The Week in Notre Dame Athletics: Fencing Takes ACC Titles

With two ACC tournament titles claimed, one ACC regular season title clinched, and five teams ranked in the top 10, things are coming up Irish.

Without further ado, we give you the results of the last week's Irish match-ups and look ahead at what's on the schedule this week.

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No. 10 Irish hockey (19-8-7, 15-5-2), split their weekend homestand vs. no. 9 Boston University, falling in the opener, 3-2, then taking the closer on senior day, 1-0. Friday night, BU opened scoring late in the opening period on a power play and ND's Connor Hurley responded in the same period's closing seconds on the home team's own power play. BU pulled ahead to a 3-1 lead with goals early in the second and midway through the third periods before ND's Steven Fogarty made it 3-2 with the help of an empty Irish net with a minute and a half to play. Despite the man advantage, the Irish were unable to even it up before time was called. Cal Petersen had 21 saves in net and ND took 35 shots to BU's 24. The Irish were 1-for-3 on power plays; BU was 1-for-1.

Saturday, Petersen made 39 saves for ND. Those 39 shots outnumbered ND's 28, but not by much. The game's lone goal came on a power play about 12 minutes into the middle stanza. Dylan Malmquist netted the Irish game-winner. ND was 1-for-2 on power plays and BU was 0-for-3.

The Irish next host their Hockey East tournament quarterfinal match-up against an opponent TBA on the weekend of March 11th (best of 3).

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No. 1 men's lacrosse (3-0) knocked down 2 opponents in the past week, first beating Bellarmine, 11-6, then Detroit, 14-5. Eddy Lubowicki led the Irish with 4 goals vs. Bellarmine in a game that saw ND dominate in the first half before the Knights showed their teeth. The Irish led in shots, 39-22.

Mikey Wynne led the Irish against Detroit, netting 6 goals in the 14-5 victory. Sergio Perkovic had 4. The game opened with a nearly 14 scoreless minutes before the visitors opened scoring; the next 7 belonged to ND.

ND next plays Maryland in Orange County, CA, on Saturday (8:00 p.m. ET).

No. 5 women's lacrosse (5-0) claimed 2 home wins this past week, besting both Colorado, 14-4, and UC Berkeley, 21-2. Against the former, ND opened with 12 consecutive goals after almost 21 scoreless minutes. Cortney Fortunato led the team as usual with 3 goals.

In contrast to the offensive lag to start against the Buffaloes, the Irish came out swinging against Berkeley, scoring twice in almost the first half minute and 7 times in the first 10 minutes. Rachel Sexton netted 5 goals and 2 assists for the team and 3 others earned hat tricks.

Next up for the Irish is a road trip to Louisville on Saturday (2:00 p.m. ET, ESPN3).

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The no. 2 Irish fencing team excelled at the ACC Championships, hosted by Notre Dame this past weekend. The men claimed the ACC title and freshman foilist Axel Kiefer earned MVF honors. They also swept all three individual titles: ND's Jonah Shainberg bested ND's Jonathan Fitzgerald for the sabre championship; Kiefer took the crown in foil and the Irish swept the podium; and Dylan French claimed the title in epee.

The ND women (38-0, 5-0) earned their ACC title, as well. In individual competition, they swept the podium in foil, with Sabrina Massialas earning the crown. Catherine Lee earned the individual epee title; the women took silver in sabre, as well.

The Irish now await the NCAA Midwest Regional on March 12^th in Columbus, OH.

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The men's swimming & diving squad came in 7^th overall in a field of 12 at the ACC Championships in Greensboro, NC, this past week. They earned a spot at the NCAA Championships for their 400 free relay team with a 2^nd-place finish. Irish swimmers took 6^th in the 200 back, 6^th in the 200 medley relay, and 5^th in the 800 free relay. The squad now looks ahead to the NCAA Championships in late March.

Women's swimming & diving was idle this past week after earning a 7^th-place team finish at the ACC Championships the week previous. The squad now looks ahead to the NCAA Championships in mid-March.

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No. 23 softball (12-3) had a strong weekend at the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic, sweeping their opponents and earning a 5-0 record. Notre Dame bested East Carolina, 8-0, and UCF, 5-1, on Friday; North Florida, 7-3, and Bryant, 7-0, on Saturday; and Penn State, 6-2, on Sunday.

The Irish next head to Fort Myers, FL, for another round of games this weekend. They'll play Stony Brook and Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday, then Stony Brook again and Ball State on Sunday.

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Baseball (4-3) had a great weekend slate in San Antonio, going 3-1. After opening with a 4-3 loss to Bradley, ND topped Texas Southern, 6-5, Incarnate Word, 13-2, and Gonzaga, 7-6.

The Irish head to Cary, NC, this Friday to play Alabama. Saturday, they face Brown and Bucknell; Sunday, it's Niagara.

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Irish track & field competed in the ACC Indoor Championships in Boston, MA, this past week. The women's squad came in 3^rd and the men came in 7^th. The women were just barely behind Clemson and Miami in the field of 15. They had top-five finishes in 8 events, taking 2^nd in the women's 400m, 3^rd in the mile, 1^st and 2^nd in the 3000m and 5000m, 4^th in the 60mH, 2^nd in the 4x400 relay, 3^rd in the distance medley, and 4^th in the pentathlon. Those 1-2 finishes in the 3000m and 5000m belonged to distance champs Molly Seidel and Anna Rohrer.

The men came in 7^th between Florida State and Miami, with Syracuse earning the men's team victory in a field of 14. The Irish had 6 top-five finishes, including 4^th in the men's 400m, 5^th in the mile, 4^th in the 4x400 relay, 2^nd in the high jump, 1^st in pole vault, and 3^rd in the heptathlon.

Now the team looks ahead to the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 11^th and 12^th.

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No. 47 men's tennis (6-6) lost their match with a tough no. 3 Ohio State team on Sunday, falling 5-2. On Thursday, they travel to face Boston College. Louisville visits Notre Dame on Sunday.

No. 30 women's tennis (8-4, 3-1) split their last week's matches, besting Boston College, 4-3, but losing to no. 33 Syracuse, 4-3. They face Miami on the road on Sunday.

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The no. 21 women's golf team came in sixth in a field of fifteen at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, AZ, after a 3-round total of one over par (865). Two Irish golfers tied for ninth overall in a field of 86. Not a bad start to the spring season.

Men's golf has been in Tucson for the National Invitational Tournament on Sunday and Monday. We'll bring you the tournament results next week. This coming Sunday and Monday, they'll be in Opelika, AL, for the Tiger Invitational.

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No. 23/20 men's basketball (19-9, 10-6) split their last week's game, first claiming a road win over Wake Forest, 69-58, then taking a beating from Florida State, 77-56, in Tallahassee. Our review of the Wake win is here and of the FSU loss, here.

The Irish host Miami this Wednesday (7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2). Saturday, they welcome North Carolina State (12:00 p.m. ET, CBS).

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No. 2/3 women's basketball (28-1, 16-0) earned two more conference wins over the past week, taking down Clemson, 71-52, and Boston College, 70-58, at home. That makes 3 straight regular season ACC titles for the Irish and 21 consecutive wins. Against Clemson on Thursday night, Arike Ogunbowale led the team with 16 points; Brianna Turner had 14, plus 8 rebounds.

Against BC on Saturday, Madison Cable had 20 points and 5 steals; Turner had 15 points and 8 rebounds, as did Ogunbowale. The win earned the Irish a double bye heading into the ACC tournament.

Notre Dame next plays the winner of Duke/Virginia in the ACC tournament quarterfinals on Friday in Greensboro, NC (2:00 pm. ET, ACC-RSN). If they advance, they'll play in the semifinals on Saturday (12:00 p.m. ET, ESPNU). The women's ACC championship game in on Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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We'll bring you updates again next week on the whole range of Notre Dame sports. For now, go Irish. Beat everybody.