Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame allegedly committed major violations in recruiting an Ohio high school football player, but the college denied the charges yesterday. A major college football coach, who requested anonymity, was quoted yesterday in the St. Paul Pioneer Press as saying that Penn State and Ohio State had turned in Notre Dame for alleged NCAA violations in the recruitment of running back Ki-Jana Carter, of Westerville South High School. The allegations come on the heels of an admission by Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz last week that he gave $270 total to two athletes while at Minnesota.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Everett Golson threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score to help No. 20 Notre Dame beat No. 10 Michigan State, 20-3, Saturday night. The Fighting Irish (3-0) beat a top-10 opponent for the first time in seven years to give Brian Kelly a signature win in his third season. The Spartans (2-1) had won 15 straight at home. The streak included a win over the Irish in 2010 on a fake field goal in overtime that preceded coach Mark Dantonio's having a heart attack.

Jim Dillon of Holy Ghost Prep, The Inquirer's Northern suburban basketball player of the year last season, has made an oral commitment to attend Notre Dame, and will receive a full scholarship when he reports for classes in South Bend, Ind., later this month. Dillon is a 6-foot-1 point guard who averaged 16.8 points and 4.6 assists in leading the Firebirds to a 28-3 record and to within one game of the state Class AAA championship. Holy Ghost previously said Dillon, 17, would attend The Peddie School in Hightstown, N.J., for one year.

Top-ranked Notre Dame tied a school record with its 21st consecutive victory, beating Navy, 41-0, yesterday in South Bend, Ind., for its first shutout in six years. The Irish (9-0) beat Navy for the 26th consecutive time since 1963. Notre Dame rushed for 414 yards and five touchdowns and held the Midshipmen (2-6) to 67 yards rushing and 99 yards passing. Nonetheless, Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz said he had been worried about Navy. "I'm not insulting your intelligence; I'm a worrier," Holtz said.

Notre Dame tight end Will Yeatman has been suspended from the team for the rest of the season but remains enrolled at school after being arrested on a charge of underage drinking at an off-campus party. Yeatman, 20, was informed of the suspension Tuesday, his mother, Bonnie, said yesterday. She said he plans to play lacrosse for the Irish in the spring and take part in spring football practice. Yeatman and Notre Dame center Mike Golic Jr., whose father, Mike Golic, is an ex-Eagle and co-host of "Mike & Mike in the Morning" on ESPN, and women's basketball player Brittany Mallory were among 37 people arrested at a house in South Bend during the early morning hours of Sept.

Notre Dame won the Shipley tournament Saturday by defeating Lower Merion, 4-1. Amy Willard, Kara MacDermott, Rene Hardican and Christina Scanlon scored in the victory. Earlier, Notre Dame (9-5 overall), which is tied with Germantown Academy for first place in the Inter-Academic League at 4-0, faced Shipley and earned a first-round 5-1 victory. In that game, Notre Dame received 3 goals and an assist from Willard and a goal each from MacDermott and Hardican. Traci Brody scored for Lower Merion (5-6-1 overall, 2-5-1 in the Constitution League)

Brady Quinn tied a school record with four touchdown passes to lead Notre Dame to a 38-3 victory over Washington yesterday in South Bend, Ind. In the first half, Quinn completed 15 of 23 passes for 196 yards, with two TDs each to Matt Shelton and Anthony Fasano, leading Notre Dame (3-1) to its first easy win of the season. He completed only two passes in the second half, one for 53 yards that set up the Fighting Irish's final score, but it hardly mattered. The sophomore finished 17 for 32 for 266 yards with one interception.

Julie Marco has coached middle school girls, high school girls and college women. Whatever the level, Academy of Notre Dame's first-year coach knows that fundamentals determine the success of field hockey players. "If they know the techniques, if they know the fundamentals, game strategy is so much easier," Marco said. "You can put in every play you want, but it won't work if they can't stop the ball, if they can't hit the ball. " Marco, a former head coach at St. Mark's in Delaware and at Villanova University, is trying to teach the fundamentals to her Notre Dame players.

Absegami junior Rashad Kinlaw has committed to attend Notre Dame on a football scholarship. Absegami coach Dennis Scuderi Jr. said Kinlaw made his decision Monday night after a weekend visit to Notre Dame. "He's going to have a chance to play right away," Scuderi Jr. said. "It's a great opportunity for him. " The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Kinlaw played quarterback as a sophomore and junior for Absegami. He is projected to be a cornerback at Notre Dame. "He's everything you're looking for at that position," Scuderi Jr. said.

Notre Dame again is searching for a head basketball coach and the school is expected to reconsider some of the candidates who lost out when Matt Doherty was hired last March. Irish athletic director Kevin White declined to name any prospective candidates, but said the school began gathering information about a week ago, well before Doherty accepted the job at North Carolina yesterday. Delaware's Mike Brey, Minnesota's Dan Monson and Xavier's Skip Prosser have been targeted by Notre Dame, a source close to White told ESPN.

Duke and Denver will join Cornell and top-seeded Syracuse in the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse Final Four this weekend at Lincoln Financial Field. David Lawson scored his career-best fifth goal with 2 minutes, 16 seconds remaining to lift seventh-seeded Duke to a 12-11 win over No. 2 Notre Dame (11-5) in the quarterfinals Sunday in Indianapolis. In their seventh consecutive trip to the Final Four, the Blue Devils (14-5) will play Cornell at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Linc. Duke won the national championship in 2010.

NEW ORLEANS - Breanna Stewart put on quite a show to help Connecticut finally vanquish Notre Dame. The stellar freshman scored a career-high 29 points to go with four blocked shots, leading the Huskies to the national championship game with an 83-65 win over Notre Dame on Sunday night. The Huskies will face Louisville in the championship game Tuesday night in an all-Big East final after the Cardinals rallied to beat California, 64-57, in the other NCAA semifinal. UConn will be going for its eighth national championship to match Tennessee for the most in women's basketball history.

NEW ORLEANS - Skylar Diggins has accomplished nearly everything she could have imagined in her career at Notre Dame. The only thing missing is a national championship. To get another chance at that elusive title, Diggins will have to help the Fighting Irish women beat Big East rival Connecticut for an unprecedented fourth straight time this season. Sunday night's meeting in the national semifinals might be the final chapter in a rivalry that has become the nation's best. Notre Dame heads to the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.

SKYLAR DIGGINS and Notre Dame are headed back to the Final Four for another rematch with Connecticut. Diggins shook off early foul trouble to score 24 points and Notre Dame rallied to beat Duke, 87-76, in the Norfolk Regional final on Tuesday night to earn its third consecutive trip to the Final Four. The Irish have lost in the past two national championship games. "I want to win a championship for coach [Muffet] McGraw bad," Diggins said. "When you have a coach who believes in you so much I'd do anything for her. " Kayla McBride added 17 points while Jewell Loyd and Natalie Achonwa had 17 each as the Fighting Irish (35-1)

Germantown Academy rallied back from a five-goal deficit Tuesday to beat visiting Notre Dame, 12-11, in an Inter-Ac League girls' lacrosse game. Notre Dame led, 9-4, early in the second half, before Germantown Academy scored eight times in the second half, highlighted by Jennifer Stack's go-ahead goal. Emile Van Blarcom and Hanna Bogorowski each scored four times for GA. Central. Springfield (Delco) won at Harriton, 11-8, behind hat tricks from Emily Santana and Alex Poplawski.

Behind Nora McCallion's five goals and two assists on Thursday, Notre Dame held off visiting Villa Maria, 9-7, in a Catholic Academies girls' lacrosse game. Courtney Donovan added three goals and one assist, and Delaney Tuite had two assists and a goal. Megan Parsons scored twice for Villa. Also in the Catholic Academies, Olivia Gannon and Christie Mischler scored four goals each and Mount St. Joseph rolled at Villa Joseph Marie, 18-3. Natalie Bohner, Emily Ehret, Meg McCabe, and Kaitlin Meister scored twice each.

Behind Nora McCallion's five goals and two assists on Thursday, Notre Dame held off visiting Villa Maria, 9-7, in a Catholic Academies girls' lacrosse game. Courtney Donovan added three goals and one assist, and Delaney Tuite had two assists and a goal. Megan Parsons scored twice for Villa. Also in the Catholic Academies, Olivia Gannon and Christie Mischler scored four goals each, and Mount St. Joseph rolled at Villa Joseph Marie, 18-3. Natalie Bohner, Emily Ehret, Meg McCabe, and Kaitlin Meister scored twice each.

BRITTNEY GRINER and Baylor's path to a second straight national championship will have a familiar feel. Then again, so will the whole Women's NCAA Tournament. For the first time ever, the top four seeds are the same for consecutive seasons. Baylor, Connecticut, Notre Dame and Stanford all earned No. 1 spots when the field was announced Monday night. Unlike the men's side, where it was a topsy-turvy season with major upsets seemingly every week, women's basketball hasn't seen the same parity.

NEW YORK - Fourth-ranked Louisville lost four Big East games this season: to Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown and Notre Dame. Already this month, the Cardinals had won their rematches with Syracuse and Notre Dame. Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, in the semifinals of the conference tournament, they added Villanova to that list. If they make it to Saturday's title game, they could also get another shot at Georgetown. The second-seeded Cards (27-5) defeated the Wildcats, 74-55, to advance to Friday's semifinals, where they'll play either Marquette or Notre Dame.

Notre Dame announced Tuesday it is leaving the fractured Big East on July 1, a year sooner than originally anticipated, and going to the Atlantic Coast Conference in all sports except football and hockey. The switch was approved in a vote by Big East university presidents. SOCCER: Lionel Messi scored twice to help Barcelona to a 4-0 victory over visiting AC Milan to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League. . . . In Gelsenkirchen, Germany, substitute Umut Bulut scored the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time as Galatasaray advanced with a 3-2 win over host Schalke.