SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 9 Notre Dame wraps up regular-season ACC play with a top-10 clash against No. 5 North Carolina at noon ET on Saturday, April 19 in Chapel Hill at Dorrance Field. The game will air on ESPNU.
GAME DETAILS
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina | Dorrance Field
Schedule: April 19 — Noon ET
TV: ESPNU
Live Stats: FightingIrish.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
THE UNC SERIES
• Saturday will be the 25th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and UNC.
• The Irish lead the Tar Heels in the series with at a mark of 13-11 in the matchup.
• The matchup has historically been extremely competitive, as 15 of the 24 games in the series have been decided by two goals or less.
• The Irish enter this weekend’s matchup winners of four straight in the series and five of the last six, dating back to the 2019 season.
• Notre Dame won the most recent matchup by a score of 14-6 at Arlotta Stadium last season.
• Devon McLane and Chris Kavanagh each recorded hat tricks with three goals apiece in the win in 2024.
IRISH IN THE ACC
• Since joining the league during the 2014 season, Notre Dame has consistently been one of the top programs in the ACC.
• The Irish have a record of 32-18 in regular-season ACC games over the 11 seasons of play (2020 not included due to COVID).
• With the win over Virginia last Saturday, Notre Dame has finished with a record of .500 or better in six straight seasons and have only finished with a losing regular-season ACC record twice.
• Notre Dame has never finished lower than third in the league.
• The Irish have either won the ACC outright or a share of the league regular-season title four times in 11 opportunities.
KAVANAGH LEADS THE ATTACK
• Chris Kavanagh picked up right where he left off to open the 2025 season, posting a career-high nine points (4G, 5A) to finish just one point shy of the program record held by his brother Pat.
• The senior leads the Irish in points this season with 43 off 24 goals and 19 assists.
• Kavanagh turned in the greatest statistical offensive season in Notre Dame history last year, setting the program record for points in a season with 81.
• The attackman totaled 44 goals and 37 assists during the 2024 season.
• Chris joined his brothers Matt (42G, 33A – 2015) and Pat (31G, 49A – 2024) as the only players in program history to record 30+ goals and assists in the same season.
• The Rockville Centre native earned NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player honors after a prolific four-game stretch in the tournament in 2024, recording 22 points off 14 goals and 8 assists.
• The attackman put an exclamation mark on his season with a 5-goal performance in the national title win over Maryland, tying the program record for goals in an NCAA tournament game.
• Kavanagh set the program record for points in an NCAA Tournament game against Georgetown in the quarterfinals, totaling eight points off five goals and three assists. The five goals tied the program record for most goals scored in an NCAA Tourney game.
• The senior has 219 points off 136 goals and 84 assists and currently ranks fourth in program history.
• Kavanagh not only paced Notre Dame’s offense in 2023 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 Rockville Centre, New York, native has scored a goal in 31 straight games and has recorded a point in 53 of 54 games in his career. Kavanagh has posted multiple points in 49 of 54 games in his career.
LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
• Notre Dame is allowing just 8.89 goals per game this season, ranking 11th the country.
• Opponents have been held to single-digit goals in all six of Notre Dame’s victories during the 2025 season.
• The Irish finished 2024 allowing just 8.94 goals per game, leading the country, despite playing six games against opponents that ranked in the top 15 in goals scored per game.
• Notre Dame held opponents to 10 or fewer goals in 12 of 17 games during the 2024 campaign, including seven of the last eight on the way to the title.
• The Irish limited the opposition to 12 or fewer goals in 16 of 17 outings last season.
• Preseason All-Americans Ben Ramsey, Will Donovan and Shawn Lyght each return to the defensive unit along with the addition of Greg Campisi from Harvard.
TAYLOR MADE
• Graduate student Jake Taylor is one of the great finishers in lacrosse, totaling 123 goals in his Fighting Irish career.
• Taylor enters the weekend ranked fourth in program history for career goals and is just four away from passing Mikey Wynne for fourth place.
• The attackman scored seven goals in the season opener to become the 11th player in program history to reach the 100-goal milestone.
• In the 2025 ACC opener against Duke, Taylor scored five goals and added two assists to earn Inside Lacrosse National Player of the Week and ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
• Taylor has 18 hat tricks in his Fighting Irish career and has recorded four hat tricks this season.
• The grad student is shooting 55.8 percent on the season, ranking third in the country.
• The Denver native finished the 2024 season with 41 goals on 83 shots, giving him a shooting percentage of .494 which ranked fourth in the country.
• Taylor scored one of the biggest goals in program history, sending the 2023 NCAA semifinal into overtime with a twister against Virignia in the final minute of regulation.
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
• The Blue and Gold has scored 130 goals through eight games this season, averaging 14.44 per game, the sixth best mark in the country.
• Notre Dame ranks fifth in the nation in points per game (23.0), second in shot percentage (.345) and eighth in assists per game (8.56).
• The Irish scored 24 goals in the season opener and recorded 19 assists to total 43 points, finishing just three points shy of the program record for points in a game.
STRONG STARTS
• The Irish have dominated the opening 15 minutes of play throughout the season, outscoring opponents 39-18 over nine games.
• The 21-goal scoring margin is the largest for ND in any quarter during the 2025 campaign.
• Twenty of the 39 goals have come from a trio of Irish player, as Jake Taylor leads the way with eight goals and Chris Kavanagh and Will Angrick have each added six in the opening frames.
DOMINATING THE DOT
• Senior FOGO Will Lynch has won 97-of-161 faceoffs this season for a win percentage of .602 along with 58 ground balls.
• Lynch is currently ranked 12th in the country for faceoff winning percentage and 14th in ground balls per game (6.44).
• The senior enters Saturday with 328 career ground balls, the most by any player in program history. Lynch set the record in the win over Georgetown, passing Billy Ahmuty (280 GBs – 1991-94) for the top spot.
• Lynch is coming off his best season in his Fighting Irish career, winning 61.2 percent of his faceoff attempts to lead the ACC and rank fourth in the country.
• The FOGO won 202-of 330 attempts and scooped up a team-high 113 ground balls.
• Over the four NCAA Tournament games Lynch was even better than his season average, winning 63-of-97 (64.9%).
• Lynch added a career-high four goals last season, including one in the ACC Tournament and one in the NCAA Tournament.
• Lynch was named to the All-ACC Team and to the ACC All-Tournament Team.
• The standout won over 50 percent of faceoffs in 12-of-16 games last season.
FAMILY STYLE
• Everyone is eating in the Irish attack this season, as 18 different players have recorded multiple points on the season.
• Nine Irish players have posted up double-digit points through seven games.
• The Irish have racked up 77 assists on the 130 goals with Chris Kavanagh leading the way with 19.
• In the win over Marquette, all three starting attackmen and all three starting midfielders finished with mulitple goals.
ANGRICK’S BREAKOUT SEASON
• Playing the best lacrosse of his career, senior Will Angrick already has set a career high for points in a season with 18.
• His 10 goals eight assists each mark career highs for the senior.
• Angrick has recorded multiple points in five of eight games during the 2025 campaign, as has 2+ goals in four outings.
• The senior leads the Irish midfield in scoring with 10 goals.
LYGHTS OUT
• It didn’t take long for Shawn Lyght to make a name for himself in the college lacrosse world, as he cemented himself as one of the top cover defenseman in the country during his 2024 freshman season.
• Lyght consistently drew the No. 1 option for the opposing attack throughout the season.
• The defenseman held Connor Shellenberger to just one goal between the two matchups, both resulting in wins and he limited Joey Spallina to just one point in their only matchup of the year.
• The sophomore opened the 2025 season against Cleveland State holding his main def=m,ensive assignment to zero points.
• Lyght was the only sophmore to earn first team All-America status in the Inside Lacrosse preseason honors.
FROM THE GRIDIRON TO THE LACROSSE FIELD
• Three Notre Dame lacrosse players on the 2025 squad also suited up for the football team in the fall, as Jordan Faison, Tyler Buchner and Matt Jeffery are both dual-sport athletes.
• Faison finished the season with 30 receptions for 356 yards and a TD, including a seven-catch, 89-yard performance in the first round of the College Football Playoff win against IU.
• Buchner was used in trick plays on special teams, picking up a first down on a fake FG against GT and completing a 23-yard pass on a fake punt against USC.
• Jeffery played in three games on special teams during his freshman season, seeing the field against Purdue, Stanford and Navy.
• All three have seen action during the 2025 lacrosse season, as Buchner has played in five games at SSDM and Faison and Jeffery made their debuts in the win at Georgetown.