Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/114977
ND Sports national poll for the first time in seven years. Notre Dame scratched together a six-game winning streak that included beating Tulane three times, shutting out No. 25 Virginia Tech and topping Tennessee in a 12-inning thriller. They topped that the following week by beating rival USC and No. 17 Oklahoma, in 11 innings, in Los Angeles. Senior pitcher Adam Norton (4-0, 1.61 ERA) won Big East Pitcher of the Week honors after throwing a complete game four-hitter against the Hokies March 2. Notre Dame is spending its spring break playing several ranked teams during an extended road trip through California. Fencing A total of 10 fencers qualified for the NCAA Championships at a regional meet in South Bend during the second week of March. The Irish men swept the top three spots in the sabre competition, where freshman John Hallsten outdueled senior Jason Choy for first place. Freshman Lee Kiefer and sophomore Madison Zeiss won 35 of their 38 combined matches to take the top two spots in the women���s foil. The national meet was set to begin March 21. Lacrosse (Men 3-1, Women 5-0) Freshman Matt Kavanagh announced his arrival to college lacrosse in dramatic fashion last month. Kavanagh (nine goals and three assists) scored game-winning goals in overtime against two top-10 teams in his first three games with the Irish. The No. 2 Irish edged both No. 8 Penn State and No. 9 North Carolina 10-9 in overtime after opening the season with a 13-5 win over No. 4 Duke. Their first loss of the season came in an 8-7 defeat at the hands of No. 15 Hofstra March 9. The ninth-ranked women���s team has yet to lose this season. The Irish set a school record for margin of victory with a 22-1 win over Detroit March 5. Senior Jaimie Morrison (11 goals and seven assists) currently leads a potent and balanced Irish offense that is averaging 14.6 goals per game under second-year head coach Christine Halfpenny. Softball (14-6) Eight straight wins catapulted the Irish well past the .500 level in mid-March. Sophomore outfielder Emilee Koerner was named to the Big East honor roll in back-to-back weeks for helping to spark the Notre Dame offense out of a slump. She is currently leading the team in batting average (.492), RBI (20) and runs scored (16). The Irish begin conference play March 23 at Seton Hall and play their first home game against Villanova April 6. Track & Field Junior Patrick Feeney finished fourth overall in the 400-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships March 8-9 in Fayetteville, Ark. Feeney (46.03 seconds) edged teammate Chris Giesting (46.99) who finished eighth overall. They both earned their second career All-America citation in the race. Sophomore Jade Barber and junior Rebecca Tracy also earned All-America status in the 60-meter hurdles and the mile, respectively. Barber finished seventh overall and Tracy eighth. ��� Dan Murphy