SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish won its second game within the last week, defeating Cleveland State in impressive fashion with an 18-8 victory at Arlotta Stadium on Sunday.
The Kavanagh brothers put on an attacking masterclass, each finishing with eight points on the day. Chris paced the Irish in scoring with 4 goals and added a career-high four assists while Pat pulled the strings for the attack, finishing with six assists and two goals.
The Kavanaghs were joined by Eric Dobson and Quinn McCahon who each posted their first hat tricks of the season with three goals apiece. Reilly Gray and Bryce Walker each added two goals in the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the second straight game, the Irish scored on the opening possession, as Bryce Walker got the Irish going with the first goal of the game. Four minutes later the Vikings tied it up at 1-1 but Notre Dame’s attack finished the quarter with a flurry, scoring four times in the final four minutes, including a few highlight reel plays from the Kavanaghs, to take a 5-1 lead after the opening 15 minutes of action.
Cleveland State struck first in the second quarter to trim the lead to 5-2 but the Irish defense put the clamps on the visitor’s attack the rest of the half, not allowing another score. Notre Dame put three straight past the Vikings’ goalie to take an 8-2 advantage into the halftime break.
Notre Dame came out firing in the second half, scoring four times in the first six minutes to push the lead to 10 at 12-2. Both teams added two more goals for the rest of the third to make the score 14-4 heading into the final frame.
The Irish tacked on four more goals in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, making the score 18-4. Cleveland State then managed to score the final four goals of the afternoon to make the final score 18-8.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
The Kavanagh brothers combined for 16 points in the win, the most points posted in program history in a game between two Irish players. The two each produced a highlight reel play in the victory, Chris throwing an incredible no look pass to set up a goal and Pat scoring a behind the back goal.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Irish dominated the ground ball battle in the game, picking up 47 to the visitors’ 27. Will Lynch led the team with eight while Pat Kavanagh grabbed six.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The 39 goals over the last two games are the second most in program history in consecutive contests, just one shy of the record 40 set in the 1992 season.
- The victory pushes Notre Dame’s active winning streak to eight games, the longest active streak in the country for men’s DI lacrosse.
- Notre Dame is now 43-7 in games played in the month of February during Baumer Family Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Kevin Corrigan’s tenure, including a mark of 34-4 since the beginning of the 2006 season.
- The Irish improved to 3-0 against Cleveland State in the all-time series.
- With eight points, Pat Kavanagh moves into eighth place on the Notre Dame career points list, totaling 158. He passed Conor Doyle (151) with the performance.
- Dobson’s hat trick was his fifth of his career and first of the season
- McCahon posted his first hat trick of the year and fourth of his career
- Walker has now scored multiple goals in back-to-back games
UP NEXT
Notre Dame hits the road for the first time in the 2023 season, traveling out east to take on Georgetown at noon ET on Saturday, Feb. 25. The game will air on FloLive (subscription required).
— ND —