Following two Elite Eight appearances in three seasons, the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team ushered in a new era this spring following the graduation and departure of a talented 20-player senior and graduate class. Despite returning just two starters from the previous season, the Irish were ranked No. 13 to begin the year after receiving an influx of talent in the nation’s fourth-ranked recruiting class, headlined by national No. 1 recruit Madison Rassas.
Notre Dame began the season with dominant home victories over Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan before embarking on the toughest schedule in the country over the next two months. All told, the Irish would play seven ranked opponents, including the last three national championship programs, suffering four one-goal defeats.
Summarizing her team’s season, 14th-year head coach Christine Halfpenny lauded her young team’s grit and competitiveness.
“I’m just so proud of my team’s ability to compete, playing in by far the best and toughest league in the country,” Halfpenny said. “Overall, I was really proud of the growth we made, and I think we built a ton of chemistry.”
Although Rassas led the team in goals with 29, and sophomore Kathryn Morrissey topped the group with 42 total points, Halfpenny expressed the most gratitude for her three senior captains: Julia Carr, Kristen Shanahan and Grace Weigand.
“In the toughest of times, that’s when you really see where your character lies,” Halfpenny said. “Their loyalty to the program and their teammates, and just understanding how many younger eyes were upon them this year, showed their poise and confidence in the growth and fight throughout the season.”
She continued to applaud the leadership and culture cultivated by the seniors.
“We hit some awesome moments this year, and we hit some real lows, and they were able to collect the team and say, ‘Keep pushing, keep fighting.’”
Many of those lows came during the grueling nine-game ACC slate, in which the Irish finished 2-7 en route to a ninth-place finish. Notre Dame suffered one-goal setbacks to No. 19 Clemson, No. 9 Syracuse, No. 10 Stanford and Pittsburgh, while also dropping matches to No. 1 Boston College, No. 2 North Carolina and No. 21 Duke, which ultimately left them on the outside looking in for the ACC Tournament.
While the tough schedule and largely inexperienced roster certainly contributed to the plethora of heartbreaking losses, Halfpenny’s Irish weren’t lacking in impressive performances either. Notre Dame completed a dominant two-game West Coast road trip with wins over Cal and UC Davis in early March, knocked off No. 23 Harvard 8-6 on March 23 and closed out the season with a wire-to-wire 17-6 victory over Louisville on April 17.
Halfpenny believes that both the struggles and the accomplishments of 2025 can provide a strong framework moving forward.
“The resiliency of this team showed their belief and trust in not only what we’re doing, but where we’re continuing to head,” she said. “There is no doubt that we’ll be back as a better, stronger, more experienced team next year.”
While the Irish offense was a balanced attack, with scoring spread between numerous players, the defense was headed by a strong core of upperclassmen, and the Irish landed three players on All-ACC teams.
Rassas, the freshman midfielder, was given Second-Team honors following her 33-point campaign which was cut short due to injury. The Sterling, Virginia native was a force for the Irish all over the field from day one, setting a program record for a freshman with five goals and eight points in the home opening win over Central Michigan.
Joining Rassas on the Second Team was Weigand, senior defender and captain. The Denver native has been a steady presence for Notre Dame dating back to her stellar freshman season in 2022. Weigand backed up her inclusion on the preseason Tewaaraton Award watchlist by tallying 31 ground balls and 18 forced turnovers throughout her senior campaign.
After earning All-Freshman Team honors a year ago, sophomore midfielder Meghan O’Hare continued her progression by being named to the All-ACC Third Team. O’Hare did a little bit of everything for the Irish, ranking second on the team with 40 draw controls, 24 ground balls and 22 forced turnovers.
Despite the 7-8 finish and first missed postseason since 2018, Notre Dame women’s lacrosse is confident and poised to make noise on the national stage again in 2026. Halfpenny summarized the determination of her team, which will return nearly all of its scoring as well as its star goalkeeper, Isabel Pithie.
“They’ve shown up. They’ve fought. There’s a lot to look forward to, so we can’t wait.”
