NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Irish put together an impressive 60-minute performance to cap the non-conference portion of the schedule on Saturday afternoon at Arlotta, impressing with a 19-5 win over Cleveland State.
Fourteen different Irish players scored on the afternoon but the attacking duo of Pat Kavanagh and Griffin Westlin paced the attack, each finishing with five points. Kavanagh posted four goals and an assist while Westlin scored twice and dished out three helpers.
The Irish defense locked down the Viking attack, holding Cleveland State to a season-low five goals on the day. Starting goalkeeper Entenmann made nine saves to get the win and Matt Schmidt added two saves in relief to close the game out.
Notre Dame continued its dominance at the dot, winning 22-of-28 faceoffs. Kyle Gallagher finished 12-of-13 with eight ground balls and Charlie Leonard went 8-of-12 with four ground balls and a goal.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish scored four goals in each of the first two quarters to build an 8-3 lead after the opening 30 minutes of play. Kavanagh did most of his damage early, recording the third hat trick of his career with 12 minutes to play in the first half.
Cleveland State scored first in the second half to trim the Irish lead to 8-4 and then it was all Notre Dame the rest of the way. The Irish scored seven unanswered goals in the third quarter to put the game away at 15-4.
After a Viking goal at the end of the third, the Irish shutout the visitors in the fourth quarter while scoring four of their own to make the final score 19-5.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Irish were excellent on the clear on Saturday, going 20-for-20 on the afternoon. The transition led to a number of scores, including two SSDM goals by Nick Harris and Daniel Cassidy.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish improve to 2-0 against Cleveland State in the all-time series.
- Corrigan moves to 309 career wins at Notre Dame, just one shy of tying Bob Shillinglaw (310 at Delaware) for the all-time wins leader at a single school at the DI level.
- Notre Dame has allowed just 5.25 goals per game over the first four games of the season and now leads the country in scoring defense.
- The Irish faceoff unit won 22-of-28 faceoffs and has now won 95-of-123 on the season (77.2 percent) which is the best mark in DI.
- With four goals and an assist, Kavanagh has recorded at least five points in all four games this season.
- Quentin Buchman scored the first two goals of his Notre Dame career in the win.
- With goals from Harris and Cassidy, the SSDM group of the Irish have now scored eight goals on the season.
Up Next
The Irish open ACC play next weekend, welcoming Virginia to Arlotta Stadium for a noon showdown on Saturday, March 27. The game will air on ESPNU.
— ND —
The University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team pursues excellence on and off the field through the three pillars in which the program is built: Character, Culture & Community. These three foundational values guide the promise of the program, which is to provide its student-athletes with the most compelling and enriching experience in all of college athletics. Through academics, competition, service and travel, the program aims to immerse its players in situations that enhance their student-athlete experience to help them become the people, students and teammates they aspire to be.
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