Tag: Lacrosse

Notre Dame lacrosse lands highly touted recruit

Notre Dame lacrosse lands a four-star goalie with skills and size.

Kieran Walsh has committed to Notre Dame.

The four-star recruit is ranked 32nd among goalies for the class of 2026. The 6-foot, 4-inch Walsh weighs 185 pounds and is right-handed.

Walsh will be joining the Fighting Irish out of Chaminade High School in New York after considering Cornell, Georgetown, North Carolina, Virgina and Penn.

He posted an 11-4 record and 94.31 rating in the 2024 season.

He also played for Team Long Island and Inside Lacrosse had this to say about Walsh’s play: “You notice the size (6-foot-4) right away, and that feels like it was imposing for opposing shooters. But there’s a calm there in the way he saves, the clean stickwork and the ability to find a smooth pass and move out of the cage. He just oozes high-level ability.”

And this: “A 6-foot-4 righty who plays for Chaminade and wears No. 44, it’s impossible to ignore the Liam Entenmann vibes he gives off.”

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Florida LAX has 6 named to IWLCA Academic Honor Roll, earns honor squad status

Florida’s lacrosse program excelled both on and off the field this past academic year.

The Florida lacrosse program featured six student-athletes on the 2024 Division l IWLCA Academic Honor Roll for the 2023-2024 academic year, it was announced Wednesday afternoon. The Gators also earned IWLCA Academic Honor Squad status for their excellence in the classroom.

Paisley Eagan, Josie Hahn, Liz Harrison, Emily Lortz, Jackie Norsworthy and Danielle Pavinelli were the six members of the Orange and Blue to earn the academic accolade.

To be eligible for this honor, student-athletes must be in their junior year or later, amassing a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or greater. Lortz, Hahn and Pavinelli all received 4.00 GPAs this past spring, with Lortz being awarded the Elite 90 Award in May for having the highest cumulative GPA at the Final Four (3.99).

Florida was one of 100 Division l programs to be named an IWLCA Honor Squad for the 2023-2024 academic year. To qualify as an Honor Squad, a team must have a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or greater; Florida posted a cumulative GPA of 3.55 with a 3.57 GPA in the spring and a 3.52 GPA in the fall.

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Former Gators LAX standout named to 2024 Athletes Unlimited Pro final roster

Maggi Hall is the eighth former Florida lacrosse player to participate in the professional league.

Former Florida lacrosse star [autotag]Maggi Hall[/autotag] was selected on Tuesday to participate in the 2024 Athletes Unlimited Pro league this season. The recent Gators graduate is among 56 athletes named on the final roster for the professional circuit.

Hall became the first-ever member of the Orange and Blue to lead the country in total points this past season, amassing 119 on career highs in goals (65) and assists (54), as well as shot percentage (.619) and ground balls (27). She racked up 11 hat-tricks and had nine games in which she tallied seven or more points en route to IWLCA First Team All-American honors — making her the 15th Gator to earn that accolade.

She is the eighth Gator alumna to participate in the professional lacrosse league, along with assistant coaches Nicole Levy and Taryn VanThof.

Gators to have competed in Athletes Unlimited

Player (Position) Years with UF Years in AU
  Maggi Hall (Attack) 2021-2024 2024
  Haley Hicklen (Goalkeeper) 2016-2019 2021
  Madi Hall (Midfield) 2016-2019 2021
  Shayna Pirreca (Attack) 2015-2018 2021-2022
  Sydney Pirreca (Midfield) 2016-2019 2021-2022
  Sarah Reznick (Goalkeeper) 2020-2023 2023
  Mollie Stevens (Attack) 2014-2017 2021-2022
  Emma Wightman (Defense) 2019-2022 2023

About Athletes Unlimited

It is the fourth season of Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse, which began in 2021. The season is set to take place for 24 days, lasting from July 18 to Aug. 11 at the USA Lacrosse Headquarters in Sparks, Maryland.

All games will be available live exclusively either on ESPN platforms or Bally Sports regional sports networks and the Bally Sports app, when users sign in through their pay TV provider or subscribe to Bally Sports+.

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Gators LAX standout on 2024 U.S. Women’s U20 National Team Roster

Kaitlyn Davies will be representing the Orange and Blue as well as the Red, White and Blue this summer in Hong Kong.

Florida lacrosse midfielder [autotag]Kaitlyn Davies[/autotag] was among 22 players selected to represent the United States at the 2024 World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship this summer, head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller announced on Tuesday.

The final roster was trimmed down following a three-day training camp comprised of 32 qualifying women’s lacrosse players at the USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Maryland. The team’s next training camp will be held at Northwestern University from July 18-20, before one final brief camp in August in Northern California.

The 2024 World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship will take place in Hong Kong from August 15 to 24.

“I could not be more excited at the selection of our U20 national team that will compete in the world championship in Hong Kong,” said Amonte Hiller. “We have chosen a group of 22 tremendously talented young women that work extremely well together.

“This is an exciting time for USA Lacrosse and we are so grateful for this group to have the opportunity to wear the red, white and blue and compete in this extraordinary tournament.”

Davies, a rising junior at UF, was a Second Team All-AAC selection, and an IWLCA All-Region Second Team performer this past season for the Gators. She played in 22 games, starting in 21 of them, totaling one goal, 13 ground balls, eight caused turnovers and 15 draw controls, helping anchor the nation’s seventh-best scoring defense.

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Notre Dame’s Pat Kavanagh Wins Lacrosse’s Biggest Individual Award

College lacrosse’s biggest individual honor goes to…

Notre Dame wrapped up one of the very best seasons in the history of college lacrosse Monday as the Fighting Irish dominated Maryland 15-5 and won their second-straight national championship.

The hardware kept coming for Notre Dame as the week went on however as on Thursday it was announced that attackman Pat Kavanagh was this year’s winner of the most coveted individual honor in the sport, the Tewaaraton Award.

The Tewaaraton Award is recognized as the pre-eminent lacrosse award, annually honoring the top male and female college lacrosse player in the United States.

Joining Kavanagh as a finalist was Notre Dame teammate and goaltender Liam Entenmann as well as Matthew Brandeau (Yale), Brennan O’Neill (Duke) and Connor Shellenberger (Virginia).

This was Entenmann’s second time being a finalist and the third time for Kavanagh.

Kavanagh scored an astounding 80 points with season with 20 of those coming in the postseason en-route to Notre Dame’s second straight national championship.

Kavanagh is the first player in Notre Dame history to take home the award after becoming the seventh Fighting Irish player to be named a finalist.

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Gators lacrosse finishes 4th in final IWLCA Poll after successful season

The final ILWomen/IWLCA Division I Poll for the 2024 lacrosse campaign was announced Tuesday and the Gators had their best finish since 2012.

The final ILWomen/IWLCA Division I Poll for the 2024 lacrosse campaign was announced Tuesday, with the Florida Gators finishing fourth in the final tally. It marks UF’s fifth top-five finish in program history — their first since 2014 — and the team’s best finish since 2012 when they were ranked third.

The Orange and Blue rose six spots from their previous ranking of No. 10 on May 6, representing the largest increase for any team since then. UF finished the season with a 20-3 overall record and a perfect 6-0 mark in the American Athletic Conference competition.

The Gators earned their 12th regular season conference championship and their 11th conference tournament championship (10th consecutive) before their deep run in the playoffs this spring. They ultimately fell to the top-seeded Northwestern Wildcats, 15-11, in the Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

Florida compiled a 7-3 record against ranked opponents, with three coming on the road and 12 double-digit victories, totaling nine games with 20 or more goals scored and 17 games of allowing under 10 goals.

UF ranked first nationally in scoring offense (17.61 goals/game), points per game (26.48), scoring margin (plus-9.09), shot percentage (.550), and clearing percentage (.959), along with ranking second in free position percentage (.639), third in assists per game (8.87), sixth in draw controls per game (17.70) and seventh in scoring defense (8.52 goals allowed/game).

The Orange and Blue’s 20 wins and 20-game winning streak were both the highest in the country and program history. Florida’s 2024 totals of 405 goals, 204 assists and 407 draw controls are all records for most in a Florida season.

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Best Photos of Notre Dame’s Lacrosse Championship Win Over Maryland

The party is on in South Bend!

Notre Dame had been a very successful men’s lacrosse program for years but was unable to reach the sport’s peak until last May when they won their first national championship.

Fast forward a year and the Fighting Irish are back on top after dominating their way to a second-straight national championship.  Notre Dame overcame a slow start in Monday’s championship against Maryland where they trailed 2-0 early on.

The Irish went on an incredible run however, outscoring the Terrapins 15-3 the rest of the way en-route to that second-straight national championship.

We’ve had reaction from much of the Notre Dame community following the win here at Fighting Irish Wire but would like to share the best photos from Sunday’s dominating win below.

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Pat McAfee Congratulates Notre Dame Lacrosse for Repeat Championship

Friends of the Progrum

Notre Dame men’s lacrosse earned their second-straight national championship that culminated Monday with a 15-5 a domination of Maryland in the national championship game.

Despite falling behind 2-0 early, Notre Dame quickly bounced back and made things rather uninteresting shortly after.  The win was expected entering the tournament after Notre Dame lost just one game all year.  They avenged that loss in the national quarterfinals when they beat Georgetown which led to their blowout victories over Denver and Maryland.

Former Indianapolis Colts punter and current national talk show host [autotag]Pat McAfee[/autotag] has been a supporter of the Notre Dame lacrosse program for the last year or so when he learned of the Kavanagh brothers.  He took a moment on Tuesday to look back to his visit with the team last fall which included a great one-liner from Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan.

Check out the video below.

Pat McAfee has done many things (NFL player, WWE performer, College Gameday host, husband, and father, and more) but we don’t think star lacrosse player will be added to that list anytime soon.

Regardless, some national love from a major player in sports media for a team that certainly earned it over the past two years.

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Marcus Freeman celebrates Notre Dame lacrosse’s national championship

Celebrating with the champs!

The City of Brotherly Love played host to the NCAA men’s lacrosse final four this weekend with the championship taking place on Monday. Notre Dame routed Maryland in that game to win its second straight national championship.

Many notable Notre Dame personalities were in attendance, including head football coach [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag].

Freeman took in the championship game last year when Notre Dame beat Duke and returned to see the Irish crowned champions again Monday. After the dominating win, Freeman joined the on-field celebration and even posed for pictures with a few multisport athletes that have played on the Notre Dame football team.

Freeman is of course with (L-R in group photo) Mick Assaf, [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag]. It’s certainly wild to see Notre Dame’s last two bowl game MVPs winning a national championship together in lacrosse.

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Tyler Buchner’s insane 18 months between Notre Dame and Alabama

What a wild run for TB12!

When [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] chose Notre Dame as part of the football team’s 2021 recruiting class, the hope was he would help the Fighting Irish win a national championship.

He did, but not like some anticipated.

On Monday, Buchner capped an absolutely wild 18 months.

Buchner was Notre Dame’s starting quarterback in 2022, but he struggled against Ohio State and Marshall before getting injured and missing the rest of the regular season.  He returned for the Gator Bowl and took home game MVP honors after throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for two more in a comeback win over South Carolina.

After Sam Hartman transferred to Notre Dame for the 2023 season, Buchner entered the transfer portal following spring practice, ultimately ending up at Alabama. He started one game for the Crimson Tide last fall, struggled mightily and sat behind Jalen Milroe the rest of the year.

At the conclusion of the regular season, Buchner announced he would return to Notre Dame but not to play football. Instead, the former Fighting Irish starting quarterback joined the reigning national championship lacrosse team, a sport he starred at during high school in California.

On Monday, Buchner and the Fighting Irish capped the incredible season with a dominating, 15-5, win over Maryland in the national championship.  Buchner played in a reserve role this year as expected since he hadn’t played lacrosse competitively in five years.

Whatever the future has in store for Buchner, it’ll be hard to imagine him ever experiencing as crazy of an 18-month run as he just went through.

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