Irish Begin Final Stretch of Regular Season Sunday Against Duke

April 14, 2018

By Matt Paras

NOTRE DAME, Indiana – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team (7-7, 2-4 ACC) will begin the final stretch of the regular season this Sunday when they take on No. 19/18 Duke (7-6, 2-3 ACC) at home. Sunday’s matchup will be another opportunity for the Irish to face a ranked opponent and improve their standing in the ACC before the conference tournament. Sunday’s matchup will also be the annual Daughters for Dads game where the Irish raise funds to help cancer research.

DATE: April 15, 2018
TIME: 1 p.m. (ET)
LOCATION: Arlotta Stadium (Notre Dame, Ind.
BROADCAST: ACC Network Extra
LIVE STATS:
TWITTER: @NDWomensLax

Sunday’s game will be the final conference game for the Irish this season before the ACC Tournament, which begins Thursday, April 26 in Durham, N.C. It is their second to last home game and with a win, the Irish will lock up their 13th consecutive season with a winning home record.

A couple of Irish players have the chance to move up in the Notre Dame record books as the season winds down. After a strong season on the draw and one school record under her belt, Andie Aldave is in reach of breaking another school record. Aldave leads the team with 79 draw controls and is seven away from breaking Barbara Sullivan‘s record for most in a single season. Sullivan tallied 85 during the 2015 season.

Savannah Buchanan is also on verge of entering the top-10 for draw controls in a season. She is two away from passing current assistant coach Maggie Smith, who tallied 47 draws in 2014 and 2012.

With her next win, Samantha Giacolone will be third all-time in goaltender wins with 32 for her career. She is currently tied with Jen White, who amassed 31 wins from 2000-03. Heading into Sunday’s game, Giacolone currently ranks in the top-3 in the ACC in saves, save percentage and saves per game.

Daughters for Dads

Sunday’s game will be the fourth annual Daughters for Dads game. In honor of Irish lacrosse alumnae whose fathers lost their fight to cancer, Notre Dame’s Daughters for Dads campaign will raise money for Notre Dame’s Harper Cancer Research Institute.

Early-arriving fans will receive a commemorative Daughters for Dads hat and fans can pay $5 to participate in the lacrosse toss at halftime. The lucky winner of the contest will receive a $150 shopping spree at the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore.

Fans are also encouraged to join the ND women’s lacrosse social media campaign by pledging money to Daughters for Dads using the hashtag #IrishFamily and tagging @NDWomensLax in the post. Fans can text “NDFIGHTS” to 41444 or click here to donate anytime during this month.

Scouting the Blue Devils

Duke heads into the matchup with a 7-6 record and 2-3 in the ACC. The Blue Devils dropped their mid-week road matchup with High Point 16-12. Notre Dame holds a 5-11 all-time record against Duke but have won the last two contests. Last year in Durham, the Irish scored in the final minutes to defeat No. 8 Duke 12-11. Two years ago, the Irish defeated the 13th-ranked Blue Devils 10-9 in overtime.

–ND–

Matt Paras, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since January 2018. In his role, he coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse and cross country/track & field programs. A native of Warwick, Rhode Island, Paras is a graduate of the University of Louisville where he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Sport Administration. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, he worked at Vanderbilt University as the sports information contact for the women’s soccer and lacrosse programs.