Stadium. Wynne leads the team in goals.

ND falls in first round to Cornell

By DANIEL O’BOYLE Sports Writer

An early eight-game winning streak highlighted Notre Dame’s 2017 season, as the Irish qualified for the NCAA tournament for the sixth consecutive year. But the team could win only three of its final 10 games and was eliminated in the opening rounds of both the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

Notre Dame (11-8, 4-3 ACC) opened the season against a Northwestern team looking for revenge after the Irish had beaten the then-No. 13 Wildcats (11-10, 4-2 Big 10) in the 2016 NCAA tournament.

Although the Irish fought back from an 8-2 hole to tie the score at nine, they found themselves trailing 14-11 with under two minutes left. The Irish grabbed two quick goals back, but couldn’t find an equalizer as they dropped the season opener.

However, the Irish bounced back from the defeat in resounding fashion, defeating each of Liberty, Detroit and Marquette by double-digit goals. They followed those victories with road wins over Michigan and Elon before traveling to Duke for the team’s conference opener.

The Irish trailed for almost the entire game and were behind 11-10 with just over two minutes left, but goals from sophomore attack Samantha Lynch and senior attack Grace Muller gave the Irish a comeback victory.

The Irish trailed at halftime against Louisville before recording another comeback win, while against Ohio State, the team never trailed and won 16-13 in the end to bring the winning streak to eight games. Irish head coach Christine Halfpenny said the key to the streak was the way the team responded to losing the season opener.

“I think that we responded really well to that Northwestern defeat to be honest,” Halfpenny said. “We had a really great preseason and we learned a lot about ourselves, and to come up so close and just short in the Northwestern game was so tough. I was really proud of my team for allowing that to fuel them and for them to respond so well to not getting the result that we wanted. As soon as the game was done, they didn’t take long to lament on the loss and they were able to turn the page quickly. I think that was the key to that eight-game win streak that followed.”

However, the Irish were yet to face their biggest challenge

of the season: a run of four consecutive road games against ranked opponents before hosting No. 2 North Carolina.

Notre Dame lost 14-8 to No. 5 Princeton and 14-11 to No. 19 Towson before a 15-5 defeat at No. 16 Virginia. While many may have expected the Irish to continue their struggles against No. 7 Syracuse, the team was able to rebound and record a 16-7 victory in the Carrier Dome.

“I think that that was an awesome display of determination by our team,” Halfpenny said of the win over the Orange (15-7, 5-2 ACC). “I think that collectively we had the chance to go home, go back to the drawing board, get a solid week of practice in, which built our confidence, and we went in with a mentality that was, ‘we will not lose this game,’ and we went in with a mentality that was more about taking it one play at a time as opposed to looking at the scoreboard and seeing what the final score was.”

The Irish couldn’t keep the momentum from the upset victory however, losing 16-9 to the Tar Heels (17-2, 6-1 ACC) and dropping their final regular season game 1610 to No. 12 Boston College to finish with a 4-3 ACC record.

Hoping for revenge against the Eagles (15-6, 3-4 ACC) in the ACC tournament, the Irish fell just short, losing 17-14.

Halfpenny said that injuries, especially senior midfielder Alex Dalton’s torn ACL during the game, made it much more difficult for her team to compete.

“We suffered a major loss in personnel when Alex Dalton went down at the end of the first half,” Halfpenny said.

“That was such a huge loss to our midfield. She’s a twopoint swing no matter what game you’re playing because of her ability to play incredible defense, slow down their fast break and be our fast break. I think that realistically we lost quite a bit of depth to injuries this year and that affected us down the stretch.”

In the NCA A tournament, Notre Dame met No. 9 Cornell in the first round. The Irish struggled to win on the draw, taking only seven of 21 draw controls, and lost the game 12-7 behind a 6-0 Cornell (136, 6-1 Iv y League) run either side of halftime.

Senior attack Cortney Fortunato, the team’s leading scorer, was named to the Tewaaraton Award Top 25 list.

Contact Daniel O’Boyle at doboyle1@nd.edu