WASHINGTON, D.C. – The No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish dictated play from the opening faceoff at No. 15 Georgetown and rolled in a 15-8 win over the Hoyas on Saturday afternoon at Cooper Field.
The Irish attack was balanced on the day, as six players recorded multiple points in the victory.
Notre Dame was paced by the trio of Eric Dobson, Chris Kavanagh and Reilly Gray, as each recorded a hat trick with three goals.
The Irish defense locked down the Hoyas’ attack for much of the game, holding the hosts to just 17 shots on goals. Notre Dame held Georgetown to just five goals until the Hoyas scored three more in the final three minutes of action. Liam Entenmann finished with nine saves while allowing just six goals in over 57 minutes of action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame has made a habit of scoring on the opening possession of the game, as it scored on the first possession for the third straight game. Two goals from Dobson, one from Chris Kavanagh and one from Quinn McCahon gave the Irish an early 4-1 lead. Notre Dame and Georgetown traded goals to end the quarter, as the Irish led 6-3 after the first 15 minutes of play.
The Irish defense put the clamps on the host’s attack in the second quarter, not allowing a goal and giving up just two shots on frame. The attack took advantage with Dobson, Gray and Brian Tevlin scoring to make it a 9-3 score at the half.
Notre Dame continued its momentum in the third quarter, outsourcing Georgetown 4-2 to take a commanding 13-5 lead into the final frame.
The Irish scored two goals in the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter from Jefferry Ricciardelli and Gray to push the lead to double digits at 15-5. Georgetown scored three goals in the final three minutes to make the final score 15-8.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Irish midfield impressed on Saturday, scoring nine goals from four different players. Gray and Dobson led the way with three each while McCahon added two. Tevlin also found the back of the net in the win.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish improved to 10-8 against Georgetown in the all-time series, winners of seven of the last eight matchups.
- The victory pushes Notre Dame’s active winning streak to nine games, the longest active streak in the country for men’s DI lacrosse.
- Notre Dame is now 44-7 in games played in the month of February during Baumer Family Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Kevin Corrigan’s tenure, including a mark of 35-4 since the beginning of the 2006 season.
- The Notre Dame defense finished with 10 caused turnovers and have now caused double-digit turnovers in every game this season.
- Will Donovan and Chris Conlin led the Irish defense with two caused turnovers apiece.
- Dobson’s hat trick was his sixth of his career and second of the season
- Chris Kavanagh now has 12 goals through three games, recording a hat trick in all three games.
- Pat Kavanagh finished with three points, giving him 161 in his career. That total ties him for seventh all time in program history Joe Franklin.
- Gray becomes the fifth Irish player to record a hat trick this season.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame remains on the road for its second ranked matchup away from home in as many games as the Irish face Maryland at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 4. The game will air on B1G+ (subscription required).
— ND —