EVANSTON, Ill. – The #16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-6, 6-4) fell 12-13 to the #22 James Madison Dukes (14-6, 6-1) in the NCAA Tournament First Round as their 2026 season came to a close on Friday evening.
Freshman Charley Bacigalupo finished with a career-high seven points and four goals in the final game of her rookie season.
Madison Rassas finished with four points and three goals as the sophomore recorded her eighth hat trick of the season. She also finished with one ground ball, one draw control, and one caused turnover.
Emma Murphy scored two goals and three points, followed by Grace Maroney, Maura Irish, and Meghan O’Hare with one goal apiece. Maroney also finished with two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Defenders Julia Carr, Franny O’Brien, and Sloane Ginevan all finished with two ground balls a piece. Defender Lila O’Brien recorded a team-best three caused turnovers. Uma Kowalski finished with nine draw controls.
The Dukes came out with the momentum in the first quarter as they posted an early 3-1 lead to start. Bacigalupo dished it to Murphy for the first Notre Dame goal of the day.
The Irish offense, however, caught fire in the second quarter as they outscored JMU 8-4 for a 9-7 lead at halftime. Bacigalupo and Rassas each recorded first-half hat tricks for the Irish.
The Dukes scored back-to-back goals to start the third period as they tied it up at 9-all with 7:21 left in the period. The Irish remained scoreless through the third quarter as the Dukes scored one more goal with 1:03 on the clock to take the 10-9 advantage over the Irish heading into the fourth period.
James Madison opened the fourth period with another goal to extend their lead to 11-9, but Bacigalupo answered with her fourth goal of the day to bring it within one as she was followed by Maroney with another Irish goal. Angie Conley assisted on both of the back-to-back Notre Dame goals to tie it up at 11-all with 9:27 remaining.
JMU answered with back-to-back goals of their own for a two-goal advantage yet again. While Murphy sent home one more Irish goal to make it 12-13, the Dukes would ultimately be able to secure the win by maintaining the final possession as the Irish fell by one in the final game of the season.