Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2018 93 ND SPORTS BY LOU SOMOGYI T he two Notre Dame soccer pro- grams — both of which have won national titles in this decade — will be under new leadership in 2018. For the men, who saw 72-year-old head coach Bobby Clark step down last fall after 17 seasons, highlighted by the 2013 national title, 2004 Notre Dame alumnus Chad Riley was hired in January. A Clark disciple, Riley played for the veteran coach before graduating, was an assistant for him from 2006-11 with the Irish, and for the past five seasons was the head coach at Dart- mouth — where Clark also coached from 1985-93. Riley led the Big Green to the Ivy League title each of the last four years, a first in the conference in 32 years, won first-round NCAA Tournament games in 2014 and 2016, and was the No. 15 national seed in 2017 (see more on Riley on page 8). On the women's side, head coach Theresa Romagnolo announced Jan. 22 that she was resigning from her post after four seasons to spend more time with her family. Her husband, Alex, is the director of development at the University of Notre Dame. "This has been a difficult decision for me and my family, but my personal goals are taking me down a different path at this time," she said. "With two young children it's best for me to step down as the head coach and find something that will keep me more present with the people I care most about." Romagnolo — who like Clark and Riley came from Dartmouth — was 51- 21-13 in four seasons at Notre Dame, highlighted by a 2016 ACC regular- season title and advancements to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2014 and 2017. "We have been very fortunate to have Theresa as the head coach of our women's soccer team for the past four years," Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick said. "She has been a great teacher, mentor and role model for our stu- dents. "And while we would have pre- ferred that she continue to lead our program, we understand and respect her decision and wish her nothing but the best." ✦ Theresa Romagnolo stepped down as head coach of the women's soccer program Jan. 22 after compiling a 51-21-13 record, one regular-season ACC title and a pair of NCAA Sweet 16 appear- ances (2014 and 2017) in four seasons. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS Notre Dame Soccer Programs Hire And Look For New Coach Irish Roundup BASEBALL Notre Dame was slated to open its season Feb. 16-18 at traditional superpower LSU, coached by 1995-2006 Fighting Irish manager Paul Mainieri. Eighth-year head coach Mik Aoki then will take the Irish to the annual Alamo Irish Classic in San Anto- nio Feb. 22-25 and the Kissimmee (Fla.) Irish Classic March 2-4. The Atlantic Coast Conference season opens with a three-game series at Miami March 9-11. Junior outfielder Matt Vierling was named to the Preseason All-ACC team by Perfect Game. He was All-ACC last year after leading Notre Dame in batting average (.330), slugging percentage (.549), RBI (42) and home runs (seven). Vierling and junior infielder Nick Podkul received All-ACC honorable men- tion notice from College Baseball Daily. Perfect Game also selected rookie right-handed pitcher Joe Boyle as the No. 2-ranked college fresh- man. Notre Dame is attempting to improve upon last year's last-place finish (10-20) in the seven-team Atlantic Division of the ACC. Since Mainieri's departure to LSU after the 2006 season, the Irish have made it to the NCAA Tournament just once (2015). FENCING The reigning national champs cancelled a trip to the Duke Duals Feb. 9-11 because of inclement weather. The previous weekend at the Northwestern Duals, the top-ranked Irish women (35-1) finished the day at 4-0 and ran their current win streak to 22 matches. The No. 1 men (27-6) were 2-2. Notre Dame will compete at the ACC Championships Feb. 24-25 at Chapel Hill, N.C. Individual Irish fencers will partake in the USA Fencing Junior Olympics Feb. 16-19 in Memphis, Tenn. MEN'S LACROSSE (1-0) No. 9 Notre Dame opened its 2018 campaign with a 10-7 victory versus Detroit Mercy Feb. 11 in the Loftus Sports Center. Head coach Kevin Corrigan's Irish trailed 6-5 after three quarters before a 5-1 advantage in the fourth resulted in the victory. Sophomore midfielder Bryan Costabile spearheaded the outcome with a career-high five goals to go with two assists, while senior attackman Mikey Wynne also tallied two goals. Freshman goalkeeper Matt Schmidt recorded nine saves in his collegiate debut. Notre Dame hosts Richmond Feb. 24 before traveling to No. 2 Maryland March 3 and then hosting No. 3 Denver March 10 as well as No. 10 Virginia March 17. The remarkably arduous 11-game schedule includes No. 6 Ohio State March 25, No. 7 Syracuse March 31, No. 1 Duke April 7, No. 20 Marquette April 11 and No. 14 North Carolina April 21. WOMEN'S LACROSSE (0-1) The No. 15 Irish opened with a 13-11 loss at home to No. 6 Boston College Feb. 10. Junior preseason All-ACC goaltender Samantha Giacolone made 15 saves against one of the nation's top offenses. Four freshmen made starting debuts for Notre Dame, led by Maddie Howe, whose three goals and one assist matched the output of junior Nikki Ortega. — Lou Somogyi