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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The No. 1 Fighting Irish picked up its first ranked win of the season, defeating No. 11 Georgetown on the road at Cooper Field by a score of 11-9 to remain undefeated on the season at 3-0.
Junior goalie Thomas Ricciardelli had a big performance in goal, making 16 saves while allowing just nine past him in his best game in his young Notre Dame career.
Senior FOGO Will Lynch came through at the dot, winning 15-of-22 faceoffs while scooping up eight ground balls to help the Irish win extra possessions throughout the afternoon.
In the attack, Chris Kavanagh led the way, scoring three goals and adding an assist to pace the Irish with four points. Midfielders Will Angrick and Jalen Seymour each added two goals in the winning effort.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half was a game of runs. Notre Dame couldn’t have gotten off to a better start, scoring the first six goals of the game over the opening 10 minutes to build a big early lead at 6-0. Two goals from Will Angrick and scores from Kavanagh, Fisher Finley, Will Donovan and Jalen Seymour carried the attack early.
The Hoyas refused to go away quietly, scoring the final two goals of the first frame to cut the Irish advantage to 6-2. The hosts carried the momentum into the second quarter, adding four more goals to the run to level the score at 6-6 with five minutes left in the half.
Notre Dame closed the half strongly, as McLane and Kavanagh each scored once to give the Irish an 8-6 lead after the first 30 minutes of play.
The third quarter was a defensive masterclass by both sides, as neither team was able to find the back of the net. The Irish fought off 2:30 of penalty time to keep the two-goal advantage intact.
The Irish midfield struck twice in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to push the lead back up to four at 10-6. Seymour scored the first followed by Jordan Faison’s first goal of the season in his first game back with over 10 minutes left in regulation.
Once again the Hoyas clawed back and kept the contest interesting, scoring three straight to trim the Irish lead to one with four minutes remaining.
Kavanagh took the game into his own hands, scoring a diving goal to complete his hat trick with less than two minutes left in the game to make the score 11-9. The Hoyas got another look at goal in the final minute but Thomas Ricciardelli made the save to give Notre Dame the win.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Irish midfield did most of the heavy lifting in attack, scoring eight of the 11 goals scored on the day. Six different midfielders scored at least one goal, including one by LSM Will Donovan.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish improved to 12-9 against Georgetown in the all-time series.
- Dating back to last season, Notre Dame extended its win streak to 17 games, which is the longest streak in program history.
- Notre Dame has now won 39 times over the last 42 games dating back to April 2, 2022.
- The Notre Dame offense has finished in double figures in 25 straight games, the longest active streak in the country.
- Will Lynch scooped up eight ground balls in the game, setting the program record for ground balls in a career with 286. Lynch passed Billy Ahmuty (280 – 1991-94) for the top spot.
- With three goals on the day, Kavanagh now has 121 career goals, passing Joe Franklin (119) on the Notre Dame career goals list. Chris Kavanagh is now in fifth place on the list.
- Kavanagh’s 193 career points moved him to fifth place in program history, passing Pat Walsh (192).
- Seven different Irish players scored in the victory and 18 players have already scored on the season despite just playing three games.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame travels south next weekend for a rematch of last season’s NCAA Championship title game, as the Irish take on No. 2 Maryland in Atlanta at Bobby Dodd Stadium at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 1 as part of the 2025 Atlanta Lacrosse Invitational. The game will air on ACCN and tickets can be purchased here.
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