SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 1/1 Notre Dame officially begins the national title defense by opening the season at home against Cleveland State at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Feb. 14 inside Loftus Sports Center. The game will be broadcast live on ACCNX.
GAME DETAILS
Location: South Bend, Indiana | Loftus Sports Center
Schedule: February 14 — 6 p.m. ET
Live Stream: ACCNX
Live Stats: FightingIrish.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
THE CLEVELAND STATE SERIES
• Wednesday will be the fourth meeting all time between Notre Dame and Cleveland State.
• The Irish hold a 3-0 lead in the series.
• Notre Dame won the most recent matchup by a score of 18-8 on Feb. 19, 2023 at Arlotta Stadium.
• Pat Kavanagh (2G, 6A) and Chris Kavanagh (4G, 4A) put on an attacking clinic, each posting eight points in the win.
• Liam Entenmann made seven saves while allowing six goals in the victory.
FANTASTIC FEBRUARYS FOR THE FIGHTING IRISH
• Notre Dame is 35-4 in its last 39 games played in February dating back to the 2006 season.
• Fighting Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan is 44-7 in the month of February during his Notre Dame tenure.
• The Irish set the tone for their historic 2023 season in February, going 3-0 with dominant wins over Marquette (21-10), Cleveland State (18-8) and Georgetown (15-8).
OWNING THE OPENERS
• Notre Dame is 36-7 all-time in season openers, including a 30-5 record in the Kevin Corrigan era.
• The Irish have won a program-record 21 straight season openers.
• Notre Dame opened the 2023 season with a 21-10 win over Marquette on Feb. 15.
• The Irish last dropped a season opener in 2002, a 10-9 overtime setback at home against Penn State.
• In home openers, the Irish are 39-4 in program history and 32-3 under Corrigan.
DOMINATING DEFENSE
• The Irish finished 2023 allowing just 9.69 goals per game, leading the ACC and ranking sixth in the country, despite playing nine games against opponents that ranked in the top 10 in goals scored per game.
• Notre Dame led the ACC and ranked ninth in the country in caused turnovers per game this season, averaging 9.69.
• The Irish recorded at least 10 caused turnovers in nine of 16 games last season.
• Notre Dame held opponents to 10 or fewer goals in 10 of 16 games during the 2023 campaign, including four of the last five on the way to the title.
• The Irish limited the opposition to 12 or fewer goals in 15 of 16 outings last season.
THE ATTACK IS BACK
• The Irish return a lot of firepower from the 2023 roster that claimed the national title, as the top five goal scorers are back in 2024.
• Notre Dame brings back 78.6 percent of its goals (195/248), 77.4 percent of its assists (103/133) and 78.2 percent of its points (298/381).
• Four players who recorded 30+ points last season are back, which include Pat Kavanagh (77), Chris Kavanagh (62), Eric Dobson (45) and Jake Taylor (33).
CASHING IN ON THE EMO
• For the second-straight season, Notre Dame’s man-up offense was among the nation’s best in 2023, scoring on 53.7 percent of its opportunities.
• The Irish finished the season going 22-for-41 (.537) on the EMO ranking fifth in the country.
• Chris Kavanagh finished seventh in the nation in EMO goals with eight.
• The Irish EMO unit cashed in on 21-of-31 chances (.677) during the 2022 season.
THE CONDUCTOR
• Pat Kavanagh became the first Notre Dame player to be named a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist two times, earning the honor in 2021 and 2023.
• The senior broke the program record for points in a season in 2023 with 77 points off 25 goals and 52 assists.
• Kavanagh became the program record holder for career assists during the 2023 season and has 135 entering his final season in South Bend.
• The attackman also shattered his own single-season program assists record in 2023, totaling 52 on the season. Kavanagh now holds the top three marks for assists in a season.
• Kavanagh is also the only player in program history to record 10 points in a single game, a feat which he has achieved three times in his career.
THE STOPPER
• Grad student Liam Entenmann cemented his status as the top goalie in the country with his play in 2023, being named the Ensign C. Markland Kelly Jr. Outstanding Goalie by the USILA, ACC Defensive Player of the Year, ACC Goalie of the Year and NCAA Championships Most Valuable Player.
• Entenmann led the ACC and ranked sixth in the country in goals against average, allowing just 9.55 goals per game.
• The senior had a save percentage of .570 (196 saves, 148 goals allowed), ranking fourth in the country.
• Entenmann made double-digit saves in each of the last 13 games, including a season-high 18 in the win over No. 1 Duke to win the national title.
• Entenmann currently ranks fourth on the ND all-time saves list with 548 in his career.
THE SCORER
• Chris Kavanagh had one of the most prolific goal scoring seasons in program history in 2023, recording a career-high 46 goals to lead the Irish attack.
•The junior not only paced Notre Dame’s offense but his 46 goals ranked third all-time in program history for a single season, just three behind Randy Colley’s record of 49 goals set in 1995.
• The attackman also added 16 assists to total 62 points, which ranks 10th all-time in Notre Dame men’s lacrosse history.
• Chris finished with 10 hat tricks during the 2023 campaign and has 12 in his career.
• The Rockville Centre, New York, native has 68 career goals.
THE SNIPER
• Eric Dobson has established a reputation as one of, if not the best, shooters in the current college game.
• After a big 2023 season, Dobson has been named the USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Midfielder of the Year heading into the 2024 campaign.
• Dobson led the Irish midfield with 34 goals and 11 assists last season.
• The lefty came up clutch for the Irish on the biggest stage, posting a career day with four goals and an assist in the overtime win over No. 2 Virginia.
• Dobson has 72 career goals and 29 career assists.
NEW SEASON, NEW FACES
• Notre Dame welcomes five transfers to the 2024 roster, as Devon McClane, Danny Parker, Jake Bonomi, BJ Burlace and Tyler Buchner join the squad
• To go along with the five transfers, nine freshman also join the Irish for the 2024 season. The group consists of Brock Behrman, Gavin Burlace, Anderson Davis, Andrew Donovan, Jordan Faison, Andrew Greenspan, Shawn Lyght, Nate Schwitzenberg and Karter Williams.
CHALLENGING SLATE AHEAD
• Notre Dame has never shied away from putting together a challenging schedule and the 2024 slate is no different.
• Of Notre Dame’s 11 regular-season opponents, seven are currently ranked in the top 20 in the USILA or Inside Lacrosse Top 20 Polls.
IRISH INDOORS
• Notre Dame has excelled when playing inside the last nine seasons, going 17-1 when playing indoors since the start of the 2015 season.
• Notre Dame is currently riding a 22-game win streak when playing in Loftus Sports Center.
• The Irish haven’t lost in Loftus Sports Center since dropping a 14-11 decision to UNC on March 14, 2004.
• The Irish went 2-0 when playing indoors last season, defeating Marquette in the home opener in Loftus and then downing Syracuse inside the Carrier Dome.
FAMILY AFFAIR
• The Fighting Irish feature four pairs of brothers on the 2024 roster.
• The four sets of brothers are BJ and Gavin Burlace, Will and Andrew Donovan, Pat and Chris Kavanagh, and Jeffery and Thomas Ricciardelli.
CORRIGAN ALL-TIME DI PROGRAM WINS LEADER
• With the win over No. 1 Duke on April 10, 2021, Baumer Family Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Kevin Corrigan broke the NCAA record for most wins at a DI program with 311, passing Bob Shillinglaw (Delaware).
• Corrigan became just the third coach in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse history to reach the 300-win mark at a single school with the win over Marquette on April 10, 2019.
• Corrigan is one of just four active Division I coaches to reach the 300-win mark in his career.
• Corrigan has an overall record of 345-174 in his 38 seasons of coaching.
• The head coach is 335-159 in his 36 seasons at Notre Dame.
• Corrigan is the longest tenured men’s lacrosse coach at the DI level.