The Week in Notre Dame Athletics: Conquering with Sticks, Bats, & Swords

Without further ado, we bring you the results of the last week's Irish match-ups.

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Hockey: The no. 11 Irish (21-12-3, 17-8-3-2) sat out this past weekend as CCHA tournament play began.

They begin playoff competition at the CFIA in a quarterfinal series against Bowling Green this Friday (7:05 p.m. EST, Comcast) and Saturday (7:05 p.m. EST, Comcast) and, should they split those matches, Sunday (7:05 p.m. EST, Comcast). The Irish are 3-1 against the Falcons this year, beating them 4-3 and 4-1 to close out the regular season.

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Lacrosse: The no. 2 men's team (3-1) fell to no. 15 Hofstra, 8-7, in a close battle at home on Saturday afternoon. They were unable to climb back from an 8-5 deficit late in the game, though Notre Dame's Conor Doyle scored a hat trick for the Irish.

They face Denver this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. EST (ESPN3).

The no. 6/10 women's team (5-0) claimed another impressive victory at home this weekend, beating Boston University, 16-11, after falling behind 8-4 at the half.

The undefeated Irish face Vanderbilt this afternoon (Wednesday).

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Fencing: The Irish hosted the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships this past weekend, where they sought to qualify up to 12 fencers for the upcoming 2013 NCAA Championships.

There, the women's team claimed 4 top-three finishes, including first and second place in the foil (Lee Kiefer and Madison Zeiss had a combined score of 35-3 in their matches), as well as sixth, ninth, and tenth in a 20-foilist field. Epeeist Courtney Hunley took first in women's epee; other ND fencers claimed fourth and fifth. Sabreuse Lian Osier claimed second; ND fencers also claimed fifth and sixth.

The men's team had six top-three finishes, claiming first and second in both foil (Gerek Meinhardt and Ariel DeSmet) and sabre (John Hallsten and Jason Choy), as well as third in sabre (Kevin Hassett) and in epee (Michael Rossi). The Irish also took spots 7 and 9 in foil, 7 in sabre, and 5, 6, and 8 in epee.

The Irish now set their sights on the 2013 NCAA Championships on March 21-24 in San Antonio, TX.

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Baseball: The no. 17 Irish (10-4), now ranked among the top-25 in the five major polls, continued their outstanding start to the season this weekend out west at the Dodgertown Classic, going 2-1 against a strong slate of opponents. They dropped their first match Friday in extra innings to no. 7 UCLA, 2-1, but conquered USC, 2-1, on Saturday. Sunday, the Irish scored a huge victory over no. 10 Oklahoma with a walk-off win, 6-5, in 11 innings. Tuesday afternoon, they made their way north to face UC Santa Barbara, but lost out, 7-2.

The Irish face Cal Poly (whoop! alma mater!) further up the California coast this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, where they'll play for the first time amidst the unmatched beauty of San Luis Obispo.

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Softball: The Irish (14-6) went 2-1 this past week, splitting their first day and taking the win in their second at the Diamond Devil Invitational at Arizona State. They claimed a 2-1 win over New Mexico State, then fell in a close game to UC Davis, 5-4, on Saturday. Notre Dame shut New Mexico State out in a 5-0 match on Sunday.

The Irish face Cal State Fullerton tonight (Wednesday) and Arizona on Thursday, then play two games each against Northern Illinois and Iona over the weekend.

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Track & Field: Notre Dame sent 10 student athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships last weekend in Fayetteville, AR. The Irish placed seventh in the women's distance medley relay and claimed four additional top-eight finishes: Patrick Feeney took fourth in the 400m (.02 seconds off third place) and Chris Giesting finished eighth in the same race; Jade Barber finished seventh in the 60m hurdles; and Rebecca Tracy finished eighth in the mile (4:39.38). The women's 4x400m relay team (Jade Barber, Michelle Brown, Megan Yanik, and Margaret Bamgbose) came in eleventh overall. The Irish had ten track athletes named All-Americans, with Jade Barber (60m hurdles, 4x400m) and Michelle Brown (DMR, 4x400m) earning two citations each.

Arkansas won the men's championship, followed by runner-up Florida. SEC speed, y'all. Oregon, Kansas, and LSU claimed the top three spots among the women's teams. The outdoor season begins for the Irish on March 22-23 in Houston, TX, at the Victor Lopez Invitational.

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Tennis: The no. 18 women's team (9-4) faced no. 9 Georgia yesterday and fell to the Bulldogs, 6-1. Notre Dame faces UAB in Birmingham on Thursday and Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Saturday.

The no. 29 men's team (7-5) was idle this past week, but will compete in the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic this weekend in Montgomery, AL.

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Golf: The no. 22 women's team finished fifth in a 16-team field at the Clover Cup in Mesa, AZ last weekend, beating two ranked opponents in the process and coming in just a single stroke behind fourth-place Tulsa. The Irish head to the Insperity Lady Jaguar Intercollegiate this weekend in Augusta, GA.

The men's team returns to competition in the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational this weekend in Statesboro, GA.

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Swimming and diving: The Irish have their eyes on the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 21-23. A handful of swimmers from both men's and women's teams qualified for the event. The NCAA zone diving qualifier is this weekend in West Lafayette for both men's and women's divers.

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Rowing: The Irish kick-off the spring this weekend at the Oak Ridge/Cardinal Invitational in Oak Ridge, TN.

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Basketball: the no. 2 women's team (30-1, 16-0) have now rattled off 24 consecutive wins, breaking the program record. This past weekend, Skylar Diggins was again named Player of the Year, Jewell Loyd was named Freshman of the Year, and Muffet McGraw was named Coach of the Year at the Big East Conference women's basketball awards press conference.

Sunday, the dominant Irish conquered no. 16 Louisville, 83-59, in the Big East semifinal.

For the seventh time and the third year in a row, they made it to the Big East title game on Tuesday night. There, with the score tied and 1.8 seconds to go, the Irish claimed a 61-59 victory over UConn with a layup from Natalie Achonwa. Big East tournament champions!

The no. 24 men's team (23-8, 11-7) suffered a hard loss on Saturday to no. 8 Louisville, 73-57, upsetting our hopes for at least a small handful of overtimes. Notre Dame's top scorer was Garrick Sherman with 14, but the Cardinals led by at least 5 all game long.

The Irish face Rutgers or DePaul tonight (Wednesday, 9:00 p.m. EST, ESPN2). If they win, they'll play in the Big East quarterfinals on Thursday (9:00 p.m. EST, ESPN). The Big East semifinals are on Friday (9:00 p.m. EST, ESPN) and the finals, on Saturday (8:30 p.m. EST, ESPN).

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We'll bring you updates again next week on all our Notre Dame Olympic sports. Go Irish.