Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2025 49 learning under really talented older guys and never really had the chance to blos- som and become great players. "This season, we're seeing that play out all over the field." So, while Taylor and the Irish are cruising along again this season, the route to this point wasn't always a smooth one. Only two games into the 2021 season, Taylor suffered a knee in- jury that ended his sophomore cam- paign before it ever really began. Fully recovered, Taylor suffered a second knee injury only about six months later that required another surgery and an- other lengthy rehab. "I was crushed," Taylor recalled. "But having known what I had been through the first time, I knew that I was able to come back. It was just going to be a huge recovery battle, just like the first time, and I accepted that." Finally back at full speed but seldom used by his coaches to begin his junior year in 2022, Taylor was rewarded that April with his first career start, and oh boy, did he make good, hitting peren- nial power Syracuse with a Notre Dame single-game-record 8 goals. It's a breakout performance that Tay- lor still considers the launch point of his fine career. "I really don't know what led the coaches to give me a shot that day," Tay- lor said. "But I'm super grateful they did. Everything has been awesome ever since." MEN'S SWIMMING REINSTATED After suspending the Irish men's swimming program last August for at least the entire 2024-25 academic year, Notre Dame director of athletics Pete Bevacqua announced Feb. 26 that the team will return to competition for the 2025-26 school year. "Over the course of the last year, our men's swimming team has taken the critical and necessary steps to correct the issues that led to the suspension of the program this past summer," Bevacqua said in a written statement. "As a result, we have made the determination that our men's swimming team will return to full competition next season. While we have all learned some difficult lessons through this process, we are confident that this team is set up for success in the future." No specific details were provided when the suspension was levied. But the program stoppage came after a self-im- posed, external investigation uncovered "numerous violations of NCAA rules prohibiting gambling," along with other unspecified "cultural issues" inside the program. ✦ Irish Roundup BASEBALL (8-4 OVERALL, 0-3 ACC) Won five of six games during its season-opening road trip to Florida, tak- ing two of three against North Florida in Jacksonville before topping Iowa, Maryland-Baltimore County and Stetson in Deland … Swept a three-game set at Belmont, winning 12-8, 2-1 and 6-2 in Nashville, Tenn. … The home opener versus Eastern Michigan March 5 in South Bend was postponed … Began ACC play by losing all three games at Wake Forest March 7-9. FENCING Both the men and women claimed ACC team titles Feb. 22-23 in Chapel Hill, N.C. … The men won the conference crown for the eighth time in program history, while the women notched their sixth straight and ninth overall team title … The women swept all three weapons in the individual portion of the championships for the fourth straight season, while the men won two of three titles … The men and women placed 12 fencers on the podium and claimed all six gold medals in the NCAA Midwest Regional March 8 at Granville, Ohio … Both squads will take part in the NCAA Championships March 20-23 at University Park, Pa. MEN'S GOLF Placed 10th with a 7-over-par 871 team score at the Watersound Invita- tional Feb. 17-19 at Panama City Beach, Fla. WOMEN'S GOLF Finished 12th with an 18-over 882 at the MSU Spartan Sun Coast Invita- tional Feb. 16-17 at Sarasota, Fla. HOCKEY (12-24-1 OVERALL, 4-19-1 BIG TEN) Dropped two games at Penn State Feb. 14-15, losing 5-3 and 3-2 … Split two contests at Wisconsin Feb. 21-22, losing 7-3 and winning 6-1 … Closed the regular season with a pair of 5-2 losses versus Michigan State Feb. 28 and March 1 in South Bend … Won two of three versus No. 3 Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament March 7-9 in Minneapolis … Set to face No. 2 Michigan State in the Big Ten semifinals March 15 at East Lansing, Mich. MEN'S LACROSSE (3-2 OVERALL) Preseason No. 1 Irish started the season with dominant victories over Cleveland State 24-6 Feb. 12 and Marquette 22-9 Feb. 15 … Picked up an 11-9 win at Georgetown Feb. 22 … Suffered an 11-10 defeat at the hands of No. 2 Maryland March 1 and a 10-9 setback against Ohio State March 8. WOMEN'S LACROSSE (3-4 OVERALL, 0-3 ACC) Crushed Eastern Michigan 17-7 Feb. 15 before losing matches to a pair of ranked foes, falling 12-11 to No. 19 Clemson Feb. 22 and 11-9 at No. 21 Duke Feb. 28 … Doubled up Elon 8-4 March 2 in Burlington, N.C. … Suffered a 15-9 loss versus No. 1 Boston College March 8 in South Bend. SOFTBALL (11-12 OVERALL, 1-2 ACC) Split four games in the Battle at the Beach Feb. 14-15 in Conway, S.C., with victories versus Towson (9-0) and Kent State (5-0) … Posted a 3-2 mark at the Mardi Gras Classic Feb. 21-23 in Mobile, Ala., with wins against Texas A&M Corpus Christi (8-3), Maine (8-0) and Lipscomb (15-4) … Notched a 2-3 record in the Judi Garman Classic Feb. 27-March 1 in Fullerton, Calif., picking up wins against Cal State Fullerton (5-2) and No. 23 San Diego State (5-4) … Opened ACC play by losing two of three at Louisville March 7-9. WOMEN'S SWIMMING Finished 12th with 275 points at the ACC Championships Feb. 18-22 in Greensboro, N.C. MEN'S TENNIS (10-6 OVERALL, 0-4 ACC) Closed out nonconference play by losing 4-3 at Illinois Feb. 15 before knock- ing off Wisconsin 7-0 Feb. 21 and winning at Northwestern 4-2 Feb. 23 … Began ACC play with two defeats, losing 4-1 at Georgia Tech Feb. 28 and 4-2 at Clemson March 2 … Lost a pair of home matches versus Duke (4-1) March 7 and North Carolina (4-3) March 9. WOMEN'S TENNIS (12-2 OVERALL, 2-1 ACC) Closed the nonconference slate with a 5-2 triumph over Xavier Feb. 16 … The No. 19 Irish on their first two ACC matches, topping SMU 4-1 Feb. 21 in Dallas and Wake Forest 4-3 Feb. 28 in South Bend … Lost 4-2 to No. 15 North Carolina State March 2 in South Bend. TRACK & FIELD The women placed seventh and the men came in ninth in the ACC Indoor Championships March 1-3 at Louisville, Ky. … The NCAA Indoor Champion- ships are slated for March 14-15 at Virginia Beach, Va.