COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish outlasted No. 4 Maryland in a triple-overtime instant classic in College Park on Saturday, as Pat Kavanagh fired in the game-winning goal to give the Irish a 13-12 win at SECU Stadium.
The Irish were the definition of resilient in the victory, overcoming deficits on five different occasions in the contest. Notre Dame trailed by two with 3:30 left in regulation before striking twice to send it into overtime.
The Kavanagh’s led the attack, each finishing with three points. Chris paced the team in goals with three while Pat added a goal and two assists. Quinn McCahon, Brian Tevlin and Jack Simmons each scored a pair of goals in the win as well.
The Notre Dame defense continued to cause chaos, recording double-digit caused turnovers for the fourth straight game. In goal Liam Entenmann came up with some huge stops, finishing with 14 saves.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish trailed for the first time all season, as Maryland managed to strike first but Notre Dame immediately responded. The Irish scored the next three goals, coming from Brian Tevlin, Chris Kavanagh and Quinn McCahon. However, the managed to end quarter by scoring the final three goals, all coming while a man up.
Notre Dame’s attack clicked into gear early in the second quarter, scoring twice in the first two minutes, courtesy of Bryce Walker and Tevlin, to retake the lead at 5-4. On the other end of the field the Irish defense put the clamps on the Terrapin attack, shutting out Maryland in the second stanza to take a 5-4 lead into the halftime break.
After being shut out in the second quarter, the Maryland offense found its rhythm in the third, scoring two goals in the first five minutes to reclaim the lead at 6-5. Once again, Notre Dame answered with a 3-0 run of its own, as Eric Dobson and Simmons each scored to put Notre Dame up at 8-6.
The Terrapins finished the quarter with a flurry, scoring three straight to put the hosts back on top at 9-8 heading into the final 15 minutes of regulation.
Notre Dame goals from Chris Kavanagh and McCahon in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter gave the Irish the lead back at 10-9 before Maryland scored three in a row to take its largest lead of the game at 12-10 with 3:50 left on the clock.
Reilly Gray beat his man and fired home a shot to trim the lead to 12-11 with just over three minutes left and then Chris Kavanagh leveled the score with a highlight-reel diving effort to send the game into overtime at 12-12.
The Irish got two good looks in the first overtime session, putting shots on cage, but were unable to come up with the winner. On the other end the Notre Dame defense stood tall, forcing the two Terrapin turnovers without allowing a single shot in the four-minute session.
Both teams traded possessions in the second overtime, neither finding the game winner, sending it to a third overtime.
The Notre Dame defense got a huge stop to start the third overtime, setting up Pat Kavanagh’s heroics to score the walk-off winner.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Irish win snapped Maryland’s 20-game home win streak and a 17-game home win streak against non-conference opponents.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The victory pushes Notre Dame’s active winning streak to 10 games, the longest active streak in the country for men’s DI lacrosse.
- The game was just Notre Dame’s second triple overtime game in program history, the other coming in a 10-9 win over No. 9 Denver in 2012.
- The Notre Dame defense finished with 11 caused turnovers and have now caused double-digit turnovers in every game this season.
- Chris Kavanagh now has 15 goals through three games, recording a hat trick in all four games.
- Tevlin and Simmons posted multiple goals in a game for their first time in a Notre Dame uniform.
- Pat Kavanagh finished with three points, giving him 164 in his career. That total breaks a tie for seventh all time in program history with Joe Franklin.
UP NEXT
After two games on the east coast the Irish return to Arlotta Stadium for another ranked showdown against a Big Ten opponent, welcoming No. 9 Ohio State to South Bend for a 2 p.m. ET clash on Saturday, March 11. The game will air on ACCN.
— ND —