Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MAY 2025 41 BY TODD D. BURLAGE A fter falling one place short of a na- tional championship in 2024, the Notre Dame fencing team reclaimed its spot as the nation's best program on March 20-23, with a dominating performance and a 14th team title at the 2025 NCAA Championships on the Penn State campus. It marked the fourth team title in the last five years and the sixth in the last eight seasons for the Irish. Notre Dame collected three individual titles: Eszter Muhari in women's epee; Magda Skarbonkiewicz in women's sa- bre; and Chase Emmer in men's foil. "This year, to win both the individual and the team title was an extra cherry on top," said Emmer, who finished third in men's foil for the 2023 Notre Dame na- tional championship team. "But honestly, it was a lot of hard work, and I was pretty proud of myself for pushing through." Notre Dame won the title with 183 points. Columbia/Barnard was second with 172 points. Harvard and Princeton tied for third with 141 points apiece. Emmer said the mental and physical demands at the title meet began to take its toll later in the event. "Those two days of fencing are really tough," he said. "I was pretty close to cramping up, but I pushed through and came out with the result I wanted both for me and the team." With a roster of more than 60 student- athletes, not every Irish fencer earns the privilege of competing at the national championships. But that doesn't dimin- ish how important these "backup" fenc- ers were to the title run, and how much Emmer appreciated many of his team- mates making the 10-hour drive to cheer on the first-stringers. "That really helps," Emmer added, "es- pecially at such a crazy and hectic compe- tition when you know you have somebody on your side to help boost you up." With 48 all-time individual titles and the second-most team titles in NCAA fencing history, Notre Dame carries a big target as the overwhelming favorite to win the championship every year. "So, we just try to fence like we or- dinarily do, and stay relaxed," Emmer said. "That's how we deal with the stress of having that target on our back." HOCKEY TORCH IS PASSED After being named back in June 2024 as the suc- cessor-in-waiting to legendary Irish hockey head coach Jeff Jackson, former Notre Dame player and assistant coach Brock Sheahan was officially intro- duced as the new Notre Dame skipper on April 9. A defenseman for the Irish from 2004-08, Sheahan was a member of Jackson's first Frozen Four team in 2008. Sheahan returned to Notre Dame as an associate head coach prior to the 2023-24 season and earned enough confidence to be handed the keys to the program. "I believe that Notre Dame is the best of every- thing," said Sheahan, 40, who returned to the Notre Dame bench after spending four seasons coaching professionally in the AHL and the USHL. "I lived it as a student, as a hockey player, as a member of the com- munity. I honestly believe this is the best place to go to school, to develop as a person, and in our case, to compete and develop as a hockey player." ✦ Status Quo: Notre Dame Claims 14th Fencing National Title N O T R E D A M E S P O R T S Irish Roundup BASEBALL (16-17 OVERALL, 4-14 ACC) Have lost 16 of 24 games after an 8-1 start to the season … Lost each of their first six ACC series while starting 4-14 in league play. MEN'S GOLF Tied for fourth at both the Schenkel Invita- tional March 21-23 at Statesboro, Ga., and at the Haskins Awards Invitational April 5-6 at Au- gusta, Ga. WOMEN'S GOLF Placed fifth in the Notre Dame Clover Cup March 10-12 at Phoenix … Finished third in the Pinetree CC Women's Collegiate March 24-25 at Kennesaw, Ga. … Came in sixth in the Maryland Terps Invite April 6-7 at College Park, Md. WOMEN'S LACROSSE (6-8 OVERALL, 1-7 ACC) Picked up a pair of wins in California, topping Cal 15-8 March 13 and UC Davis 18-6 March 15 … Edged Harvard 8-6 March 19 … Fell 12-11 at Syracuse March 23 … Lost 14-3 to No. 2 North Carolina March 30 … Suffered an 8-7 setback versus Stanford April 5 … Lost 13-12 at Pittsburgh April 12. MEN'S LACROSSE (6-3 OVERALL, 2-1 ACC) Notched a 19-7 victory at Michigan March 15 … Doubled up Duke 14-7 March 29 … Suffered a 14-9 setback at Syracuse April 5 … Topped Vir- ginia 12-7 April 12. HOCKEY (12-25-1 OVERALL, 4-19-1 BIG TEN) Closed the season with a 1-0 defeat at Michi- gan State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tourna- ment March 15 in East Lansing, Mich. SOFTBALL (19-24-1 OVERALL, 6-12 ACC) Have gone 9-15-1 since the start of ACC play in early March … Picked up home ACC series wins over UVA March 28-30 and Pitt April 4-6. MEN'S TENNIS (13-14 OVERALL, 1-12 ACC) Have lost 12 of 15 matches since beginning the season with a 10-2 mark in nonconference play. WOMEN'S TENNIS (19-4 OVERALL, 9-3 ACC) Since their 4-2 setback against No. 15 NC State March 2, have won seven of nine matches. The Notre Dame fencing team captured its fourth national title in the last five years and sixth in the last eight seasons at the 2025 NCAA Championships. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS