Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/79478
ND SPORTS your roster and most of your im- pact players are in their second sea- son. That's a big part of why Notre Dame, a preseason favorite to return to the Frozen Four and maybe even capture its first national champion- ship, bowed out of the postseason quietly in the second round of the Central Collegiate Hockey Associa- tion playoffs in early March. The Irish (19-18-3) showed a T he sophomore slump can hit a squad hard when almost half of Disappointing Hockey Season Ends In Ann Arbor Roundup BY DAN MURPHY Kelly Ryan collected All-America honors at the NCAA Championships March 15-17 in Auburn, Ala. Ryan set a personal best in the 200 back- stroke to finish in seventh place. Reaney col- lected three honorable mention All-America scrolls in the 200 breaststroke, 100 breast- stroke and 200 individual medley. SWIMMING & DIVING Freshman Emma Reaney and sophomore spurt of life late in the season, but a double overtime loss to Michi- gan on the road was too much to overcome. The Wolverines finished a sweep of the Irish the following night in a best-of-three series to end any hope of a return to the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Jeff Jack- son, who watched his team beat six of the top 10 schools in the country during the season, said the success in big games was enough to hide bigger problems brewing under the surface. "They kind of led me on a little bit," he said. "They teased all of us." Notre Dame put together an 11- game unbeaten streak in the fall, but even then frustrations were starting to build for some of those sopho- mores who expected big things of themselves after an impressive freshman campaign. Jackson said that as the season wore on, the foundation of confidence for those players was crumbling. When the bubble burst and losses started to come in January, there was nothing on which to fall back. "Confidence was a big one," se- tough competition, but made it through the pre-conference schedule with only one slip. Notre Dame beat No. 2 Duke 7-3 at home Feb. 18 to open the season and No. 9 Denver 10-9 in triple overtime March 18. The lone loss came at the hands of Penn State, 4-3 in overtime Feb. 26. MEN'S LACROSSE (4-1) The No. 7 Irish started its season against mid-March, has yet to lose under first-year head coach Christine Halfpenny. Through six games, the Irish had the third-most productive offense in the country, averaging 16 goals per game. Senior Maggie Tamasitis led the nation is assists per game (3.83) heading into the conference opener. WOMEN'S LACROSSE (6-0) The women's team, also ranked No. 7 in Irish head coach Jeff Jackson said his team was "a tease" throughout the year, after finishing 19-18-3 and on the outside looking in during the postseason. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND Tournament than any other confer- ence, didn't do the Irish any favors. "Our league beat the crap out of nior captain and defenseman Sean Lorenz said. "I think we just kind of lost sight of what we did well as a team at times. We tried to be a team we weren't." Notre Dame beat national pow- road trip to begin the season in good shape. Starting pitchers Will Hudgins (named the Big East Pitcher of the Week March 12) and Sean Fitzgerald were settling in on the hill, and Notre Dame's offense is much improved from last season. The top highlight of the early season was a 7-1 upset win over No. 11 LSU in Baton Rouge March 11. BASEBALL (10-7) Notre Dame made it through a month-long teams that started feeling too good about themselves," Jackson said. "We were one of those teams." The good news for the Irish is that erhouses Boston University and Minnesota in back-to-back games in early January, but when they re- turned to the toughest conference schedule of Jackson's tenure the wheels fell off. They lost nine of the next 12 games. The CCHA, which sent more teams (five) to the NCAA www.BLUEANDGOLD.com all of those sophomores will be ju- niors next season. The team's top two scorers, sophomore centers T.J. Tynan and Anders Lee, made the All-CCHA roster and will be back again next season. So will sopho- more goalie Steven Summerhays, who emerged to win the starting job for one of the few bright spots in the closing stretch of Notre Dame's season. All but six players — five seniors early trips to the South and West Coast. They dropped four of their first five games, but have finished 3-1 at two of their three weekend tournaments since then. Senior Dani Miller pushed her error-free streak past 75 games during that stretch. She also led the team at the plate with five home runs and 18 RBI through 21 games. SOFTBALL (11-10) The Irish have been streaky during their and junior Riley Sheahan, who signed a professional contract with the Detroit Red Wings on March 20 — will return for the Fighting Irish next season. ✦ APRIL 2012 55