The Week in Notre Dame Athletics: A Big Week for Lacrosse, Softball, & Rowing

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

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Let's start with our latest champions. No. 9 men's lacrosse (8-5) claimed the ACC championship on Sunday. After falling to no. 5 Maryland the previous weekend, the Irish defeated the Terrapins this past Friday, 6-5, in the ACC tournament semifinals.

Sunday, the Irish held on in a thriller to win over no. 4 Syracuse, 15-14.

Matt Kavanagh, who netted the game-winner vs. Maryland and led the team with 4 goals and 2 assists on Sunday, was aptly named tournament MVP. He also provided this highlight-reel goal on an incredible individual effort [GIFs courtesy of FDM, as per usual]:

Syracuse mounted a late 4-goal rally to pull within one goal with a minute left, which set up a heart-stopping last-second opportunity that was stonewalled by Conor Kelly:

Paul Rigney recaps the semi-final win over Maryland for you here and covers the big ACC tournament victory for you right here.

This Saturday, the Irish face Army at home (12:00 p.m. ET, ESPNU).

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This past weekend, no. 13 women's lacrosse (8-7) fell again to no. 1 Syracuse, 16-11, in the ACC quarterfinals. The Irish met the Orange just last week and were unable to get the best of that tough opponent. After falling behind 10-3 early in the 2^nd half, the Irish threatened with a 6-1 scoring run, but Syracuse maintained their lead. As you might have guessed, Notre Dame's schedule (they've now played no. 1 Syracuse 3 times) is ranked toughest in the nation.

The Irish are idle this week as they await the start of the NCAA tournament on Friday, May 9^th.

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No. 21 Irish softball (34-10, 13-5) went a strong 5-1 this past week. The Irish bested North Carolina State, 3-2, with a walk-off single in the series' opener.

Notre Dame fell to the Wolfpack, 6-2, in game 2. The Irish then claimed a win over Valparaiso, 7-2, and 3 victories to sweep their series vs. Maryland, 9-0, 8-5, and 9-1.

This Tuesday, the Irish will face Western Michigan at home (6:00, WatchND). Saturday, Boston College visits Notre Dame for a double-header (1:00 and 3:00 p.m. ET, WatchND). Sunday, they'll finish the series with the Eagles at noon ET (WatchND).

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Baseball (17-26) went 1-3 this past week, dropping a close game to Central Michigan, 4-3, before splitting a weekend series with Northeastern, winning 8-4, then losing, 6-2 and 4-0. Six errors cost the Irish in the 1^st 2 games of the series; stranding 8 base runners did them in in the 3^rd, and hot-and-cold pitching from Pat Connaughton and others continued to allow their opponents to score runs.

The Irish face Western Michigan at Four Winds Field in South Bend this Wednesday (5:35 p.m. ET, WatchND). Friday, Notre Dame travels to College Park, MD, to play Maryland (6:30 p.m. ET, WatchND); they match up again on Saturday (2:00 p.m. ET, WatchND) and Sunday (1:00 p.m. ET, WatchND).

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The men's tennis squad (19-9) defeated Clemson in the ACC quarterfinals this past week, 4-2, but fell to no. 1 seed Virginia in the semifinals, 4-0. Notre Dame, with just 1 nationally-ranked singles player, went up against a team with 5 of 6 singles players and 2 of 3 doubles teams nationally ranked in that semi-finals match.

Women's tennis (16-9) clinched a 4-0 win over Boston College in the opening round of their ACC tournament this past week. They fell to no. 2 seed Miami in the quarterfinals, 4-2.

Both Irish squads are idle this week as they wait to hear where they'll begin NCAA tournament play. The NCAA championships begin with opening rounds on Friday, May 9^th.

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Notre Dame's track & field team competed at the Drake Relays this past week. The women claimed an impressive 1^st place in the 4x200m relay and Jade Barber came in 1^st in the 100m hurdles.

Up next for the Irish is the Billy Hayes Invitational in Bloomington, IN, starting this Friday.

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No. 10 Irish rowing won the Dale England Cup this past weekend for the 2^nd year in a row. Notre Dame led the 4-team field, which included no. 13 Indiana, Alabama, and Rhode Island, wire-to-wire. They also once again swept the Crimson Tide in four races, continuing to exact their brutal revenge on behalf of the football team.

The Irish next compete when the ACC championship commences the weekend of May 16^th-18^th.

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The men's golf team finished an impressive 1^st at the Oak Hill Intercollegiate a week ago and Notre Dame's Niall Platt topped the tournament leader board (209, -1). Platt finishes his career leading the program in scoring average. The team win was the 1^st for the Irish since the 2012 Big East Championship.

The men's team also competed in the ACC Championship just this last weekend and came in 7^th overall, with Patrick Grahek leading the Irish behind a 9^th-place finish.

The Irish now await the start of the NCAA regionals on Thursday, May 15^th.

The no. 54 women's squad was idle this past week after tying for 5^th at the ACC Championship. They begin play in the NCAA regionals on Thursday, May 8^th.

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