NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the fourth time in the last six seasons, the Atlantic Coast Conference has named a Notre Dame student-athlete the Defensive Player of the Year, as defenseman Jack Kielty earned the honor Wednesday.
Kielty joins Sexton (2018) and Matt Landis (2015 & 2016) as Notre Dame winners of the award.
The ACC accolade is just the latest in a long list of honors for the graduate student. Kielty is a Tewaaraton Award nominee, an All-American and the only defenseman in the country to be named US Lacrosse Magazine’s National Player of the Week during the 2021 season.
Kielty has been a mainstay on the defensive unit over the past four seasons. The grad student has started 46 straight games dating back to the beginning of his sophomore year. Kielty helped lead the Irish to the 2018 ACC Championship title.
Kietly has been a lockdown defender in 2021, holding nine of his 10 main defensive assignments below their season average point total. Over his career Kielty has accrued 119 ground balls and caused 33 turnovers.