Sports

Dividing the Premier League into tiers

Seven matchdays into the Premier League season, teams have played enough to create an identity and define expectations for the rest of the season. For the purposes of this column, I’ve divided the 20 Premier League clubs into tiers and briefly explained why I’ve placed them where I have.

Reidy: Breaking down the MLB playoff race

MLB Postseason Push: Two Weeks Out

Primack, Nyenka take on leadership roles for Holy Cross soccer

Like most athletes, Holy Cross sophomore goaltender Taylor Primack has role models who inspired her to play her chosen sport. For Primack, those players are Hope Solo and Carli Lloyd, both of whom played on the 2015 US Women’s World Cup team. 

Rockwell, Monson lead Irish into ACC play

Notre Dame volleyball’s head coach Salima Rockwell came onto campus with a rocky start. The Irish opened up the season 0-2 against Texas Tech and Mississippi State before winning in the fifth set against Milwaukee. The Irish then traveled to the Long Beach State Tournament where they also went 0-2 on the weekend. This would be the start of a nine-game road streak. 

Evaluating the Notre Dame offense

Coming into Saturday’s game against Cal, there’s no doubt that the offense was the biggest question mark surrounding Notre Dame football. They had only scored 31 points in the opening two games, and the season-ending injury to starting sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner only added to the uncertainty. That being said, here are my takeaways from the offense’s performance against Cal.

Belles lose five-set heartbreaker to Kalamazoo

The Saint Mary’s Belles hosted their second home game of the season this week, facing the Kalamazoo Hornets in a tough match on Tuesday evening. Prior to the start of the game, the ladies on both teams put green ribbons in their hair and laces in support of Mental Health Awareness on college campuses. 

Zwiller: ZeLO predicts the blue bloods in Week 4

With the third week of college football, ZeLO now boasts a record of 190-58 (76.6%). However, this weekend, the model went 54-18 (75%), so it was a slight dip from the prior weekends. I upped the in-season adjustments this week, so now the model is even more responsive to the USCs and Texas' of the world. Hopefully, that will help to improve the model's performance this weekend.  Now, onto the picks!

Guffey: Why tennis is the best fan experience in sports

On Sunday, Sept. 11, Carlos Alcaraz won the U.S. Open in New York and subsequently became the youngest men’s tennis player to reach No. 1 in the world. That name was especially familiar to me. At only 19 years old, Alcaraz has become quite popular among young tennis players. I texted my brother, “didn’t we see him practice?” The answer was yes, we did.

Crow: Week 3 CFB takeaways

App State has officially made a habit of playing in the most thrilling game of the week. They began their season by scoring 40 points in the fourth quarter against North Carolina, yet somehow still lost after failing to convert a pair of two-point conversion tries in the game’s final minutes. Last week, they traveled to College Station and returned with the season’s biggest upset to date — a 17-14 win over No. 6 Texas A&M during which they shockingly held the Aggies to under 200 yards of total offense.

Irish sweep Bulldog Brawl with wins over Central Michigan, Ohio

Notre Dame volleyball played two games this weekend at the Bulldog Brawl in Indianapolis, winning both to move to 5-5 on the season. In game 1 on Friday, the Irish beat Central Michigan in straight sets before downing Ohio in four sets on Saturday.

Belles unable to obtain first win of season

The Saint Mary’s soccer team played two home matches over the weekend. Although they opened the weekend with a 3-0 loss to Franklin, the Belles were able to salvage the weekend with a 2-2 tie to Lake Forest. The Belles, 0-4-3, are approaching the mid-way point of the season looking for their first win of the year.

Saints sweep Jaguars, look ahead to St. Francis

It is no secret that both the Holy Cross College men’s and women’s soccer teams needed to earn points in conference play.  

Notre Dame beats Cal, Marcus Freeman gets first win as head coach

On that final drive, it seemed like the first win of the Freeman era might never come. Two turnovers were brought back after further review, giving the California Golden Bears one final chance to tie the game and force an overtime. 

'I owe this school everything': Irish football legend Manti Te'o returns to Notre Dame, addresses team before Cal

For the first time since his Netflix documentary, “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist,” Irish football legend and Heisman Trophy finalist Manti Te’o was back on Notre Dame’s campus. This was Te’o’s fourth visit back to South Bend, and it was a warm homecoming for the former linebacker; when he was announced in Notre Dame Stadium, the applause he received brought Te’o to tears. While its layout has changed significantly since his time in Irish uniform, he said that Notre Dame itself remains a home for him each time he returns.

Notre Dame women’s soccer drops first match of the season against Clemson

Notre Dame women’s soccer dropped their first contest of the season, falling on the road to Clemson 2-0 on Thursday.

Baffour finds back of net with seconds remaining to secure Irish 2-1 victory

After nearly missing out on a tie opportunity in the final minute of a 1-0 loss against Syracuse last weekend, the Notre Dame men’s soccer team bounced back against the University of Virginia in a 2-1 victory Friday night. This win was mostly by virtue of a final second goal off the foot of first-year midfielder KK Baffour.

Irish cross country dominates, Belles battle at National Catholic Invite

Notre Dame cross country swept Friday’s National Catholic Invite, with both the women’s and men’s teams winning handily in their home opener. A field of 15 Catholic institutions from around the country (14 in the men’s race) was no match for the nationally ranked Irish squads, both of whom won by over 50 points.

Gameday Gallery: Notre Dame vs. Cal

Estime talks brotherhood and ‘keeping the chains moving’ following first win of the season

Notre Dame finally notched a win Saturday against the California Golden Bears — in no small part due to the running back corps. After struggling to get the run game going in the first two games of the season, the Irish notched 147 rushing yards split between three players. One of them was sophomore running back Audric Estime, who led the rushing category with 76 yards (51.7%).

Key moments from Notre Dame's first win in the Freeman era

Slow start for both teams