Notre Dame

With 25 goals in two NCAA tournament games, No. 4 seed Notre Dame seems to have found its shooting prowess. It's a timely discovery for the No. 4 seed Fighting Irish (13-2), who will meet No. 1 seed Loyola (16-1) in Saturday's national semifinal at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Notre Dame had wrapped up the regular season scoring on just 25.3 percent of its shots (108-of-427). Since then, however, the offense has converted 43.1 percent of its attempts (25-of-58). In Sunday's 12-10 victory over No. 5 seed Virginia, the Fighting Irish scored on three of its first possessions of the contest and then scored on three consecutive shots in the second quarter.

Small liberal arts colleges for women are endangered institutions. Yet the tradition is alive and well at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, which recently completed a successful $14 million fund-raising drive. Thanks to the generosity of its donors, the 96-year-old college has established a firm foundation on which to prepare another generation of talented young women to take their place in the world.Much of the credit for this success goes to the leadership of Sister Kathleen Feeley, Notre Dame's president since 1971.

Corina Riismandel (Centennial) scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second half to lead College of Notre Dame past visiting St. Mary's, 3-2, in a women's soccer game yesterday.Essex CC 2, Camden (N.J.) 1Brandy Frederick and Missy Reichard scored goals as host Essex Community College (1-0) defeated Camden County (N.J.) Community College (0-1).Catholic 1, W. Maryland 0Jennifer Burke scored in the 23rd minute as Catholic (2-2) edged Western Maryland (1-2).

The College of Notre Dame of Maryland will be changing its designation to "university," which school officials say will bring the name in line with the institution's broadening scope. "In terms of our brand identity, we needed to do a clarification of what we are," said P.J. Mitchell, chair of the board of trustees. "This will allow us to more clearly articulate the breadth and depth of what we offer." The board voted in May to move forward with the change and will work on a timeline and the exact wording of the new name at its next meeting in October.

It was partly "Rudy" that led Eric Atkins to Notre Dame. But not for the reasons you might think. It was 2009, and the point guard was looking ahead to a college career after he graduated from Mount St. Joseph the following year. Notre Dame was high on the list of schools recruiting him. Atkins was enticed by the possibility of early playing time and his respect for Irish coach Mike Brey. Then came an emotional assist from "Rudy," the 1993 dramatization of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, the pint-sized Irish walk-on football player.

On the ride before the wild ride, Everett Golson put on headphones and slept for most of Notre Dame's charter flight overseas. Later, he toured the team hotel grounds and played around on a giant chess board, in what the Irish hope is the one time he doesn't know what he's doing this weekend. At a brief practice Thursday, the wind kicked up on the practice field behind Aviva Stadium and provided another in the cavalcade of teaching moments: Notre Dame's new starting quarterback didn't have the proper arm slot, and the ball hit the ground.

These two teams will meet for the 18th time, but for the first time since 2010. Loyola owns a 12-5 lead in the series, but Notre Dame has won the last four meetings. These teams faced each other in the NCAA tournament just once with the Greyhounds enjoying a 21-5 thumping in the first round on May 11, 1997. The No. 4 seed Fighting Irish (13-2) defeated Yale, 13-7, in the first round and No. 5 seed Virginia, 12-10, in the quarterfinals. No. 1 seed Loyola (16-1) beat Canisius, 17-5, in the first round and Denver, 10-9, in the quarterfinals.

Scott Rodgers knows there are still doubters who think his unseeded Notre Dame men's lacrosse team will be outmatched by No. 5 seed Duke in the NCAA tournament final at M&T Bank Stadium on Monday. John Danowski would beg to differ. "We feel like we have an opportunity to do something that not many teams can do," said Rodgers, the physically imposing goalkeeper for the Fighting Irish. "A lot of people feel like we don't deserve to be here, so we might as well focus." That's not the approach the Blue Devils are taking, especially in light of their 11-7 loss to Notre Dame on Feb. 20 in Durham, N.C. In fact, Danowski, Duke's coach, went as far as to declare the Fighting Irish the favorite.

Keep the autonomy Chris Dufresne Los Angeles Times No doubt things have changed since 1999, the last time the Big Ten made a run at Notre Dame and Notre Dame said no thanks. The Big Ten, with its growing television network, is more powerful now and Notre Dame football is less powerful. Since 1999, the football program has toiled in mediocrity as it fumbled through the last decade. It has bungled coaching hires and posted one lousy bowl win in Hawaii. But does that mean Notre Dame should be forced into joining a conference?

No. 4 Notre Dame (9-1) @ No. 12 Villanova (8-4) Saturday, 5:30 p.m. Outlook: The winner will take control of the race to finish the season with the top seed and home-field advantage in the Big East Conference tournament. The Fighting Irish lead Division I in defense, allowing just an average of 5.6 goals. But the Wildcats - who are scoring 11 goals per game - might have the offensive personnel and schemes to solve Notre Dame.