Spring Break
Despite Notre Dame's disappointing 2007 season, it can expect a bevy of freshmen to enter the fall ready to compete. With one of the top-ranked recruiting classes in the nation, this could be exactly the case. On the offensive side of the ball, Michael Floyd, Kyle Rudolph and Trevor Robinson have the best chance to see playing time early in the season.
After their remarkable NCAA Tournament run ended in a 4-1 national championship game loss to Boston College, the Irish have officially reloaded. Notre Dame returns 18 letter winners, including eight of its nine top scorers and all-CCHA goaltender Jordan Pearce.
This year, there's no sneaking up on anyone. Two years ago, Notre Dame was picked to finish 11th in the Big East; the Irish finished fourth. Last year, they were picked ninth and finished tied for second. But this season, the Irish return four starters from a team that finished 25-8, including Big East player of the year Luke Harangody and first-team Big East selection Kyle McAlarney.
Early 1990s Buffalo Bills? Not quite. But after two consecutive Elite Eight exits, Notre Dame coach Bobby Clark and his team have hit a roadblock in the program's progression towards its first ever Final Four. Last year, the Irish beat Oakland and upset No.
When guard Charel Allen graduated from Notre Dame in the spring, she left a seemingly gaping hole in the Irish program. Allen's name is littered throughout the Irish record book, and she will go down as one of the best all-around players in Irish history, with 1,566 points, 656 rebounds, 239 assists and 206 steals in her career.
After reaching the national semifinals last year, Notre Dame will have to overcome a difficult schedule to duplicate that success. But the Irish have the personnel to do it. Nine freshmen join a stacked team that made it to the College Cup before falling to Florida State a year ago.
Coming off one of the most disappointing years in head coach Debbie Brown's tenure, the Irish volleyball team is looking for vast improvement and a quick turnaround in the upcoming season. "We are expecting a lot more from ourselves this year," Brown said.
A leg up on the competition never hurts, and the Notre Dame men's golf team got a big one on its recent trip. Nine returning members of the Notre Dame men's golf team came back to South Bend last Saturday after a week-long trip to Ireland. The Irish spent the week in Killarney, Co.
When Saint Mary's returns to the field this season, their sideline will feature some new faces. Ryan Crabbe will take over the reins of the program this season, replacing Caryn MacKenzie as the Belles' new head coach. Crabbe will become the first full-time soccer coach at Saint Mary's.
Saint Mary's will look to continue its upswing as a program without the most decorated runner in school history. Megan Gray became the first Belles runner to qualify for the NCAA championships and was named a first-team all-MIAA selection - accomplishing each feat in both her junior and senior seasons.