ACADEMY OF NOTRE DAME 2025 PAISAA CHAMPIONS
BY JEREMY GOODE
(VIDEOS/ JEREMY GOODE)
GLENSIDE, PA--Girls’ field hockey in the Inter-Ac runs through the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur.
Head coach Brandi Ritz has established a machine. In September, the program was ranked number one in the nation. Not the Inter-Ac. Not the state. The best team in the entire country.
So, Notre Dame is no stranger to winning.
Last week, they earned their fourth consecutive Inter-Ac title, and on Tues., Nov. 11, 2025, they beat Episcopal Academy for a third time this year to reclaim the PAISAA championship at Arcadia University, after falling to the Hill School 5-1 last year in the state championship game.
How does Ritz’s team keep winning the last game of the season?
“It’s the culture,” Ritz said.
PAISAA Championship Highlights
It is about as good of a winning culture as a program can get. Notre Dame has not lost a league game in four years. With their four league titles over the same span, they have earned two PAISAA championships.
What does Notre Dame’s culture look like?
“I’m always preaching to the girls, team first,” Ritz said. “You can tell by the way they are around each other; the way they are on the field. They’re really working for each other.”
This year’s Notre Dame team was on a mission. Maybe even a bit of a revenge tour. While they won the Inter-Ac the previous year, they lost in the PAISAA championship to the Hill School. Not only did Notre Dame lose in the championship, but they fell 5-1.
The standard is winning at Notre Dame, so it feels different when that does not happen. At the same time, when Notre Dame loses, it only fuels the fire for the next opportunity or season.
This was in full effect this season.
“It was a tough loss,” Reese Milone said. “Hill is always a rival of ours and we always want to beat them; they’re always a tough team. Coming off that loss, we wanted to get back.”
Notre Dame ran through their PAISAA games. After earning a bye in the first round with the one seed, Notre Dame proceeded to beat Academy of the New Church 9-1 in the second round. In the semi-finals, they got revenge from last year, shutting out Hill School 3-0.
And to top it off, they beat Episcopal Academy for a third time to reclaim the PAISAA championship.
After outscoring their opponents 12-1 in their two PAISAA games to get to the championship, they only need one score to be state champions.
It would not come easy.
Reese Milone and Kiera Sack on Overcoming LAst Year's Loss to Hill
Episcopal has a strong program. They finished the year 19-2 overall and 8-2 in the Inter-Ac. Their only losses of the season came to none other than Notre Dame.
Every PAISAA championship game exhibits elite play and a close game. You have the two top teams in the area going against each other for final time of the season.
This one proved no different.
The first three quarters were scoreless. Notre Dame dominated possession and position, and the ball was mostly on Episcopal’s side. It would not be until Maeve McGinley scored off a missed shot with five and a half minutes remaining that Notre Dame finally broke through.
“It was a good buildup,” McGinley said. “It was a good team effort, especially fourth quarter too, we had an adrenaline rush.”
Notre Dame was able to hold off Episcopal for the remaining minutes.
Interestingly, Ritz called a timeout 30 seconds before Notre Dame scored their goal.
It worked.
“After the timeout, our coach pulled us together and said that the way we were going to do it was going to be to do it together,” Maura Seeger said. “Just that extra motivation on the sideline from our coach really amped us up and made us want it a lot more.”
Maura Seeger and Maeve McGinley on Scoring One Last Goal This Season
Elanna Duff was tested several times in goal for Notre Dame. She delivered every time she was called upon.
For the Notre Dame senior class, this marks their second PAISAA championship. It is a memorable one that came against their league rival and only saw one goal in total. Fortunately for Notre Dame, it was their team that scored the goal.
Notre Dame found a way.
“Throughout the game, we were trying to go through and not outside,” Keira Sack said. “Once we worked the ball up and transferred the ball, it became easier to work the ball around. Luckily, Maeve was so good at getting that rebound back and flicking back off the cage.”
Aside from Episcopal, Notre Dame also had to battle the weather elements. When the game began, it was 38 degrees but felt like 24; tough conditions to play in for any game, let alone for the state championship.
Academy of Notre Dame Celebrates Winning PAISAA 2025.
The chip on their shoulder was too big from last year’s PAISAA championship to be affected by the weather.
“We set standards in the beginning of the season, and they set the bar high for themselves,” Ritz said. “This year was talking about our why, and they have a sense of belonging when they’re around each other, and that’s what this team is about.”
Ritz is not exaggerating when she insists that the most important part of the team is culture. While the wins and rankings are nice, seeing the smiles on her players’ faces matters most to her.
Milone can confirm.
“Whether it was cheering on the sidelines or playing, I think we all had really great connections together, and we’ve made a lot of great memories together,” Milone said. “I think that showed in our play.”
