The Week in Notre Dame Athletics: Lacrosse Thrills, Softball Kills

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

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After claiming the ACC championship the previous week, no. 5 men's lacrosse (9-5) earned a thrilling (if too close) victory over no. 19 Army, 18-17, to end the regular season.

You're gonna want to watch the highlights on this one:

You should also check out Paul Rigney's breakdown of how Notre Dame executes fast break plays here.

This Saturday, the Irish host Harvard as the NCAA tournament begins (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU). For a look at that match-up and seeding across the tournament, Paul has you covered here.

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No. 13 women's lacrosse (8-7) was idle this past week as they awaited seeding in the NCAA tournament. They'll host High Point in the opening round on Friday night (7:00 p.m. ET, WatchND). If they advance, they'll play Duke or Stanford on Sunday (12:00 p.m. ET, WatchND).

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No. 21 Irish softball (37-10, 16-5) happily wrecked Boston College at home over the weekend, sweeping the Eagles with scores of 12-4, 13-8, and 4-1.

Here are highlights from Saturday's 13-8 win:

This Thursday, the Irish will pay Boston College 1 last visit to finish the regular season (5:00 p.m. ET, RSN/ESPN3). The ACC championship begins Friday for the Irish in College Park, MD (3:30 p.m. ET, RSN/ESPN3), and continues on Saturday (2:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

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Baseball (17-30) struggled to an 0-4 record this past week, falling to Western Michigan last Wednesday, 6-4, before getting swept by Maryland in their weekend road series, 2-0, 6-2, and 3-2. The Irish lost a pitchers' dual in the 1^st game, then fell to Terrapin rallies in the 2^nd and 3^rd after pulling ahead, 2-0, in both. The low-scoring Irish are getting men on base; they're struggling, though, to bring them home.

Here are highlights from the 6-4 loss to Western Michigan:

The Irish finally return to their newly-FieldTurfed Eck Stadium this Friday as they face Clemson (7:30 p.m. ET, WatchND, ESPNU). The teams' series continues on Saturday (2:05 p.m. ET, WatchND) and Sunday (12:05 p.m. ET, WatchND).

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Notre Dame's track & field team competed at IU's Billy Haye's Invitational this past weekend. The event served as a showcase and opportunity to qualify for the NCAAs among Irish field athletes and young runners. The women claimed 2^nd in triple jump, 3^rd in hammer throw, and 5^th in long jump. The men earned 4^th in discus, 6^th and 7^th in long jump, and 8^th in the 400m hurdles.

Up next for the Irish are the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville, VA, the Dr. Keeler Invitational in Naperville, IL, and the Grand Valley Last Chance Meet in Allendale, MI, this weekend, all in preparation for the NCAA tournament preliminaries at the end of the month.

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The men's tennis squad (19-9) was idle this past week as they awaited the start of the NCAA tournament. Saturday, they host Green Bay in the 1^st round (1:00 p.m. ET, NCAA Central). The 2^nd round starts at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday (NCAA Central).

Here's a tournament preview from NDFIDM:

Women's tennis (16-9) was also idle this past week. They begin play in the NCAA tournament in an opening round match vs. DePaul in Evanston, IL, on Friday. The 2^nd round is on Saturday afternoon.

And NDFIDM's tournament preview for the women's squad:

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After topping the tournament leader board the previous week, men's golf tri-captain Niall Platt earned an invitation to the NCAA tournament regional in Sugar Grove, IN. Just 5 golfers received an opportunity to compete individually the weekend of May 15^th-17^th and Platt - who currently holds the school record for the best career scoring average - is only the 2^nd in ND history to do so.

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 this Thursday in Cle Elum, WA.

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No. 10 Irish rowing was idle this past week. They hit the water again when the ACC championship commences the weekend of May 16^th-18^th.

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