Notre Dame Lacrosse Scandal: Secrets and Rituals

Notre Dame Lacrosse

Title: The Shadow Over South Bend: The Notre Dame Lacrosse Scandal

Prologue: The Golden Boys
Notre Dame’s lacrosse team was the pride of South Bend—elite athletes, academic standouts, and the darlings of the NCAA. But in the fall of 2022, whispers began to spread. A star player had gone missing. Then another. By the time the FBI got involved, the case had unraveled into a web of secrets, betrayal, and a decades-old secret society with ties to the university’s darkest history.

Chapter 1: The Vanishing

It started with Ryan Murphy, a sophomore attackman with a 4.0 GPA and a draft pick waiting for him. On October 14, 2022, he left practice at 6:30 PM, texting his girlfriend, 'Running late, meet you at 8.' He never showed up.

Three days later, his car was found abandoned near St. Mary’s Lake, keys still in the ignition, his lacrosse stick lying across the backseat. No signs of a struggle. No ransom note. Just… gone.

Then, in March 2023, Drew Carson, a team captain, disappeared after a late-night film session. His phone last pinged near the Old College Building, one of Notre Dame’s oldest—and most haunted—structures.

Chapter 2: The Secret Society

A tip led detectives to a forgotten 1983 case—a lacrosse player named Michael Vassey had died under mysterious circumstances after allegedly uncovering a secret society called 'The Cross and Stick.'

Rumors swirled:

A ritualistic initiation involving stolen relics from the Basilica.

A black book listing every member since 1924.

A cover-up after a pledge died during a hazing gone wrong in 1978.

When investigators dug into the current team, they found strange symbols carved into lockers and cryptic texts between players: 'The circle is watching.'

Chapter 3: The Breakthrough

A former equipment manager came forward, claiming he’d seen senior players forcing underclassmen into late-night 'ceremonies' at an off-campus house. One freshman, Ethan Cole, admitted he’d been blindfolded and made to recite an oath:

'By stick and cross, we rise. By stick and cross, we silence.'

Then, a forensic sweep of Murphy’s laptop uncovered deleted emails referencing a 'final test.' The last one read:

'If you’re reading this, I didn’t make it. They said it was tradition. They lied.'

Chapter 4: The Unraveling

On the eve of the 2023 NCAA playoffs, police raided a remote cabin in Michigan, owned by the family of an alumni donor linked to The Cross and Stick. Inside, they found:

Bloodstains matching Murphy’s DNA.

A trophy case with missing players’ jerseys.

A handwritten ledger listing 'sacrifices' dating back to the 1950s.

The final entry?

'The new blood has failed. The circle must be fed.'

Epilogue: The Fallout

Five players were arrested. The program was suspended. The university denied everything.

But at midnight on Halloween 2023, a janitor at the Old College Building reported seeing figures in lacrosse jerseys standing in the courtyard… holding crosses.

And then, just like that—they were gone.

Case Status: UNSOLVED (Officially)

(Inspired by true crime tropes—Notre Dame has had no real lacrosse scandal. But the legends? Those run deep.)

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Notre Dame Lacrosse Scandal: Secrets and Rituals

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