Game 2 Preview: Marquette

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Just three days after winning the season opener against Cleveland State, the top-ranked Irish welcome Marquette to town for a non-conference noon ET matchup on Saturday, Feb. 15 inside Loftus Sports Center. The game will be broadcast live on ACCNX.

GAME DETAILS
Location: South Bend, Indiana | Loftus Sports Center
Schedule: February 15 — Noon 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 MARQUETTE SERIES

• Saturday will be the 13th meeting all time between Notre Dame and Marquette.

• The Irish hold a commanding 12-0 lead in the series, including a mark of 7-0 when playing the Golden Eagles in South Bend.

• The most recent matchup in the series came last season, with Notre Dame winning 21-8 in Milwaukee.

• Chris Kavanagh (4), Jake Taylor (4) and Devon McLane (3) each had hat tricks in the 2024 win. Kavanagh also added three assists to total a seven-point performance.

FANTASTIC FEBRUARYS FOR THE FIGHTING IRISH

• Notre Dame is 38-5 in its last 43 games played in February dating back to the 2006 season.

• Fighting Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan is 47-8 in the month of February during his Notre Dame tenure.

• Notre Dame won it’s opener this season on Feb. 12, defeating Cleveland State by a score of 24-6.

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.

•  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 185 points off 116 goals and 69 assists and currently ranks tied for fifth 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.

• Chris finished with 10 hat tricks during the 2023 campaign and has 21 in his career.

• The Rockville Centre, New York, native has 116 career goals, ranking seventh in program history.

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 defensive assignment to zero points.

• Lyght was the only sophmore to earn first team All-America status in the Inside Lacrosse preseason honors.

DOMINATING THE DOT

• Senior FOGO Will Lynch opened his final season in South Bend by going 7-for-9 at the faceoff dot, scooping up four ground balls in an Irish win.

• 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.

LOCKDOWN DEFENSE

• Despite losing two starting defensemen and standout goalie Liam Entenmann, Notre Dame put the clamps on Cleveland State’s attack, allowing just six goals in the opener.

• 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.

TAYLOR MADE

• Graduate student Jake Taylor is one of the great finishers in lacrosse, totaling 106 goals in his Fighting Irish career.

• The attackman scored seven goals in the season opener to become the 11th player in program history to reach the 100-goal milestone.

• 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.

GREATEST SHOW ON TURF

• The Irish attack has been borderline unstoppable over the last couple of seasons, leading the country in goals per game in 2024 with an average of 15.65.

• Notre Dame led the nation in points per game (25.06) and shot percentage (.374) while ranking third in assists per game (9.41).

• The Notre Dame offense has finished with 10 or more goals scored in 23 straight games, the longest active streak in the country.

• 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.

CASHING IN ON THE EMO

• The Irish went 2-for-2 against Cleveland State on Wednesday to continue its elite performance in man-up situations.

• Notre Dame’s extra-man unit was one of the greatest in the history of college lacrosse in 2024, leading the country with a mark of 67.5 percent.

• The unit found the back of the net on 27-of-40 attempts over the course of the season.

• The 67.5 percentage was the highest in a decade, as the last team to have a better percentage was Detroit Mercy’s mark of 70.8 percent during the 2014 season.

• The Irish have finished in the top five in the country for man-up offense in each of the last four seasons.

• Devon McLane and Jeffery Ricciardelli paced the Irish EMO with seven goals apiece during the 2024 campaign.

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.

IRISH INDOORS

• Notre Dame has excelled when playing inside the last nine seasons, going 20-1 when playing indoors since the start of the 2015 season.

• Notre Dame is currently riding a 24-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 Cleveland State in the home opener in Loftus and then downing Marquette inside the Marquette Dome.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES

• Notre Dame has racked up the recognitions prior to the start of the 2025 season.

• The Fighting Irish have four players on the Tewaaraton Watch List (Kavanagh, Lyght, Ramsey and Taylor), more than any other team in the country.

• Nine ND players earned preseason Inside Lacrosse All-America citations, the most in the nation.

• The Irish spread six players over the two USILA Preseason All-America teams, the most of any team.

• Notre Dame had five players on the Preseason All-ACC Team as voted on by the league’s coaches, the most of the five teams in the conference.