Madison Ahern

Personal: Ahern earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s degree (Magna Cum Laude) in business analytics at Notre Dame. She plans to work as a consultant in New York City in the fall. She is a Brand Ambassador and Official Gait Athlete for Gait Lacrosse. She also works in player development through private and group lessons in Hingham, Massachusetts. Her older sister Jillian is a 2020 graduate of Notre Dame.

International Experience: Ahern led Team USA to a Silver medal at The World Games in 2022. She led the team with 12 goals and five assists in five games. Ahern guided the United States to victory over the Czech Republic by netting four goals with an assist. She also registered a hat trick in the semifinal triumph against Great Britain and contributed a team-leading two goals with three assists in the win over Australia. She notched 2 goals in the Gold Medal Game against Canada. She was a member of the U19 US Training Team from 2018-2019 and was selected to the Team USA Sixes camp in June of 2024. 

At Notre Dame: Ahern was a five-year letter winner and two-time Team Captain at Notre Dame. She started all 84 games from 2020-24. She ranks third in program history in career points (317) and goals (228), and fourth in assists (89). She is only the second player in program history to register two 60-goal seasons in a career. She was named a Tewaaraton Nominee in 2023 and to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List three times. She earned All-ACC Team for four consecutive seasons, including All-ACC First-Team selections in her final two seasons. Ahern is a four-time Inside Lacrosse All-American, including a Second-Team nod as a freshman. She was also a three-time IWLCA All-American and USA Lacrosse Magazine All-American. She was a First-Team IWLCA All-Region recipient during her final three seasons, and a Second-Team recipient once. She received multiple National and ACC Player of the Week honors during her career, as well as Inside Lacrosse National Rookie of the Year plaudits in 2020.

Ahern registered 80 points and a team-high 60 goals in 2024. She led the team in hat tricks with 14. She netted five goals and two assists against Virginia Tech and recorded a hat trick in a 14-10 win over Northwestern. She posted a four-goal performance in a 7-4 win over UNC. Ahern had seven goals and an assist in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. She paced the team with a career-best 63 goals in 2023 and added 21 assists for 84 points. She notched six goals against Duke and five goals in a win over UNC. She had a six-goal game against Syracuse. She also posted a hat trick against Virginia in the ACC Tournament. She posted three goals, an assist, and a game-saving caused turnover to secure the win against Florida to advance to the NCAA Quarter-Final. 

Ahern paced the Irish with 57 goals and a team-leading 77 points in 2022. She scored five or more goals six times including six markers and two assists against Jacksonville. She recorded six goals in the ACC Tournament, including five goals against Duke.

In 2021, Ahern collected 49 points on 32 goals and 17 assists in a COVID-altered 17-game season. She recorded a team-leading 7 points in a doubleheader vs BC, as well as two goals and an assist in the NCAA Elite-Eight round against BC.

She began her collegiate career in 2020, starting in all seven games during the COVID-shortened season. She finished second on the team with 16 goals and led the team with 11 assists and 27 points on an undefeated 7-0 team as a freshman. She registered three goals and two assists in her collegiate debut followed by another 3 goals and 2 assists in a win over Northwestern. She recorded yet another hat trick in her third career game. 

Ahern is a two-time CSC Academic All-District®, four-time ACC All-Academic, and three-time IWLCA All-Academic honoree. She received the 2023 ACC Student-Athlete Postgrad Scholarship Award. She is the winner of the 2024 Byron V. Kanaley Award – the most prestigious student-athlete award given at Notre Dame.