Men's Lacrosse: Irish fall after historic season
In what was supposed to be a grand finale to a trailblazing regular season, the premature ending was all too familiar for the Irish coaches and players.
In what was supposed to be a grand finale to a trailblazing regular season, the premature ending was all too familiar for the Irish coaches and players.
Following a magical run in the 2011 NCAA tournament, a Hall of Fame induction for Irish coach Muffet McGraw in the summer with junior guard SkylarDiggins leading the way, Notre Dame faces some of the highest expectations it has ever seen in McGraw's 25 years at the helm.
Coming off a season that included a Big East championship, a top-25 ranking and their first NCAA championship berth, the challenge for the Irish will now be to replicate past success and turn their program into a national powerhouse. With the loss of Katie Conway and So-Hyun Park to graduation and sophomore Nicole Zhang leaving the team, Notre Dame returns this year as a much younger team. The expectations, though, are just as high.
After the program's second trip to the Frozen Four capped last season, the Irish return with high expectations.
For most schools, the follow-up act to a national championship involves heightened pressure and newly raised expectations. For No. 1 Notre Dame, however, 2011 will just be more of the same.
As Notre Dame prepares for the 2011-12 season, many things are the exact same as they were a year ago.
A No. 12 preseason ranking has Notre Dame looking past the NCAA tournament's second round, where last season ended.
Over the past eight months, the talk surrounding Notre Dame football has revolved around the offense. Meanwhile, the talk within Notre Dame football has focused on the Irish defense.
After a successful 2011 spring — which included a Big East championship and a 10th place finish in the NCAA tournament — Irish coach Jim Kubinski said the biggest victory of the spring campaign was his squad's newfound belief in themselves as true competitors on the national scene.
New Irish coach Christine Halfpenny shifted gears as soon as she learned she had earned the Notre Dame job. On the sidelines of a high school camp, Halfpenny quickly moved on from recruiting for William & Mary and started pitching Notre Dame.
After a 2010 season in which she saw her team go 18-13 and fall to Cincinnati in the Big East semifinals, Irish coach Debbie Brown has high expectations for improvement in the 2011 campaign. With a strong core of experienced players returning and a versatile group of newcomers, the Irish look poised to improve on the results of a year ago.
Entering his second year at Notre Dame, Irish coach Brian Kelly is now more confident in the state of his program than he was at this point last fall.
Although it was only the first day of Notre Dame's fall practice, senior DayneCrist may have emerged as the leading candidate for the starting quarterback position after making strides with his footwork, which was inhibited by his recovery from knee surgery in the spring.
CARSON, Calif. – Three-time Bengal Bouts champion Mike Lee dominated yet another fight Saturday night with a third-round knockout victory over Michael Birthmark at the Home Depot Center.
Irish receiver Michael Floyd is expected to enter a plea agreement with the state over his drunken driving charges in the next few weeks, the South Bend Tribune reported Tuesday.
Irish receiver Michael Floyd has been given clearance to participate in voluntary summer workouts with the team, but has not been reinstated to the squad.
Nov. 22, 2010 marked the official end of a career for 13 seniors. While many of them would continue to compete in track during the winter and spring months, their time as long-distance racers came to an end.
After a successful fall season, the Irish entered the winter and spring with a firm sense of who they were. Led by the defending Big East player of the year, the Irish golfers were a top-30 squad looking to claim a Big East championship that barely evaded them the year before.
It was another successful season for the Irish, as they won the Big East championships for the eighth consecutive season, this time as an underdog.
Mike Joyce faced a daunting task in his first year as the Belles' coach.