EVANSTON, Ill. — No. 5/4 Notre Dame handed No. 1 Richmond its first loss of the season on Saturday at the Lacrosse Day in Chicago event at Martin Stadium by a score of 12-8 to improve to 7-1 on the season.
The performance of the day came from faceoff specialist Tyler Spano who finished the day 16-of-22 from the dot to go along with a season-high nine ground balls and an assist.
Luke Miller led the Irish attack with five points off a game-high four goals and an assist while Josh Yago totaled four points off three goals and an assist. Will Maheras and Brock Behrman also added multiple-point performances in the win.
Thomas Ricciardelli turned in a notable performance making 12 saves while allowing eight goals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish were dialed in from the opening faceoff and erupted on the offensive end for eight goals in the first quarter to take an 8-0 lead over No. 1 Richmond after the opening 15 minutes of action.
Spano won the opening draw and immediately found Chris Reinhardt open on the crease for the opener just five seconds into the game. The Irish struck again off with a goal from Miller on the ensuing possession to put the team up 2-0 within the opening minute of play.
The onslaught continued as the Irish scored six more goals over the course of the quarter coming from Yago (2), Miller, Maheras, Pokorny and Angrick to build the eight-goal advantage.
Richmond settled down and started chipping away at the Irish lead, managing to cut the deficit in half at 8-4. The Irish responded by scoring in the final seconds of the half off a wild, one-handed finish by Yago to complete his hat trick to give Notre Dame a 9-4 lead at the halftime intermission.
The Spiders scored the first two goals of the second half to make it a three-goal game at 9-6 before the Irish responded with the final two goals of the third to push the lead back to five at 11-6 heading into the final frame of regulation. Miller completed his hat trick followed by the first career goal from Dylan Faison.
Richmond scored the first two goals of the fourth frame, cutting Notre Dame’s lead to three at 11-8 but that was as close as the Irish allowed the Spiders to get. Miller scored his fourth goal of the afternoon to put the exclamation mark on the win and make the final score 12-8.
STAT OF THE GAME
Notre Dame’s defense held Richmond to just eight goals, which tied its season low on the season.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish improved to 3-1 against Richmond in the all-time series.
- Notre Dame is now 6-5 when playing the No. 1 team in the USILA poll at the time of the matchup, including a mark of 6-1 in its last seven games against the nation’s top-ranked team.
- The Irish have now won 52 straight games when holding their opponent to less than 10 goals in a game, a streak that dates back to the 2019 season.
- With three goals, Yago has scored multiple goals in seven of eight games this season and has four hat tricks on the season.
- Miller recorded his third hat trick of the 2026 campaign, finishing with four goals.
- Maheras finished with multiple points for the sixth time this season, a career high.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame returns home to Arlotta Stadium to take on No. 2 UNC in a heavyweight ACC clash at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 11 in South Bend. Admission to the game is free and it will air on ACCN.