Notre Dame is the only school in the country to achieve this feat in 2023
Only one school in the country has both its men’s and women’s lacrosse teams in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament this spring. It’s the University if Notre Dame.
The No. 3 seed men’s team throttled Utah, 20-7, in South Bend this past Saturday. The women’s team went to Gainesville, Fla., and took down the No. 6 seed Florida Gators, 16-15.
The men jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first quarter at Arlotta Stadium in front of a healthy crowd clad in green. Utah scored the game’s next three goals, but the Irish powered back with four answered to take a commanding 12-3 advantage into halftime. The Utes didn’t stand much of a chance at coming back at that point, and the Irish doubled them up in the second half for good measure.
The 13-goal margin of victory now stands as the largest in the program’s NCAA Tournament history. The 20 total goals is also a new tournament record. Jake Taylor notched a first-quarter hat trick and finished with five goals. Tewaaraton Award finalist Pat Kavanagh recorded 7 points to bring his season-long total to 72, which is third all-time in a single season in program history.
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The Notre Dame men move on to play No. 6 seed Johns Hopkins (12-5) at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 21. Johns Hopkins had a heyday of its own in the first round of the tournament. The Blue Jays beat Bryant 22-8. After a 3-3 first quarter, Johns Hopkins outscored Bryant 16-1 in the middle two frames. The Jays have won eight of their last 10 games.
The Notre Dame women saw a 15-11 lead slip away in the fourth quarter. Sudden victory overtime loomed, and the home-team Gators would have had all of the momentum going into it. Kasey Choma received a pass from Jane McAvoy and buried the ball from straightaway with 10.1 seconds left to leave Florida stunned.
The Irish are 15-5 and are in the quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons. They are the only unseeded team to reach this year’s quarterfinals. It’s a quick turnaround for the Blue and Gold; they’re on the road at No. 3 seed Boston College (17-3) on Thursday, May 18, at 2:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU).
The Eagles snuck by Penn, 9-7, in the first round. Notre Dame and Boston College have already faced off twice this season. BC won 12-11 in South Bend on April 8 and 9-4 in the ACC Tournament on April 28. Perhaps the third time’s a charm for the Irish vs. the Eagles. Boston College is riding an 11-game winning streak and has not lost since March 19.
