Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
The Observer
Friday, June 12, 2026
Grad Ads
Observer Store Subscribe
The Observer

Sports

The Observer

ND Track and Field: Notre Dame hits the road

By The Observer · Thursday, April 22, 2010

The Irish will compete at the Drake Relays and the Hillsdale Relays this weekend in what will be their final competitions before participating in the Big East championships next week at Cincinnati.

The Observer

ND Softball: Irish play host to Valparaiso

By The Observer · Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Propelled by junior pitcher Jody Valdivia's fourth Big East Pitcher of the Week honor, the No. 24 Irish will face Valparaiso this afternoon in a non-conference home game. Notre Dame (34-7, 12-1 Big East) is coming off a tight 3-1 win over No. 25 Louisville Sunday.

The Observer

Football: Strength in numbers

By The Observer · Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Junior quarterback Dayne Crist is putting his new leadership position to good use — by convincing his teammates to shave their heads to raise money for pediatric cancer research.

The Observer

SMC Golf: Belles improve to take fourth at Spring Fling

By The Observer · Tuesday, April 20, 2010

No. 5 Saint Mary's finished fourth this weekend at the Illinois Wesleyan Spring Fling Tournament, an important tune-up to next weekend's MIAA qualifying round for the NCAA berth. The Belles finished with a total score of 660 on the two-day competition. Despite hoping to finish higher, Belles players said they felt the tournament prepared them well for the pair of conference qualifiers next weekend. "We were not completely satisfied with the fourth place finish and went into the tournament hoping to do better," sophomore Natalie Matuszak said. "Although we expected to place higher we did post good scores which I believe will give us confidence for next weekend." Matuszak finished with a total score of 159, leaving her tied for ninth place overall in the tournament. She was able to cut five strokes off her score on the second day, finishing with a 77. "The scores the second day were better," Matuszak said. "For me, I felt a lot more confident and knowledgeable of the course the second day, as I'm sure several of my teammates did." Junior Rosie O'Connor was two strokes behind Matuszak's overall score, shooting an 83 Sunday. Senior Perri Hamma and junior Mary Kate Boyce both saw their scores improve on the second day as well. Boyce shot an 81 on the second day to improve her score by two strokes while Hamma cut six strokes off her Saturday score to shoot an 86. Winning the tournament was DePauw University with a total score of 630. The Tigers' Taylor Beaty was the first place finisher with a total score of 149. Despite the relative unfamiliarity of the course, Matuszak said she felt the course was easy to adjust to on day one, which led to better scores for the Belles on the second day. "This weekend I just tried to play smart, the course was not that difficult to shooting a decent score was very possible," Matuszak said. Saint Mary's will have the luxury of being able to host the final two MIAA qualifying competitions this weekend at Blackthorn Golf Club Friday and Notre Dame's Warren Golf Course Saturday. Other than just being the weekend's hosts, Matuszak said she is confident the Belles will be able to win the automatic birth to the national tournament. "The next two rounds are at home for us, which is a huge advantage," Matuszak said. "We have all been working very hard as a team and we have the common goal to make it to nationals. "I think we all just need to have confidence in what we can do as a team and believe in our skills." Saint Mary's will attempt to overtake Olivet University for the automatic NCAA tournament berth this weekend with the second round teeing off Friday at 2 p.m. at Blackthorn.  

The Observer

Track: Irish tally 21 top-five finishes at Dave Rankin

By The Observer · Monday, April 19, 2010

The first day at the Mt. SAC Relays brought seven top-five finishes for the Irish, including one first place finish. That only marked the beginning of a successful weekend. The following day six members of the Irish team took first in their events at multiple competitions.

The Observer

Hockey: New arena to boost program

By The Observer · Monday, April 19, 2010

Recruiting, training and community support — all three are fundamental to the success of an athletic program, and all three will receive a significant boost with the opening of the new Notre Dame ice arena.

The Observer

Football: Getting defensive

By The Observer · Monday, April 19, 2010

The Irish defense matched the offense score-for-score in a scrimmage Saturday. Both junior safety Jamoris Slaughter and junior cornerback Robert Blanton returned turnovers for touchdowns, while the offense struggled to find the end zone in 11-on-11 unless junior tight end Kyle Rudolph was making the play. Irish coach Brian Kelly held Rudolph, coming off of a separated shoulder last season, out of much of the scrimmage as a precaution.

The Observer

Football: Making strides

By The Observer · Monday, April 19, 2010

Irish offensive coordinator Charley Molnar certainly hopes his unit will put on a good show in Saturday's Blue-Gold Game, but in terms of a game plan — well, there is none, he said. "It's a practice session with a crowd, which brings the pressure up another level, and both sides of the ball are anxious to perform and make a move," Molnar said. "I think those are the benefits of having a spring game in front of a big crowd in the Stadium. As far as the actual play selection, to me that's really secondary when the spring game comes." The annual game in Notre Dame Stadium represents the end of spring practice, and Irish fans are anxious to get their first look at coach Brian Kelly's squad — and especially at new starting quarterback Dayne Crist, a sophomore who will take the reigns from NFL-bound Jimmy Clausen. While Kelly has repeatedly said the defense is ahead of the offense at this point, Molnar said Crist and the rest of the unit have continued to make strides toward where they want to be by Saturday afternoon. "We have some things yet that Coach Kelly and the staff feels like we must cover by the completion of spring practice," Molnar said. "We touched on some of those [Monday] and we'll touch on some of those Wednesday and Friday. "For the most part, we really want to see our offense just master the base concepts that we have in the run and the pass game. If we can do that, we'll come out spring ball feeling a lot better than we do right now."

Trending