In a roller-coaster season that will be most remembered for numerous close losses against top competition, the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team returned home on Thursday afternoon with one more opportunity to cap off the 2025 season. In a battle between two of the ACC’s already eliminated squads, the Irish welcomed the Louisville Cardinals to Arlotta Stadium for the season finale in which they dominated 17-6.
Although both teams entered play at 1-7 in conference play (tied for 10th), Notre Dame had been much more competitive throughout the gauntlet ACC schedule than Louisville had. The talented but young Irish, who came in at 6-8 overall, suffered one-goal defeats against No. 19 Clemson, No. 9 Syracuse, and No. 10 Stanford. The team also lost by one goal at Pittsburgh, which was their only loss outside the top-25. On the contrary, the Cardinals suffered double-digit losses to all of those opponents except Pittsburgh.
In theory, the Irish had nothing to play for, but the team came out on fire to start the contest. After both sides found the back of the net on their opening possessions, Notre Dame embarked on a furious 9-0 run to end the first quarter. Eight different Irish players scored the first eight goals for the team, including the first career goals for two defenders, senior Grace Weigand and junior Abigail Lyons. Sophomore attacker Kate Timarky punctuated the period with the final two goals, including a buzzer beater to make the score 10-1.
In the second quarter, a third Irish defender netted a first career goal, when senior Julia Carr beat the Cardinal keeper. Additional goals from junior attacker Emma Murphy and freshman midfielder Lila O’Brien made the score 13-3 at the intermission.
The third quarter was highlighted by O’Brien securing her second goal of the match, which was assisted by her sister, junior midfielder Franny O’Brien. With the game in hand and the running clock initiated, the Irish opted to slow down the offense, before graduate captain Kristen Shanahan culminated her outstanding five years in South Bend with a goal in the final half minute of the game.
All told, the Irish triumphed 17-6 over Louisville, marking the team’s third largest victory on the season. Led by Shanahan with two goals and three assists, the Irish had 12 different players record goals throughout the afternoon. Sophomore midfielder Kathryn Morrissey also turned in an impressive performance with two goals and two assists. The Notre Dame defense also had their best outing of the season, collecting 23 ground balls off 13 caused turnovers.
Weigand received her second All-ACC postseason accolade this week making All-ACC second team with freshman Madison Rassas. Meghan O'Hare was also named to the All-ACC Third Team.
The dominating victory finishes the Irish season at 7-8 overall and 2-7 in the ACC. It is the program’s first losing regular season record under 14th-year head coach Christine Halfpenny, as well as the first time Notre Dame has failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament since 2018. The program will now look to build on end-of-season momentum by pairing the youthful roster with the nation’s 4th-ranked incoming recruiting class in preparation for the 2026 season.
