Notre Dame will be playing on championship weekend for the 3rd time ever after a thrilling 12-10 victory over #5 seed Virginia. Notre Dame was the 2010 NCAA finalist and a semifinalist in 2001.
Notre Dame played well overall. They started out hot, leading 3-1 at the end of the 1st quarter and 6-4 at the half. Their worst quarter was the 3rd. The Irish had many turnovers couldn’t get anything going offensively. But that all changed in the 4th quarter when ND put up 6 goals to close out the game, 12-10.
The game took a scary turn with 7:41 left after Ryan Foley gave Notre Dame a 9-8 lead. Virginia’s Scott McWilliams lowered his left shoulder and slammed into Foley’s chin after the goal. Foley had to be taken off by a stretcher; no official word has been said on how he is doing.
Senior midfielder Max Pfeifer registered 3 goals and 1 assist for the Fighting Irish, while junior midfielder Steve Murphy also had four points on 2 goals and 2 assists. Senior attackman Sean Rogers chipped in 2 goals for Notre Dame.
ND’s defense was led by goalie John Kemp, who made 14 saves for the Irish.
Notre Dame (13-2) will face top-seeded Loyola (16-1) on Saturday in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The winner will play again on Monday for the championship.
Topics: 2012, College Lacrosse, Irish, Notre Dame, Notre Dame Lacrosse, Notre Dame News, Slap The Sign
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
