SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 9 Fighting Irish turned in a defensive masterclass in a crucial 12-5 win over ACC foe No. 15/16 North Carolina on Thursday at Arlotta Stadium. The victory pushes the Notre Dame win streak to four straight.
The Irish defense was superb, holding the Tar Heel attack to just five goals, the lowest mark for either side in the 21-game all-time series.
Arden Cohen drew the matchup as primary defender against Chris Gray, one of the country’s top attackmen. Cohen held Gray to just three points (1G, 2A), his lowest output of the season.
In the cage, Liam Entenmann turned in a big performance, finishing with 14 saves while allowing just five goals.
The Notre Dame attack was led by Eric Dobson’s four-goal effort while Jake Taylor also added a hat trick with three goals. Pat Kavanagh had another solid outing, scoring a goal and leading the team in assists with three.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half featured a lot of physicality, big hits and hustle plays, as the Irish took a 4-3 lead into the break. Both teams scored twice in the first frame before the Tar Heels briefly took a 3-2 lead early in the second quarter. The Irish closed with goals from Taylor and Chris Kavanagh to have a halftime advantage.
The third quarter was all Irish. Eric Dobson scored three goals in just over the first five minutes of play in the third quarter and Chris Kavanagh added a highlight-worthy airborne goal that electrified the crowd to push the advantage to 8-3.
Notre Dame wasn’t done, adding goals from Dobson, Taylor and a transition strike from Nick Harris to make it a nine-goal run and put the game out of reach at 11-3.
UNC managed to score twice in the final five minutes and Notre Dame added one courtesy of Will Angrick to seal the victory at 12-5.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Cohen’s defensive job on Gray was masterful, as the only Gray goal occurred when Cohen was off the field on a man-down situation for the Irish. Cohen also scooped up a season-high five goals and added a caused turnover.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Irish defense held the Tar Heel attack scoreless for a span of 36:21 from early in the second quarter to late in the fourth quarter, allowing Notre Dame to open up the big lead.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish improved to 7-2 against the Tar Heels when playing in South Bend and now have a 10-11 all-time record against UNC in the series.
- Notre Dame has won four straight and five of its last six contests.
- The Irish have now held five opponents to single-digit goal totals this season.
- Five of Notre Dame’s six wins have come by at least five goals.
- Dobson’s four goals are a career high for the sophomore.
- Taylor has recorded three hat tricks in his last four games and has totaled 18 goals in his four starts.
- With three assists, Pat Kavanagh has six games with three or more assists on the season and the junior has 16 over the last four games.
- Will Lynch finished 11-of-17 at the dot and has now won more than 50 percent of faceoffs in four of the last five games.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame heads to Syracuse for its final road contest of the regular season to square off with the Orange at noon ET on Sunday, May 1 in the Carrier Dome. The game will be broadcast on ESNPU.
— ND —