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SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse team turned in a dominant opening-night performance, defeating Cleveland State by a score of 24-6 inside Loftus Sports Center to begin the 2025 campaign 1-0 on Wednesday evening.
The usual suspects of Chris Kavanagh and Jake Taylor were the stars of the show in the attack, both nearly tying Notre Dame records. Kavanagh totaled a career-high nine points off four goals and five assists, finishing just one point shy of his brother Pat’s program record of 10 points in a game.
Taylor led the Irish in scoring, finding the back of the net seven times on the evening, one goal shy of his own program record of eight goals in a game.
Jeffery Ricciardelli also registered a hat trick, scoring four goals. In total, 11 different Notre Dame players registered a goal in the victory to start the season.
On the defensive end, Thomas Ricciardelli made his first career start in the cage. The junior impressed with five saves while allowing just three goals in just over 38 minutes of action. The Irish caused seven turnovers, led by two from Will Donovan.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame wasted no time getting the offense going, scoring three goals inside of the opening five minutes to jump out to a quick 3-0 advantage. Kavanagh had a hand in all three, scoring the first before assisting two Taylor goals.
After Cleveland State pulled back within one with two scores, the Irish ended the first frame with a flourish, recording four straight to end the period. The final two goals of the quarter came in the final five seconds, as Taylor scored his fourth of the opening 15 minutes with four seconds left and Colin Hagstrom winning the faceoff and burying his shot as time expired to put Notre Dame on top at 7-1.
The Irish carried the momentum into the second stanza, scoring the first eight goals of the frame to make it a 13-0 run and blow the game wide open at 15-2. The Vikings managed to register the final goal of the half with less than a minute remaining to make the halftime score 15-3.
After Cleveland State was called for a penalty that locked in a man-up advantage for Notre Dame early in the third quarter, the Irish capitalized with two EMO goals from Taylor and Jeffery Ricciardelli, before Chris Kavanagh scored his fourth goal with 6:42 left to give Notre Dame an 18-3 lead.
The visitors managed to score three of the final four goals of the third quarter to make the score 19-6 with 15 minutes left in regulation. Notre Dame tacked on five more goals in the final frame to come away with the 24-6 victory.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish improved to 5-0 against Cleveland State in the all-time series.
- Nineteen of Notre Dame’s 24 goals were assisted, as the Irish totaled 43 points on the evening, just three shy of the program record.
- With nine points, Kavanagh becomes one of just two players in program history to record nine points in a game, joining his brother Pat.
- Four different Notre Dame players scored their first career goal in an Irish uniform as Brady Pokorny, Logan Gutzwiller, Drew Wynocker and Jake Vasquez each found the back of the net.
- Dating back to last season, Notre Dame extended its win streak to 15 games, matching the longest streak in program history which occurred during the 2009 season.
- Notre Dame has now won 37 times over the last 40 games dating back to April 2, 2022.
- The Notre Dame offense has finished in double figures in 23 straight games, the longest active streak in the country.
- With the win, the Irish are now 38-7 in season openers, including a 32-5 record under Baumer Family Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Kevin Corrigan.
- Notre Dame improves to 41-4 in home openers in program history and 34-3 under Corrigan.
- Collin Hagstrom’s two goals match his career high.
- Max Busenkell (M), Brady Pokorny (A), Nate Schwitzenberg (D) and Thomas Ricciardelli (GK) each made the first starts of their career in the season opener.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame is back in action this weekend, as it welcomes Marquette to South Bend for a noon ET start on Saturday, Feb. 15 inside Loftus. The game will be streamed on ACCNX and admission to the game is free.
— ND —