The Notre Dame Fighting Irish continue their National Championship quest alive with a 15-9 victory over Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.
This is the third time in the last four seasons that Notre Dame has made it to the semifinals.
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — For the third time in four years, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are heading to Championship Weekend of the NCAA Tournament, defeating Johns Hopkins 15-9 in the quarterfinals
at James M. Shuart Stadium at Hofstra University.
Notre Dame will take on the winner of UNC/Syracuse in Charlottesville, Virginia, at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 23 in the NCAA Championship semifinals. The game will air on ESPN2.
The victory improves Notre Dame’s record to 12-2 on the season and the Irish have now won 11 of their last 12 games in NCAA Tournament play.
Josh Yago had his best game in an Irish uniform on Saturday, finishing with a season-high seven points off four goals and three assists. The seven-point game is tied for second in program history for points in an NCAA Tournament game.
Matt Jeffery had a big performance, totaling five points off two goals and three assists, tying his career high for points in a game.
The four other starting attacking players each registered at least two points in the win, as Brock Behrman and Luke Miller each recorded three off two goals and an assist while Will Maheras scored twice and Will Angrick notched a goal and an assist.
Tyler Spano had a notable day at the dot, winning 13-of-21 faceoffs while collecting 10 ground balls.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The two defenses flexed their muscles early, as the game was scoreless over the first eight minutes of play. Hopkins was the first to strike, coming with just under 7 minutes left in the quarter.
The Fighting Irish wasted no time in responding, scoring twice over the next three minutes to take their first lead of the day at 2-1. Both goals came in transition, as Christian Alacqua scored his first goal of the season followed by a score from Will Anrick.
The Blue Jays responded with two goals of their own to close out the first frame and take a 3-2 advantage into the second quarter.
Notre Dame began the second quarter with an extra-man opportunity and cashed in, as Brady Pokorny fired a low shot into the back of the net off the feed from Yago to level the score at 3-3.
Johns Hopkins retook the lead at 4-3 before back-to-back goals from Yago put the Irish back in front with the score 5-4. The two sides traded goals and the game went into the half tied at 6-6.
Notre Dame was dialed in coming out of the halftime break, scoring three straight in the opening 5 minutes to take a 10-7 lead. The Irish goals were scored by Yago, Behrman and Jeffery.
The Blue Jays pulled one back before Behrman scored his second of the day followed by Maheras’ first of the afternoon to give Notre Dame its largest lead of the game at 11-7 heading into the final 15 minutes of regulation.
Maheras tacked on another to start the scoring in the fourth quarter, coming in the opening 3 minutes to increase the Irish advantage to 12-7.
The Irish cruised from there, scoring three of the final five goals, courtesy of two from Miller and one from Yago to punch their ticket to Charlottesville.
STAT OF THE GAME
Each of Notre Dame’s last seven NCAA Tournament wins have been by at least five goals or more. The Irish have won by an average of 9.5 goals per game in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- Notre Dame improves to 32-26 in NCAA Championships history, including a record of 27-12 over the last 15 tournament appearances.
- The Irish have now won 11 of their last 12 NCAA Tournament games.
- The 2026 season marks the eighth time in program history that Notre Dame has reached the NCAA Championship semifinal round.
- The Irish leveled the all-time series against Johns Hopkins at 4-4 and have won each of the last three matchups, all coming in NCAA postseason play.
- The victory gives the Fighting Irish a record of 32-9 against ranked opponents since the beginning of the 2023 season.
- The Irish have now won 56 straight games when holding their opponent to less than 10 goals in a game, a streak that dates back to the 2019 season.
- Notre Dame’s defense held the Blue Jays to just 26 shots in the contest.
- Yago notched his fifth hat trick of the season and tied his season high for goals in a game with four.
- Yago has recorded multiple points in 12 of 14 games this season.
- Jeffery has played his best lacrosse of the season in the NCAA Tournament, recording five-point outings in both tournament games.
- Spano has finished over 50 percent from the faceoff dot in six of his last seven games.
UP NEXT
The Irish advanced to the NCAA Championship Final Four at Scott Stadium on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, to take on the winner of North Carolina and Syracuse for a chance to play for the national championship. The game will be played at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 23 and it will air on ESPN2.
