Notre Dame men's lacrosse was a club sport, started by Jack Tate ND '64, until it became a varsity program in the 1981 season. Former Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick was a midfielder on Notre Dame's club lacrosse team during his undergraduate years (1972–76)^[2] before the team acquired varsity status. In their 17 seasons as a club ('64-'80), the Irish compiled a 114-91 record with wins over Ohio State, Michigan, Denver, Air Force and Georgetown. From 1981 to 1993, Notre Dame competed in the Midwest Lacrosse Association. From 1994 to 2009, it was then a member of the Great Western Lacrosse League. In 2010, it became a member of the newly established Big East men's lacrosse conference.^[3] In 2012, Notre Dame announced that it would be joining the Atlantic Coast Conference.^[4] From 1981 to 1988, the program was led by head coach Rich O'Leary, who established a career record of 64–42 (.604),^[5] after which Kevin Corrigan took over as head coach, beginning in 1989. Within ten years as a varsity program, the Fighting Irish made its first appearance in the NCAA championship tournament in 1990, and since then has regularly appeared there. In 2001, the fifth-seeded Irish reached the semi-final round (Final Four) for the first time after defeating Bucknell 12–7 and fourth-seeded Johns Hopkins 13–9 in earlier rounds, and finished the season with a 14–2 record and a #4 ranking in the nation.

Since 2006, Notre Dame has made the NCAA championship tournament every year except 2022. In 2009, the Irish went undefeated in the regular season, reaching #2 in national polls, and finished with an overall record of 15–1, with five players receiving All-America honors. In the fall of 2009, Notre Dame opened its new lacrosse-specific outdoor stadium, Arlotta Stadium, with 2,500 seats, an artificial turf field, locker rooms, restrooms, and concession areas.^[6] In 2010, the Irish began play in the new Big East men's lacrosse conference and went 7–6 in the regular season before advancing to the NCAA tournament as an unseeded selection, where it upset higher seeds Princeton, Maryland, and Cornell before being defeated by fifth-seeded Duke, 6–5 in overtime of the championship game. In 2011, Notre Dame went 10–2 in the regular season, reaching #1 in national polls,^[7] and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament before losing to Duke, 7–5. In 2012, the Irish went 13–3, defeating ranked opponents Duke, Denver, Syracuse, and defending national champion Virginia before losing to the number one seed and eventual national champion Loyola 7–5 in the semi-final round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2013, the Irish finished with an 11–5 record and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the tournament, losing to eventual champion Duke, 12–11.

Notre Dame won the 2023 NCAA National Championship. They defeated Duke 13-9 with Senior goalie Liam Entenmann making 18 saves. They went 10-2 in the regular season and were awarded the three seed in the NCAA tournament. They defeated Utah in the first round of the playoffs, Johns Hopkins in the quarter-finals, and Virginia in the semi-finals before defeating Duke.

In the history of the program, Notre Dame has produced numerous All-Americans: Mike Iorio (1993, 1994, 1995); Randy Colley (1994, 1995); Todd Rassas (1996, 1997, 1998); Alex Cade (1996); Jimmy Keenan (1996, 1997, 1998); Chris Dusseau (1999); Tom Glatzel (2000, 2001); David Ulrich (2000, 2001); Kirk Howell (2001); Steve Bishko (2001); Mike Adams (2001); AJ Wright (2002); Pat Walsh (2003, 2004, 2005); DJ Driscoll (2005, 2006); Joey Kemp (2006, 2007, 2008); Brian Hubschmann (2007); Sean Dougherty (2007, 2008); Michael Podgajny (2007, 2008); Will Yeatman (2007); Ryan Hoff (2008, 2009); Regis McDermott (2009); Sam Barnes (2009); Grant Krebs (2009, 2010); Scott Rodgers (2009, 2010); Zach Brenneman (2010, 2011); David Earl (2010, 2011); Kevin Ridgway (2010, 2011); Sam Barnes (2011), Andrew Irving (2011), John Kemp (2011, 2012, 2013), Kevin Randall (2012), Jim Marlatt (2012, 2013), Matt Miller (2012, 2013), and Matt Kavanagh (2013, 2014).

In addition, several Notre Dame players have been Tewaaraton Trophy nominees: Tom Glatzel (2001), David Ulrich (2001), Pat Walsh (2004, 2005), Joey Kemp (2008), Scott Rodgers (2009, 2010), Grant Krebs (2010), David Earl (2011), Kevin Ridgway (2011), John Kemp (2012, 2013), Matt Landis (2016), and Pat Kavanagh (2021, 2023)

Under current coach Kevin Corrigan, the Irish have an overall record of 241–114 (.679) through the 2013 season.^[8] The program has a 100% graduation rate since it was started in 1981.^[9] Corrigan has been selected as the GWLL Coach of the Year fives times, including in 2009, which was the conference's final season before the establishment of the Big East men's lacrosse conference.

At the beginning of its games, the Irish team is traditionally led onto the playing field by a teammate playing the bagpipes, a tradition that was begun during the 1996 season by then-freshman Sean Meehan and has since been passed down to other players including Chad DeBolt, Daniel Hickey, Regis McDermott, Colt Power, Ryan Mix, Edwin Glazener, Tommy McNamara, Ross Burgmaster and Brian Tevlin.

The following is a list of Notre Dame's results by season as an NCAA Division I program:

†NCAA canceled 2020 collegiate activities due to the COVID-19 virus.

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