Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2023 49 ND SPORTS BASEBALL (5-4 OVERALL, 0-0 ACC) Notre Dame opened the season by winning five its first nine contests, dropping two of three at Lipscomb Feb. 17-19, winning two of three at UNC Greensboro Feb. 24-26 and winning two of three at Alabama-Birmingham March 3-5. MEN'S GOLF The Irish began play in the spring by finishing tied for sixth at the Water- sound Invitational Feb. 19-21 at Panama City Beach. Fla. WOMEN'S GOLF Notre Dame opened its spring slate with a fifth-place finishing out of 14 teams in the Columbia Classic Feb. 11-13 at Melbourne, Fla. MEN'S FENCING The No. 4-ranked Irish swept Boston College, Duke and North Carolina to claim their 26th league crown at the ACC Championships Feb. 25-26 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. WOMEN'S FENCING No. 1 Notre Dame won its 17th league title with a clean sweep of Boston College, Duke and North Carolina at the ACC Championships Feb. 25-26 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. HOCKEY (16-16-5 OVERALL, 10-10-4 BIG TEN) The Irish defeated Ohio State 2-1 Feb. 10 and then skated to a 2-2 tie versus the Buckeyes Feb. 11 … Notre Dame closed the regular season with a 3-3 tie and a 2-1 victory at Michigan Feb. 24-25 … The No. 4-seeded Irish fell to No. 5-seeded Michigan State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament March 3-5, dropping a pair of 4-2 decisions after a 1-0 win in the series opener. MEN'S LACROSSE (4-0 OVERALL, 0-0 ACC) No. 2 Notre Dame began the season with decisive victories over Marquette (21-10) Feb. 15 , Cleveland State (18-8) Feb. 19 and at Georgetown (15-8) Feb. 25 … Notched a 13-12 win in triple overtime at No. 4 Maryland March 4. WOMEN'S LACROSSE (4-1 OVERALL, 2-0 ACC) The No. 13 Irish opened the campaign with a 18-2 triumph over San Diego State Feb. 10 before falling 18-14 at No. 5 Northwestern Feb. 16 … Bounced back to defeat Central Michigan 24-5 Feb. 19 and Clemson 12-9 Feb. 25, and then defeated No. 11 Duke 14-6 March 4 at Charlotte, N.C. SOFTBALL (11-6 OVERALL, 1-2 ACC) Notre Dame began the season by winning 11 of its first 17 games, going 4-1 at the SDSU Season Kickoff Feb. 10-11 in San Diego, 1-3 in the Softball B1G/ACC Challenge Feb. 17-19 in Clemson, S.C., 5-0 at The Spring Games Feb. 24-26 in Madeira Beach, Fla., and 1-2 in its ACC-opening series at Duke March 3-5. MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING The No. 20-ranked Irish placed fifth at the ACC Championships Feb. 14-18 in Greensboro, N.C. WOMEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING HOCKEY Notre Dame finished eighth at the ACC Championships Feb. 14-18 at Greensboro, N.C. MEN'S TENNIS (9-6 OVERALL, 0-2 ACC) The No. 40 Irish lost 7-0 at Illinois Feb. 11, but rebounded with home wins against Wisconsin (5-2) and Illinois-Chicago (4-0) Feb. 18 … After a 7-0 defeat at Ohio State Feb. 25. They edged Michigan State 4-3 Feb. 27 … Fell to North Carolina 4-2 March 3 … Split a pair of matches March 5, losing 4-2 to Duke and beating Northern Kentucky 4-0. WOMEN'S TENNIS (10-5 OVERALL, 1-3 ACC) No. 14 Notre Dame notched a pair of home wins versus Northwestern (6-1) Feb. 11 and Penn State (4-1) Feb. 17, but lost to Wisconsin (5-2) Feb. 19 … Lost 5-2 to Georgia Tech Feb. 24, but rebounded with victories versus Clem- son (4-1) and Chicago (4-2) Feb. 26 … Dropped a pair of ACC matches at Duke (5-2) March 3 and at North Carolina (7-0) March 5. INDOOR TRACK & FIELD The Irish women tied for sixth and the men placed 12th at the ACC Cham- pionships Feb. 23-25 at Louisville, Ky. Led by Pat (left) and Chris Kavanaugh (right), the No. 2-ranked men's lacrosse team started the season with a four-game winning streak, includ- ing a thrilling, triple-overtime 13-12 victory at No. 4 Maryland March 4. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS And when asked about his outstand- ing freshman season, Findlay — a sturdy 6-foot-3, 200-pounder from Ledge- wood, N.J. — explained how he wasn't sure if he'd even make the Irish travel team as a first-year player. "Last season exceeded my expecta- tions, and I always have high expecta- tions for myself," Findlay shared. As a sophomore this season, Find- lay is picking up where he left off with a new-look coaching staff and locker room. Through 10 games as of March 5, Findlay in 3 relief appearances and 10 1 ⁄3 innings pitched was 2-0 with 3 walks, 18 strikeouts and a 2.61 ERA. "Just seeing the ND monogram every day when I put on the hat, it's still a surreal moment," Findlay said of why Notre Dame was still the place for him to be. "It takes me back to when I was an 11-year-old, and I couldn't believe this would become a reality. I won't take it for granted." ✦ Irish Roundup Through March 5