Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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70 PRESEASON 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED finished runner-up in the country fol- lowing a 16-9 loss to No. 1 Princeton May 25 in Charlottesville, Va. The Irish won the ACC regular-sea- son title and earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament after finishing 3-1 in league play and 13-3 overall. As the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Championships, the Irish reached the final match after beating Jacksonville, Johns Hopkins and Syracuse, before falling to Princeton. "I think there's a lot to be proud of this season, made it to the national championship, and that was the goal from the fall," Irish graduate attacker Josh Yago said after the game. "We fell short, which is unfortunate. But I know the guys in the locker room are gonna use that as fuel for next year." Following the season, Irish junior Shawn Lyght became the first defen- seman in NCAA history to win the Tewaaraton Award as the best men's la- crosse player in the country. Lyght also garnered Schmeisser National Defen- sive Player of the Year honors for the second straight season. A RIGHT ENGLE Despite a loss in the championship game of the ACC Tournament and a second-round defeat in the NCAA Championship, the Irish women's soc- cer team enjoyed one of the best seasons during its eight years under head coach Nate Norman. Notre Dame finished 15-2-3 overall and 8-1-1 in conference play. After starting the season 13-0-1 — a stretch that included a 12-game win- ning streak — the Irish rose to No. 1 in the country and became the favorite to win a fourth national title in program history, and their first since 2010. Notre Dame earned the No. 1 seed in its NCAA Tournament bracket and beat Illinois-Chicago in the first round before falling 1-0 to Ohio State in a heartbreaking double-overtime loss in the second round. "We have had lots of adversity, and they kept overcoming it. I'm so proud of them," Norman said. "… I feel like I'm in a little bit of a bad dream right now." The Irish were led by sophomore midfielder Izzy Engle, who scored 19 goals and totaled 44 points to earn ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors and first-team All-America recognition. ✦ 2025-26 Top Rookies of the Year 1. CJ Carr (football) — The Saline, Mich., native won the full-time starting quarterback job for Notre Dame in 2025 and ended up becoming one of the best first-year signal-callers in Fighting Irish history. Carr threw for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns and completed 66.7 percent of his passes. He tossed at least one touchdown pass in all 12 Notre Dame games and he had multiple touchdown passes in nine games. One of the 2026 preseason favorites to win the Heisman Trophy, Carr won Manning Award Quarterback of the Week and Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Week honors last October after he threw for a season-high 354 yards with 4 touchdowns in a 56-13 win over Arkansas. 2. Jalen Haralson (men's basketball) — This former five-star high school recruit lived up to the hype during his freshman season when the 6-foot-7 guard averaged 16.2 points per game, the fourth-most for an Irish rookie in program history. Haralson, who earned honorable mention All-ACC honors, was especially dominant down the stretch last season when he recorded five 20-point games over the last eight outings of the campaign. The Anderson, Ind., native averaged 17.4 points in ACC games, which ranked ninth overall and fifth among conference rookies. Following his tremendous rookie season, Haralson announced he was transferring to Tennessee for his sophomore year. 3. Brauntae Johnson (football) — A 2026 preseason All-American, this talented safety earned Fresh- man All-America honors last season when he finished fourth on the team with 48 tackles and second on the Irish with 4 interceptions. In 10 games with eight starts, the Fort Wayne, Ind., native recorded 2 interceptions on Nov. 1 against Boston College and added a 49-yard interception return for a touch- down against Pitt Nov. 15. Johnson also tallied 5 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss in the Pitt game to earn Shaun Alexander Player of the Week honors and the Walter Camp National FBS Defensive Player of the Week award. 4. Ava Zachary (softball) — The star freshman infielder appeared in all 51 games, started 43 times for the Irish, and led the team in hitting with a .406 batting average. The Mishawaka, Ind., native also led Notre Dame in doubles (13) and RBI (31), and was second on the Irish in home runs (5), hits (56) and runs (34). Zachary had 17 multi-hit games during her freshman campaign to secure second-team All-ACC and Freshman All-ACC honors. Following her terrific rookie season, Zachary announced she was transferring to Arkansas for her sophomore year. 5. Maya Baker (volleyball) — The Irish setter from San Jose, Calif., played in all 28 matches last sea- son, made 12 starts and led Notre Dame with 549 assists. Baker, also an All-ACC Academic Team honoree, made her first career start and cemented her place in the starting lineup Aug. 29, when she recorded 21 assists, 9 digs and a career-high 3 service aces. She notched a double-double with 21 assists and 13 digs against Villanova on Aug. 31, and posted a career-high 31 assists (10.3 assists per set) and 2 kills in a win over Duke Oct. 26. — Todd D. Burlage CJ Carr threw for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns and completed 66.7 percent of his passes. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER