Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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68 PRESEASON 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED after losses in their first two games, and their two most difficult games, against Miami (Fla.) and Texas A&M. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Free- man rallied the troops and won the final 10 regular-season games to finish 10-2, seemingly in great shape for a second straight College Football Playoff ap- pearance. The Irish were ranked No. 10 in the second-to-last playoff rankings, ap- parently in the field as the final at-large team after rolling through a perfect 5-0 November. Instead, the CFP selection committee pulled an unexpected last-ballot flip- flop and moved Miami from No. 12 to No. 10, and dropped Notre Dame from No. 10 to No. 11, putting the Hurricanes into the field, while leaving the Irish out. "Why put these young student-ath- letes through these false emotions just to pull the rug out from underneath them?" Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua lamented afterward. "We feel like the playoff was stolen from our student-athletes." SURGING FOOTBALL RECRUITING So while the 2025 Notre Dame foot- ball team dealt with the deepest of dis- appointments, the future of the Fight- ing Irish football program continued to show great momentum and promise. In what was rated as the best recruit- 1. Hannah Hidalgo (basketball) — Collecting more hardware for her already packed trophy case, the Merchantville, N.J., native won both ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, and also earned the National Defensive Player of the Year award, All-America recognition and the 2026 Nancy Lieberman Award as the nation's best point guard during her historic junior season. The greatest defensive player in Fighting Irish history, Hidalgo averaged 5.6 steals per game on her way to an NCAA single-season record 202 takeaways. Also Notre Dame's leading scorer, Hidalgo averaged 25.3 points per game and set a single- season team record with 909 total points. 2. Izzy Engle (soccer) — On pace to set every scoring record in Notre Dame women's soccer history, the Edina, Minn., native earned countless individual honors after her stellar sophomore season in 2025, including ACC Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-America recognition, along with a MAC Hermann Trophy finalist nomination as the best player in the country. Also a CSC Academic All-American, the star Irish midfielder finished the 2025 season with 19 goals, 6 assists and 44 points to lead the ACC, finished second in the nation with 1.00 goal per game, and also led the league and finished third in the country with 2.32 points per game. 3. Eszter Muhari (fencing) — The Budapest, Hungary, native capped off her his- toric career by winning the NCAA individual épée national championship last March in leading her Irish team to the 2025-26 NCAA women's fencing team title. The Irish senior cruised to a 13-1 victory in the title match over Princeton's Hadley Husisian, marking Muhari's third career individual NCAA épée title (2023, 2025, 2026). Along the way last season, the ACC Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year also collected first-team All-America honors for the third time and earned 2026 USFCA Women's Épée Collegiate Athlete of the Year and ACC Women's Épée Fencer of the Year recognition. 4. Sophie Novak (track and field) — Wrapping up a stellar track career that included three All-America selections, three ACC individual championships and four All-ACC academic honors, the grad student from Lake Orion, Mich., finished national runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships June 13 in Eugene, Ore. Novak also claimed her second straight individual ACC title in the event last May and was named the Great Lakes Region Outdoor Women's Track Athlete of the Year in June. A 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials steeplechase qualifier, Novak holds the Irish program record in the event with a 9:24.95. 5. Kate Timarky (lacrosse) — After finishing second in the ACC and 26th nationally with 54 goals during the 2026 season, the Centereach, N.Y., native earned All-ACC and second-team All-America honors from USA Lacrosse after leading the Irish with 70 points. The junior attacker also earned third-team All-America honors from the Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association during a season where she surpassed the 100 career- point milestone. Timarky finished second in the ACC and 11th nationally with 3.60 goals per game, and she scored 5 or more goals in five games to finish third in the league with 4.67 points per game. — Todd D. Burlage Hannah Hidalgo won both ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors and also earned the National Defensive Player of the Year award. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER 2025-26 Female Athletes of the Year