On April 4, the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team traveled to Chicago to compete against the Richmond Spiders at Martin Stadium. With plenty of drive and determination, the Irish secured a win against the No. 1 team in the country with a final score of 12-8.
The Spiders have demonstrated an incredible effort throughout the 2026 season by defeating Virginia, Cornell and Georgetown but were unable to conquer the Irish. Before the game, Richmond had been ranked No. 1 with a 9-0 record, with the reputation for having an elite defense. This unit held opponents to 10 goals or fewer in the last six games.
Before facing Richmond, the Irish had put together an impressive 6-1 season defeating well-respected teams such as Maryland, Georgetown and Michigan. Suffering the first loss of its season at Virginia, Notre Dame fell just short with a final score of 11-9 on the road. This defeat gave the Irish the motivation necessary to bounce back against the No. 1 ranked men’s lacrosse team.
The Irish focused on upholding a stellar performance from the opening faceoff. After scoring eight goals during the first quarter, it was clear that the offense was on fire. Junior faceoff specialist Tyler Spano won the opening faceoff and immediately sparked a string of passes for the first goal. Spano found sophomore Chris Reinhardt, who swung the ball to sophomore attack Luke Miller, who successfully scored the goal. Quickly, Notre Dame added more pressure as it went ahead 2-0 only one minute into the game.
Despite Notre Dame’s consistent drive, Richmond responded quickly. By the end of the second quarter, the score was 8-4. However, senior Josh Yago completed a one-hand finish before the end of the quarter, giving the Irish a 9-4 lead by halftime. In the third quarter, the Spiders scored the first two goals, but the Irish retaliated and scored two more, continuing to lead 11-6. Slowly crawling back up the scoreboard, the Spiders scored another two goals during the fourth quarter but never got closer than 11-8. Miller fought back by scoring his final goal, concluding the game 12-8.
Spano would finish the game 16-of-22 with a season-high nine ground balls and an assist. Miller led the Irish attack by scoring five points off a game-high four goals. Yago claimed four points off three goals. Senior Thomas Ricciardelli also made significant contributions to the game, making 12 saves.
This was a significant game for the Irish, improving to 3-1 against Richmond all-time in the series.
The Irish are set to return home to Arlotta Stadium to face No. 2 North Carolina on Saturday.
