The Week in Notre Dame Athletics: Men’s Soccer to ACC Semifinals

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

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No. 4 men's soccer (11-4-3, 7-1-2) won out over no. 15 Virginia, 3-0, in the ACC tournament quarterfinals at ND over the weekend. Irish goals came from forward Leon Brown in the 28^th minute, defender Brandon Aubrey in the 35^th minute, and midfielder Patrick Hodan in the 59^th minute of play. Goalkeeper Patrick Wall made 8 impressive saves on the night in the shutout.

The Irish travel to Cary, NC, for their ACC tournament semifinals match against Clemson on Friday evening (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN3). If they advance, ND will compete in the ACC final on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET (ESPNU).

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No. 10/8 women's soccer (12-5-2, 7-3-1) fell in the ACC tournament semifinals in Greensboro to no. 2 Florida State, 3-1. The prolific Seminoles scored in the 22^nd minute, before the Irish had even taken a shot; in the 27^th minute, FSU scored again, this time on a penalty kick. In the 84^th minute, the Seminoles scored their last, and Notre Dame's Karin Simonian netted the team's lone goal off a Karen Olmsted corner kick with 3 seconds to spare in regulation. The Irish were outshot, 18-5, and trailed in corners, 7-4.

This Friday, the Irish host Valparaiso (7:00 p.m. ET) in the first round of the NCAA tournament. If they advance, the 2^nd round match will take place on Friday, November 21^st.

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Irish hockey (5-4-1) was swept over the weekend by no. 1 Minnesota on the road. Friday night, the Gophers shut Notre Dame out, 5-0; Sunday afternoon, ND fared better, but fell, 4-2. We'll leave the details and analysis of the 2 matches to NDistops in his recap right here. For now, here are the highlights (lowlights?):

The Irish next travel to North Andover, MA, to play Merrimack this Friday (7:00 p.m. ET, WatchND) and Saturday (7:00 p.m. ET, WatchND).

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After losing their last 3 matches in the 5^th set, volleyball (6-18) rallied to beat Louisville in 5 sets on Sunday after going down 2-0 (16-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-22,15-13).

The Irish face Wake Forest on the road this Friday, then Duke on Sunday (1:00 p.m. ET, ESPN3).

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Men's swimming and diving hosted a double dual meet vs. Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech, splitting their weekend matches. Notre Dame dominated Pitt, 286-84, but fell to the Hokies, 201-169. Nick Nemetz won the 1-meter dive, Zach Stephens claimed 1^st in the 100 IM and 200 breast, Justin Plaschka won the 50 free, and Stephens, Plaschka, Matthew Buerger, and Kevin Hughes won the freestyle relay.

The Irish travel to East Lansing to duel Michigan State this Friday.

The women's squad hosted their own double dual meet over the weekend vs. Virginia Tech and Pitt. With 10 victories in 20 events, the Irish bested Pitt, 230-140, but were in turn bested by Viriginia Tech, 198-172. Emma Reaney and Catherine Mulquin led Notre Dame, swimming legs of both the Irish-won 200 and 400 medley relays, and notching 1^st-place finishes in the 100 fly, 100 breast, 200 breast, and 200 IM (all Reaney), as well as the 100 free, 50 free, and 100 back (Mulquin). The final victory was on the 1-meter dive from Allison Casareto.

This Friday, the Irish host Illinois.

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Men's tennis sent it's top two doubles teams, Eddy Covalschi and Josh Hagar, as well as Billy Pecor and Alex Lawson, to the ITA National Indoor Championships in Flushing, NY, last week. Both teams advanced to the quarterfinals, where Covalschi and Hagar fell to the top-seed pair out of USC, and Pecor and Lawson fell to a team from UCLA.

The Irish thus close their fall season; they'll hit the courts again in January.

Women's tennis competed in both the ITA National Indoor Championships and the Western Michigan Super Challenge last week. At the former, doubles pair Quinn Gleason and Monica Robinson lost in the round of 32. In Kalamazoo, the Irish claimed an additional handful of wins among their many matches. You can see full results here.

With that, the women's season ends; they'll reconvene in the new year.

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Fencing sent several Irish student athletes to compete in the North American Cup - Juniors in Louisville, KY, this past week. Francesca Russo claimed gold in women's sabre, Jonathan Fitzgerald took bronze in the men's sabre, and freshman Nick Hanahan earned bronze in men's epee.

Meanwhile, in international competition, Gerek Meinhardt earned 4^th in men's foil with team USA at the FIE Tokyo World Cup; Lee Kiefer earned silver in women's foil at the St. Maur World Cup in France. Basically, Notre Dame fencing is pretty amazing and you should pay attention to them.

This Friday, the Irish begin their collegiate season, welcoming Northwestern (7:30 p.m. ET at the Castellan Family Fencing Center, if you're in town for the football game). Sunday, the team travels to Columbus, OH, to compete against Ohio State.

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Notre Dame cross country was idle this past week. Up next for the Irish is the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships in Madison, WI, this weekend.

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Men's basketball concluded exhibition play this past weekend against Lewis. The Irish downed their opponent, 82-59.

The team opens the season against Binghamton this Friday evening at home (9:00 p.m. ET, WatchND, ESPN3), then plays Navy on Sunday afternoon (2:00 p.m. ET, WatchND, ESPN3).

No. 3 women's basketball opened exhibition play with a 92-32 win over Ferris State last week.

This Friday evening, the Irish continue exhibition play with a home game against UMass Lowell (6:00 p.m. ET, WatchND).

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We'll bring you updates next week on Notre Dame's Olympic sports. For now, go Irish. Beat Northwestern and everybody else.