Notre Dame men’s, women’s lacrosse teams dance into NCAA quarterfinals

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Notre Dame is the only school this season to have both its men’s and women’s lacrosse teams in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament — and both had quite the weekend to get to that point.

WOMEN’S TEAM

The women’s bracket is a little bit larger, so they had to play two games to make it to the quarterfinals. They also had to do it on the road at the Gainesville Regional hosted by the Florida Gators.

The Irish started with a nice and easy 21-6 win against Mercer on Friday. That was the most goals scored in a NCAA Tournament game in program history.

The next game on Sunday was not as easy, as the Irish faced Florida, who was seeded sixth in the tournament. Notre Dame had a big second quarter, outscoring Florida 6-2, which was the difference until the end.

Florida erased a 4-goal deficit with under five minutes to play, but Kasey Choma scored the game-winning goal with 10 seconds left to play to cap off the upset.

The Irish will head to Massachusetts on Thursday to face ACC rival and No. 3 seed Boston College in the quarterfinals. First draw is set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

For a full look at the women’s tournament bracket, click here.

MEN’S TEAM

The men’s lacrosse team had it slightly easier this weekend, and not just because they played at home.

The No. 3 seed Irish took care of business in a 20-7 win over Utah at Arlotta Stadium on Saturday. The 20 goals scored set a program record for most goals scored in an NCAA tourney matchup. The 13-goal win was also the largest margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game in program history.

The Irish will head to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., to face No. 6 seed Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinals. First draw is set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

For a full look at the men’s tournament bracket, click here.

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