#8/8 NOTRE DAME vs. #24/23 PITT – Saturday, Feb. 28 at 12 PM
Location: South Bend, IN | Arlotta Stadium
LIVE STATS | ACCNX
The No. 8/8 Irish will host the No. 25/23 Pitt Panthers on Sunday, Feb. 28 at noon at Arlotta Stadium. The Irish lead the all-time series 3-1 and are 2-0 at home in South Bend. The last matchup was in Pittsburgh, where the Irish fell 12-13 on April 12, 2025.
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BY THE NUMBERS |
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Freshman goalkeeper Ceci Patterson is first in the ACC with a save percenatge of .507 and is fourth in the ACC with a goals against average of 7.20. |
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Kate Timarky is third in the ACC with 15 goals so far this season. |
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Grace Maroney recorded her first career hat trick in the win over No. 3 Boston College on Feb 13, with her behind the back landing at #6 in SportsCenter Top 10. |
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After recording a hat trick in the season-opening win over No. 15/12 Michigan, Timarky scored a career-high five goals in the win over Central Michigan and then tied it, scoring five goals in the win at No. 25/23 Harvard. |
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Rassas recorded a career-best 6 goals and 9 points in the win over Central Michigan. |
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Freshman Uma Kowalski finished the opening weekend with an impressive 20 draw contols, earning ACC Defensive POTW honors. She won nine in the win over No. 15/12 Michigan and won 11 in the win over Central Michigan. |
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The 25-0 win over Central Michigan was the third regular season shutout in program history. |
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Ten different players landing in the scoring column in the win over Central Michigan. |
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The Irish welcome 12 freshman to this year’s squad. |
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The Irish named four captains for the 2026 campaign: Julia Carr, Abby Lyons, Franny O’Brien, and Kathryn Morrissey. |
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Two new assistant coaches join this season as Marina Miller and Mckenna Davis joined the staff this summer. |
IRISH FALL 7-9 TO VIRGINIA CAVALIERS
The then-No. 5/4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-1, 1-1) suffered their first loss of the season as they fell, 7-9, to the #24/NR Virginia Cavaliers (2-3, 1-0) on Sunday evening in the Loftus Sports Center.
The Irish were led by Grace Maroney and Katie Mallaber, who tied her career high, as they each scored two goals a piece. Maroney finished with a team-best three points.
Emma Murphy and Abby Lyons each scored their first goal of the season, with Madison Rassas also scoring a goal for the Irish. At the draw, Uma Kowalski finished with a team-best four draw controls.
The trio of Sloane Ginevan, Ceci Patterson, and Lila O’Brien led the team with two caused turnovers a piece, recording six of the team’s 10 caused turnovers. Ginevan and Patterson also led the Irish with two ground balls each. Patterson capped off her stat line with 11 saves, tying her career-best this season.
IRISH DEFEAT #25/23 HARVARD, OPENING SEASON 4-0
The then-No. 16/16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish downed the No. 25 Harvard Crimson on the road Sunday afternoon in a 10-7 victory. The Irish picked up their second road win and their third ranked win of the season.
Junior Kate Timarky had herself a day, matching her career-high of five goals in the win. Timarky had a hat trick in the second quarter alone, scoring three straight goals for the Irish.
Maura Irish, Charley Bacigalupo, Franny O’Brien, Grace Maroney, and Madison Rassas all scored a goal in the win.
M. Irish also dished out three assists, recording a career-high four points, career-high four caused turnovers, and a career-high four ground balls. She was followed by Maroney with two assists, tying her career-high.
Abby Lyons and Franny O’Brien each caused three turnovers apiece, with O’Brien also recording a career-high five ground balls. Goalkeeper Ceci Patterson finished the day with four saves and picked up her fourth win of the season.
IRISH TAKE DOWN #3 BOSTON COLLEGE ON THE ROAD IN ACC OPENER
The then-No. 16/16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-0, 1-0) remain undefeated as they took down the No. 3 Boston College Eagles (0-2, 0-1) on Friday night, pulling off the upset with a 12-9 victory to open ACC play. A huge fourth quarter surge powered the Irish to the three-goal road win, shutting out the Eagles 6-0 in the fourth.
“I’m proud of this team and the way they have been working to realize their potential,” said Head Coach Chris Halfpenny. “It was a quick turnaround from opening weekend to today, and this team was ready for the challenge. I can’t say enough about the combo of this freshmen class and our returning group. We’re all having a lot of fun.”
The Irish were led by freshman Grace Maroney, recording her first career hat trick in the win. She was followed by Meghan O’Hare, Kate Timarky, and Madison Rassas with two goals apiece. Timarky also led the team with three ground balls.
Freshman Maura Irish scored two goals as well, while also leading the team with five draw controls. Freshman Uma Kowalski finished with four draw controls and graduate student Julia Carr finished with a team-best two caused turnovers. Freshman goal keeper Ceci Patterson recorded eight saves and her third win of the season.
OPENING WEEKEND FOR THE IRISH
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish opened their 2026 season with a 2-0 start at home. After defeating No. 15/12 Michigan in 12-10 victory, the Irish defeated Central Michigan 25-0. The win is the third regular season shutout in program history.
Sophomore preseason All-American Madison Rassas wasted no time, recording a hat trick in her first game of the season. Junior Kate Timarky recorded her sixth career hat trick in the win over Michigan as well. Junior Meghan O’Hare followed with two goals, three ground balls, and six draw controls.
The freshmen trio of Maura Irish, Grace Maroney, and Mackenzie Conley each scored their first career goals in the win with M. Irish netting two goals in her Notre Dame debut.
It was also a big night for freshmen Uma Kowalski and Ceci Patterson in their first game in an Irish uniform. Kowalski led the Irish with nine draw controls and Patterson recorded her first win in goal and finished the night with eight saves.
In the win over Central Michigan, Rassas led the offensive charge for the Irish with a career-high six goals, three assists, and nine points. She posted an impressive stat line of nine goals, three assists, five ground balls, and three caused turnovers for the weekend.
She was followed by another career-high performance from Kate Timarky who recorded a career-best five goals, two assists, and seven points. Timarky also recorded a hat trick in the season-opening win over Michigan for a total of eight goals, three assists, and 11 points on the weekend.
Freshman Charley Bacigalupo not only scored her first career goal, but went on to score her first career hat trick. The rookie midfielder finished with two assists for five points on the day.
Kowalski also scored her first career goal and absolutely dominated the draw. She recorded 11 draw controls after recording nine in the season-opening win over Michigan for an impressive total of 20 draws on the weekend.
M. rish finished with a full stat line in the win as well as the freshman recorded one goal, one assist, two points, two ground balls, two draw controls, and four caused turnovers.
Shannon Earley, Grace Maroney, Katie Mallaber, and Wynter Jock each recorded two goals a piece for the Irish. Mackenzie Conely also scored a goal in the shutout win.
O’Hare won four draw controls and caused three turnovers, followed by Abby Lyons who caused two turnovers. Sloane Ginevan grabbed four ground balls, followed by Franny O’Brien with three ground balls.
A LOOK AHEAD
The Notre Dame Women’s Lacrosse program is ready for spring with the announcement of their 2026 schedule.
The Irish are slated for 16 games with an even eight games at home and eight games on the road. The ACC docket will feature 10 conference games with five games on the road and five games at home.
With eight opportunities to see the Irish at home, it is free admission for both indoor games at Loftus Sports Center and outdoor games at Arlotta Stadium.
IRISH WELCOME 12 FRESHMEN
With the Irish graduating five last season, the Irish have welcomed 12 freshmen to the roster.
Eight of which were included in the IL Power 100 Incoming Freshmen Rankings
– Ceci Patterson (#3)
– Uma Kowalski (#15)
– Charley Bacigalupo (#27)
– Maura Irish (#29)
– Maeve Cavanaugh (#45)
– Mackenzie Conley (Watchlist)
– Brooke Hopkins (Watchlist)
– Grace Maroney (Watchlist)
THE RASSAS FAMILY IS NO STRANGER TO NOTRE DAME
Rassas isn’t just an Irish standout as one of the best players in the country, but she’s continuing her family’s legacy at Notre Dame.
She comes from a long line of Notre Dame graduates, including both parents (Todd and Angela Rassas) as well as her grandfather and great-grandfather.
Her father, Todd, was an All-American lacrosse player at Notre Dame (‘98), while her grandfather and great-grandfather were both football players for the Irish.
As she continues the legacy, she’s already picking up several accolades at the start of her sophomore year. She was named to the 2026 Tewaaraton Watch List, the 2026 Preseason All-ACC Team and has also received USA Lacrosse Preseason All-American honors.
TWO NEW ADDITIONS TO THE COACHING STAFF
Head Coach Chris Halfpenny introduced two new additions to the staff this season as she welcomed Marina Miller and Mckenna Davis to the Irish.
After graduating from Clemson in 2023, Miller stayed with the Tigers to serve as an assistant coach for the program for the 2024 season. In addition to serving as a coordinator of the defensive unit, Miller was key to the program’s draw strategy and success in 2024 as the Tigers were among the top 15 in the nation in draw control percentage and draw controls per game.
In June of 2024, Miller started as an assistant coach at Davidson, helping guide the Wildcats to a 12-5 record in the 2025 season.
Miller started her college career at Penn State before playing the next three years at Richmond, where she was a captain in 2022 for her senior season. Miller finished her undergraduate degree at Richmond before joining former Richmond head coach Allison Kwolek at Clemson for her graduate season while competing for the Tigers on their inaugural team in 2023.
A captain at Clemson, Miller started all 18 games and scored 23 goals with 11 assists as she closed out her playing career. She also won 33 draw controls and was selected for the 2023 Senior All-Star Team and the South’s All-Region Second Team.
Originally from Pittsburgh, Pa., Miller went to Pine-Richland High School where she was a four-year letter winner and two-time team captain. She led her lacrosse team to back-to-back Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic League (WPIAL) titles and ended her high school career as Pine-Richland’s all-time leading scorer with 325 goals and 94 assists.
Davis is a 2025 Boston College alum, where she was an All-ACC standout and three-time All-American attacker for the Eagles. In her four-year Eagle career, Davis recorded 99 goals and 220 assists for 319 career points.
As a junior, Davis helped guide the Eagles to their 2024 National Championship title as she netted two goals and recorded an assist for a total of three points, while also tallying one ground ball and a caused turnover.
In her senior season at Boston College, Davis was second in the nation and the ACC with a personal-high 77 assists, breaking the single-season Eagles record.
IRISH IN THE PROS
With the start of the WLL in 2025, it didn’t take long for the Irish to get picked up.
Five Notre Dame Women’s Lacrosse alums were all selected to the Boston Guard: Madison Ahern (‘24), Kasey Choma (‘24), Jackie Wolak (‘24), Hannah Dorney (‘23), and Andie Aldave (‘21).
The Guard won the first ever WLL Championship last February.
Now, the 2026 WLL season is ready to begin and the Irish have six alums on current WLL rosters:
BOSTON GUARD:
Madison Ahern (‘24)
Kasey Choma (‘24)
Jackie Wolak (‘24)
Hannah Dorney (‘23)
Andie Aldave (‘21).
MARYLAND CHARM:
Kelley Denes (‘24)