Notre Dame's Josh Yago Making the Most of Bonus Season

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Josh Yago was ecstatic to learn his first assignment upon graduation from the Air Force Academy.

The Denver native earned one of the academy’s graduate slots, learning last May he got into Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. And by August, he got the athletic eligibility piece of things worked out as well.

“My duty was to go to grad school, do good in school, take care of all my grades,” Yago said. “And in my free time, I’ll be able to play lacrosse.”

It was a heck of a deal for both parties.

Yago, the Atlantic Sun Offensive Player of the Year in 2025 while leading Air Force to an NCAA tournament berth, is a central piece of Notre Dame’s balanced offense. And the second-seeded Fighting Irish (13-2) got a steady, experienced, team-first attackman out of the bargain.

Yago has team highs in assists (22) and points (54), and his 32 goals are just shy of Luke Miller’s 33 for the Irish’s lead entering Monday’s national title game against top-seeded Princeton (16-2).

“I can’t be more thankful of the fact that he wanted to come to Notre Dame,” Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan said. “He’s just such a great kid and such a good player, as you’ve seen. He’s thrilled to have this opportunity to prove himself in the biggest games because he loved Air Force. As he never fails to say, ‘I loved Air Force and loved my Air Force teammates, but I’m really enjoying this experience as well.’ And we’re lucky that we have him.”

Corrigan has invoked the idea that, depending on the day, Notre Dame’s best offensive option could be any one of about nine or 10 guys. The last two Saturdays, there’s a good case it was Yago.

After dropping four goals and three assists on Johns Hopkins as Notre Dame pulled away for a 15-9 victory in the quarterfinals, Yago had three goals and four assists in Saturday’s 15-7 drubbing of sixth-seeded Syracuse.

Toss in a goal and an assist in the first round against Jacksonville, and Yago’s 16 points lead all players in this year’s tournament.

“He’s a really good guy to have in the locker room and play video games with and all the stuff like that and kind of chill out with him,” Notre Dame goalie Thomas Ricciardelli said. “Josh has been uber-impactful. I couldn’t be more appreciative of how he’s meshed with the team and I’m so glad for him making this impact, especially in May when it matters.”

Yago missed his freshman year at Air Force with a knee injury, had 25 points as a sophomore and then posted a 24-goal, 30-assist season in 2024. In what he initially figured was his lacrosse swansong, Yago set a school record with 35 assists and piled up 72 points while setting up plenty of Caelan Driggs’ 60 goals.

He was not certain he would be granted a medical hardship waiver, and when it was finalized over the summer, he had something else to look forward to.

“Coming into the fall, I didn’t know what to expect just going to school like a normal civilian, having a good time and not having the stress of the academy,” Yago said. “It didn’t really hit me until we started playing games in the spring. I was like, ‘This is what I dreamed of. This is awesome.’”

It only got better as the season unfolded. Notre Dame opened with six consecutive victories, earned a No. 1 ranking and claimed the ACC regular season title. The Irish hosted a tournament game, then blitzed through three games by an average of 8.7 goals to reach the national title game for the third time in four years.

While Yago wasn’t the most recognizable name to casual fans, Notre Dame defenseman Shawn Lyght knew exactly what his team was getting. Lyght had worked against Yago in preseason scrimmages the last two years and intuited the attackman could make an immediate difference after the Irish graduated Chris Kavanagh, Devon McLane and Jake Taylor off last year’s team.

“He’s really lived up to it and exceeded all the expectations that a lot of people had for him,” Lyght said. “But coming in I knew he was going to be a huge piece for us, and he’s just capitalized upon it.”

While Yago’s overall numbers might not be quite as gaudy as his senior year at Air Force, his playing style has proven an exceptional fit for a Notre Dame bunch that shares the ball well.

He’s had assists to five different players in the last two games, hardly a surprise on a team that has eight players with at least 10 goals.

“A lot of people don’t realize I’m a very unselfish lacrosse player, so I’m going allow my teammates to do what they do,” Yago said. “There’s a little bit more well-supported cast that we have here, just because of the athletes we have. I love my boys at Air Force and I love every one of them, but the talent level here is a little different.”

Yago’s next assignment begins Thursday when he reports back to Colorado Springs. The Space Force has allowed him to take on a Monday-through-Thursday schedule while playing in the PLL after Philadelphia selected him with a third-round pick last month.

But there’s still one thing to wrap up with Notre Dame. No service academy team has made it to Memorial Day since Navy in 2004, adding a profound element to Yago’s final day as a college lacrosse player. Ray Sands, a mentor of Yago’s from Air Force, texted him in recent days with the simple request to “play for those service members.”

“That was a good reminder of what this weekend really entails and so I’m going to be wearing this American flag [on his jersey] and I’m going to be supporting it very much,” Yago said. “I’m going to play for all my brothers and sisters back at the Air Force, Space Force, all military branches, those who have served and those who have passed. It’s going to be a big game not just for me, but for those guys.”