Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 MAY 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TODD D. BURLAGE W hen any college coach describes winning a na- tional title as "a big-time re- lief," there's little doubt they're leading one powerful program. So, when Notre Dame fencing assistant coach Christian Ras- cioni used the phrase to explain the mood of his team March 26, immediately after the Irish won a third straight and a 13th over- all national title, believe him. "When you are showing up as the favorite team and everybody is waiting for you, then from the first day you show the utmost confidence and control, it becomes intimidating to your opponents," explained Rascioni, whose Irish led wire to wire during the four-day NCAA Championships at Cam- eron Indoor Arena on the Duke campus in Durham, N.C. "Usually, the favorite team is under the most pressure and it's very easy to fail or just to show some stress. "But when you're not showing it, you start to really intimidate your opponents, and that's what we were able to do." With 188 points, Notre Dame finished a comfortable 13 points ahead of second- place Princeton and 32 points ahead of third-place Columbia in becoming the first Fighting Irish athletic program to ever three-peat as a national champion. It was also the fifth national champi- onships for Notre Dame head coach Gia Kvaratskhelia in his nine seasons on the job. Kvaratskhelia also led title runs in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022. The Irish qualified the maximum 12 fencers for the championships and left Durham with two individual na- tional champions, bringing the total to 20 NCAA individual champs for Kvar- atskhelia at Notre Dame. In women's epee, freshman Eszter Muhari dominated the com- petition on the way to her first individual title. On the men's side, junior sabre specialist Luke Linder claimed the sec- ond title of his Fighting Irish career. Overall, Notre Dame fin- ished the event with nine All- Americans and a dominating title run. "We started as the favorite, we went there to win, and over- all, the team managed the pres- sure very well," Rascioni said. "I'm not saying it was easy be- cause it was not at all. But we were always ahead. That was really good, and it says something about how poised and talented this team is. It also showed how important teamwork is because this is everybody's result, not just the kids who competed. This is everybody's victory." Muhari and Linder both earned first- team All-America honors. Additionally, senior Marcello Olivares and freshman Chase Emmer earned second-team All- America honors in men's foil. On the women's side, graduate Kara Linder in sabre, senior Amita Berthier in foil and junior Kaylin Hsieh in epee all also earned second-team All-America honors. ✦ Fighting Irish Fencers Win Third Straight National Title The Fighting Irish fencers became the first Notre Dame program to three-peat as a national champion and now have 13 total titles. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS ND SPORTS BASEBALL (14-11 OVERALL, 5-7 ACC) Dropped two of three games in ACC series at Georgia Tech March 10-11, at Wake Forest March 18-19 and versus UNC March 31-April 2 … Highlight thus far was wining two of three versus then-No. 2 Louisville March 24-26. MEN'S GOLF Placed eighth in the Johnnie-O at Sea Island March 13-14 at St. Simons Island, Ga. … Tied for ninth at the Schenkel Invitational March 17-19 in Statesboro, Ga. … Placed 12th in the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational April 1-2 at Augusta, Ga. WOMEN'S GOLF Tied for 10th in the Clover Cup March 10-12 at Mesa, Ariz. … Finished eighth at the Florida State Matchup March 17-19 in Tallahassee, Fla. MEN'S LACROSSE (7-1 OVERALL, 1-1 ACC) Crushed Ohio State 16-3 at home March 11 … Notched an 18-8 road win over Michigan March 18 … Fell 15-10 to Virginia March 25 … Won 20-12 at Syracuse April 1 and moved up to No. 2 in the Inside Lacrosse Division I media rankings. WOMEN'S LACROSSE (8-3 OVERALL, 4-2 ACC) Lost 15-7 at Syracuse March 11, but bounced with home victories versus Vir- ginia Tech (14-1) March 16 and Liberty (19-8) March 19 … Edged 16-13 at Virginia March 25 … Routed Brown 21-7 March 27 … Defeated No. 3 UNC 16-12 April 1. SOFTBALL (20-10-1 OVERALL, 5-6-1 ACC) Won two of three at NC State March 10-11 … Defeated Miami (Ohio) 11-3 in its home opener March 21 … Split two games and tied the third versus Syracuse … Topped IUPUI 15-0 … Lost two of three against Pitt April 1-2. MEN'S TENNIS (12-11 OVERALL, 2-7 ACC) Topped Virginia Tech 4-3 March 10, but dropped its next five matches to Vir- ginia (5-2), at Miami (4-3), at Florida State (7-0), at NC State (4-0) and at Wake Forest (6-1) … Rebounded versus Boston College (6-1) and Butler (4-3) April 2. WOMEN'S TENNIS (13-7 OVERALL, 4-5 ACC) Won 4-2 at Virginia and 5-2 at Virginia Tech March 17-19 … Lost 5-2 to NC State March 24 … Beat Wake Forest 7-0 March 26 … Topped Louisville 5-2 March 31. WINTER POSTSEASON RESULTS • Men's Swimming & Diving: Recorded a program-best finish of 18th in the NCAA Championships March 22-25 at Minneapolis. • Women's Indoor Track & Field: Posted a seventh-place finish — the second- highest in program history — at the NCAA Indoor Championships March 11-12. Irish Roundup Through April 2