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.

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The first match-up was difficult for both teams. Notre Dame knocked off Yale, 13-7, while Virginia edged Princeton 6-5.

Sunday will be the 7th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Virginia. The Cavaliers lead the series 5-1, including a 3-0 mark in the NCAA tournament. However, every game was played in Virginia. So, hopefully this time will be different.

Payer to watch on UVA-

Senior attackman Steele Stanwick will be vital to the Cavaliers’ offense. With 27 goals and 46 assists on the season, Stanwick is definitely someone to keep an eye on. Irish goalie John Kemp will be tested.

Team capitan Nicholas Beattie will be back for the first time since a leg injury against Duke the first game of the year. The Irish look re-energized and ready to go.

Score Prediction-

Notre Dame 10, Viginia 8.

The Irish will most likely be trailing at halftime, but I fully expect for them to pull out the victory.

The winner of the Notre Dame-Virginia contest will face the winner of the quarterfinal tilt between Loyola and Denver in the semifinals on Saturday, May 26 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

Game-time: 12pm ET

Location: PPL Park (Philadelphia, PA)

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Notre Dame jumped out to a 4-0 lead with no looking back. Sophomore midfielder Jim Marlatt led the Irish offense with 3 goals and 2 assists, while senior attack-man Sean Rogers scored 2 goals and 1 assist. All in all, the Irish had 13 goals on 9 different goal scorers matched season-high totals for the Fighting Irish, who never trailed in the game.

The Irish took a 6-4 lead into halftime, and didn’t seem too stressed. They stayed composed throughout the game.

“I thought it was a similar game to what I hoped it would be and in a lot of ways expected it to be, but I didn’t expect us to pull away from them,” Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan said. “These were two very similar teams in a lot of ways. We got a lead early, which made them have to come to us and not be able to stall quite as much. That was an important part of the game.” -und.com

Yale held a 37-23 advantage in shots. but goalie John Kemp had 12 saves for the Irish. The Bulldogs also led in face-offs, 14-9. Clearly, the statistics aren’t appealing to the Irish, but a win’s a win, and ND will take it.

Notre Dame’s next game is home against #5 Virginia on Sunday in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship. The game will be starting at 12pm ET on ESPNU/ESPN3.