Notre Dame Women’s Lacrosse: NCAA Doesn’t Include Irish in Its 2018 Tournament

The 2018 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament will start this week with 27 teams, but without the Notre Dame program.

The Irish, who finished 10-9, were excluded for the first time since 2011.

NCAA.com

Many of the teams Notre Dame played this year did make the tournament, including:

• High Point, which hosted Notre Dame on March 14 and beat the Irish, 13-7.
• Syracuse, which lost to the Irish in an overtime game played March 24 at Arlotta Stadium. The final was 11-10.
• Boston College, which beat Notre Dame twice. The Eagles escaped the Loftus Sports Center with a 13-11 win in the season opener on Feb. 10, and then dismantled the Irish, 17-7, in the semifinals of the ACC tournament on April 27.

• Virginia, which spoiled Notre Dame’s St. Patrick’s Day with a 17-10 win at Arlotta.

• Jacksonville, who finished with a 16-3 record, but lost to the Irish at home on Feb. 17, 17-6.
• Northwestern, who handled the Irish easily during an April 8 game in Evanston. The final was 20-10.
• Virginia Tech, who held the Irish to their lowest offensive output of the season in a 9-6 win on March 11 in Blacksburg.

• North Carolina, who edged the Irish 13-12 during a March 31 game in Chapel Hill.

On paper, the biggest head scratcher would appear to be Syracuse, since they finished 1-7 in the ACC and 9-9 overall. They lost to the Irish. But Nunes Magician has a good writeup of why the Orange deserved inclusion in the tournament, based on some awesome wins against Florida, Loyola and Princeton.

The late-season loss to the Alabany Great Danes, who ended the season 50th in the RPI, ultimately doomed the Irish’s already thin postseason chances.