Prelude to a National Championship Game Good Afternoon, Irish Fans! There will be a lot of pre-game articles that will talk about stats, and keys to a National Championship, but there are aspects of the game that go beyond statistics. That aspect is character. How Did They Show Character? After a season long journey with this team, I see a group of transformed men. Freshmen are essentially sophomores, sophomores are juniors, and seniors are about to graduate. During the mid-season 16-game ...
Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Mission Accomplished!
Humbled! That's the best word I can find to describe the 2017-2018 Notre Dame Women's Basketball team. You may ask why not use another adjective like extraordinary, magnificent, or outstanding? The answer is very simple. From my perspective, that is how I observed this team all season long. On the court, this team is all of those other words. Off the court, after all the fans had left the Purcell Pavilion, addressing the media in the press conference, the players were truly humble. They were ...
Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Through Adversity To The “FINAL”
Notre Dame versus UConn, a tale of two foes from the Big East matching up in an unlikely place. Their two worlds collided at the Final Four in Columbus Ohio. The Final Four is the 48th time that Notre Dame and UConn have done battle on a basketball court. Going into Friday evening, UConn led the series 36-11. In NCAA tournament play against each other they are at three wins apiece. There is no other way to get the National Championship than watching the two teams settle the score on a basketball ...
Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: How Sweet “16” It Is
The fall/winter season of sporting activities are all wrapping up. Men's basketball wrapped up Saturday afternoon, and the Men's Hockey won the B1G Championship Saturday night in "Sudden Death" overtime. The last team to play was the Notre Dame Women's Basketball team. The women were matched up against a former Big East foe, the Wildcats of Villanova. Villanova got to Sunday's game by beating the SDSU Jackrabbits in OT 81-74. The win came via the three-pointer. Nova was 16-38 from beyond the ...
Notre Dame Hockey: B1G Conference Champions
Championship hockey! There is nothing better than putting it all on the line for a chance to play in a championship game. Saturday night was no different. The #4 seed Ohio State Buckeyes were back at Notre Dame to take on the #1 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the B1G Conference Championship title. The inaugural season for the Fighting Irish in the B1G had come to a climax. All that was missing was the whistle and a puck drop to get the evening underway. The capacity crowd of 5,515 ...
Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Westbeld, We Got You!
When it comes to tournament play, Notre Dame is a quite familiar with how the process works. What they are unfamiliar with is playing with a short bench. Coming into the post season the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are indeed playing with a short bench. They are playing with just 7 scholarship players. But, the Irish have not let that hold them back from succeeding. Friday afternoon, the number one-seeded Fighting Irish took on number sixteen, California State University - Northridge (CSUN), out of ...
Notre Dame Hockey: ND To The B1G Championship
Everyone says, there is nothing better than championship events. Phrases like: win or go home, survive and move on, or play like it's your last game. These are all motivational words that you hear before a single elimination game. Last Saturday night at Compton Family Ice Center was no different. The Notre Dame Men's Hockey team, the regular season B1G Champions, had just such moments to capture. Ahead of them was the Penn State Nittany Lions who were just as hungry. PSU got to this game by ...
Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: NCAA says “Go West, ND!”
The Notre Dame Women's Basketball 2017/2018 season has had its fair share of peaks and valleys. Having three scholarship players on the bench with ACL injuries would be devastating to most teams in the NCAA. But, the women of Notre Dame basketball never let that keep them from focusing on being a team and achieving an amazing season. On Monday evening, the Notre Dame Women's Basketball team hosted a "watch party" at the Purcell Pavilion. The watch party was to celebrate the reveal of seeding ...
Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Young Steps Up To Send Off Seniors
When it comes to a Senior Day, no one does it better than Notre Dame Athletics. This past Sunday was no exception. Fifteen minutes prior to tip-off versus North Carolina St, the coaching staff and fans honored: (Seniors) Mychal Johnson, Brianna Turner, Kathryn Westbeld. They also honored Graduate Students Lili Thompson and Kristina Nelson. On Senior Day, the underclassmen want to send the Seniors off with a win. In order to win, the Irish were going to have beat a 22-6 overall and 11-4 ACC ...
Notre Dame Hockey: A Rough Road Continues
The Fighting Irish are now in the home stretch of their hockey season at Compton Family Ice Arena. Last weekend, the Fighting Irish split the weekend match-up against the Buckeyes. At this point in the season, the Fighting Irish need to be preparing themselves for post season play. The offense should be passing the puck crisp, making smart passes and wearing down their opponents defense. The defense should be working on getting the puck out of their opponent's offensive end and not playing like ...