ND Women's Golf: ND takes individual, team conference titles
In golf terms, No. 26 Notre Dame finished its season under par, as the Irish took home their fifth Big East championship in program history.
In golf terms, No. 26 Notre Dame finished its season under par, as the Irish took home their fifth Big East championship in program history.
In baseball's history, the game's fascination with numbers has always shone through. Fitting then, that in Notre Dame coach MikAoki's third season, a trio of juniors shone brightest for the Irish.
With 12 freshmen on its roster, Notre Dame entered the season as one of the youngest teams in program history.
Some seasons are dominated by one player. Some are defined by a key win or loss. And some will be remembered for the way they put every onlooker on edge.
The 2012 season was not supposed to go this way for Notre Dame.
In a season filled with big matches, the Irish captured their greatest moment of the year when they swept Louisville, 4-0, to claim the last ever Big East conference championship in Irish coach Bobby Bayliss' final season.
The No. 2-seeded Irish are still alive in the NCAA tournament, but no matter what happens in Sunday's quarterfinals, Notre Dame has established a consistency nearly unmatched in NCAA lacrosse.
With a second-place finish at the Big East championships and the best finish in program history at the NCAA championships, Notre Dame reached new heights this season.
All season long, the Irish had one main goal: win the Big East title, both indoors and outdoors, men and women. While the women captured both titles, the men fell short of their goal, finishing as runner-up at both the indoor and outdoor championships.
For the seventh straight season, the Irish reached the 20-win mark. For the fourth straight season, the Irish reached the 10-win mark in Big East play. But for the third time in four years, Notre Dame failed to reach the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Both the men's and women's squads concluded the 2012 season at the NCAA championship meet in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 17. The men, who qualified as a team for the third year in a row, finished 28th out of 31 teams, while the women finished 15th, their best showing since 2005.
Notre Dame had an up-and-down season, and it came largely in that order.
Editor's Note: A version of this story originally appeared in the Irish Insider on April 5.
Though the season began with uncertainty and ended with disappointment, Notre Dame put together a stellar campaign and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament.
Throughout the fall and spring seasons, No. 11 Notre Dame worked to position itself to win its 10th straight Big East championship and to compete at the NCAA championships in June.
After a season of growing pains, the Irish hope a strong finish will vault them to a return to glory in coming years.
As they prepare for the NCAA Regionals, the Irish look to build on their already successful season.
In baseball's history, the game's fascination with numbers has always shone through. Fitting then, that in Notre Dame coach MikAoki's third season, a trio of juniors shone brightest for the Irish.