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Game 9 Preview: #10/8 Cornell

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 1 Notre Dame has another top-10 showdown this weekend, traveling to Brookville, New York, for a non-conference matchup against No. 10/8 Cornell in a Sunday matinee at 12:30 p.m. ET at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium. The game will air on ESPN+.

GAME DETAILS
Location: Brookville, N.Y. | Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium
Schedule: April 14 — 12:30 p.m. ET
Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: FightingIrish.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame

THE CORNELL SERIES

• Sunday will be the eighth meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Cornell and the first meeting since a 2019 matchup at Arlotta.

• The Irish trail in the series with the Big Red, having a record of 1-6 in the matchup.

• Notre Dame fell to Cornell in the most recent matchup in an 11-9 loss at Arlotta Stadium in the 2019 season.

• The Irish win came during the 2010 NCAA Championships in the semifinals, as Notre Dame won by a score of 12-7.

• Scotty Rodgers was magnificent in the win, making 16 saves while allowing just seven goals. Neal Hicks led the Irish with four goals while Zach Brennan added three to send Notre Dame to the title game on Memorial Day.

VIDEO GAME NUMBERS

• The Irish enter Sunday’s matchup leading the country in scoring offense (16.38 goals per game), points per game (26.0) and third in assists per game (9.63.

• Notre Dame has reached double-digit scoring in every game this season.

• Six of ND’s eight opponents have allowed their most goals in a game this season to the Irish (Cleveland St., Marquette, Maryland, Michigan, Syracuse, Duke).

• The 22-goal win over Cleveland State, the 13-goal victory at Marquette and the five-goal win over Maryland represent the largest margin of victory for the Irish in the respective all-time series.

• The Irish have also played fairly clean games thus far, as they are averaging just 13.88 turnovers per game which is the fifth best mark in the country.

PICK YOUR POISON

• The Irish starting attack has combined for 106 points this season.

• Pat Kavanagh (13G, 26A), Chris Kavanagh (21G, 17A) and Jake Taylor (26G, 3A) are each having great seasons.

• The three attackman have a combined 485 points in their career off 272 goals and 213 assists.

• The Irish starting midfield also presents headaches for the opposition with Eric Dobson, Jordan Faison and Devon McLane each presenting different challenges to try to stop.

• McLane leads the unit with 21 points (15G, 6A) while Faison has 17 (14G, 3A) and Dobson has added 15 (9G, 6A).

DOMINATING DEFENSE

• The Irish have allowed just 62 total goals over the course of the season, giving up just 9.25 goals per game, which ranks fourth in the country.

• Not only has the Irish defense been stingy but they have also been disruptive, averaging 9.75 caused turnovers per game, which is the ninth best mark in the country.

• Dating back to last season, which includes an NCAA Championship run, the Irish have held nine of their last 12 opponents to 10 or fewer goals.

• The unit allowed just three goals in the win over Cleveland State, which is tied for the second fewest given up by ND in a season opener in program history.

• 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 last season, averaging 9.69.

THREES ARE WILD

• The Irish have faced the No. 3 ranked team in the country on three occasions this season, going 3-0 in the matchups.

• Notre Dame racked up wins over No. 3 Maryland, No. 3 Syracuse and No. 3 Duke.

• Each win represents the largest defeat of the season for the respective opponent.

• The Irish have scored at least 14 goals in each of the three contests.

CASHING IN ON THE EMO

• For the third-straight season, Notre Dame’s man-up offense is among the nation’s best, scoring on 72.7 percent of its opportunities.

• Notre Dame comes into the weekend 16-of-22 on man-up situations.

• The mark of 72.7 percent is on pace to be the best single-season percentage in NCAA history.

• Jeffery Ricciardelli leads the unit with four goals while Jake Taylor,  Chris Kavanagh and Devon McLane have each scored three goals for the Irish when having the player advantage this season.

• The Irish finished the 2023 season going 22-for-41 (.537) on the EMO ranking fifth in the country.

• 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 attackman is the current NCAA DI active career leader in assists per game (3.04) and is second for total career assists (161).

• Kavanagh is closing in on the Notre Dame all-time career points record, as he is currently 14 shy of breaking the record held by Randy Colley ‘95 (see table on left).

• The Rockville, New York, native 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 161 in his illustrious career.

• 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.

• Kavanagh has recorded three or more points in every game this season.

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 enters Sunday tied for most career saves in program history with 633, tied for the top spot with Joey Kemp.

• The grad student ranks eighth in the country this season in goals allowed per game with a mark of 9.52.

• As the weather is heating up, so is Entenmann. The goalie had a big game against No. 3 Maryland this season, making 13 saves while limiting the Terrapins to just nine goals and made a season-high 15 saves in the win over No. 18 Michigan.

• Entenmann led the ACC and ranked sixth in the country in goals against average, allowing just 9.55 goals per game in 2023.

• Entenmann had a save percentage of .570 (196 saves, 148 goals allowed), ranking fourth in the country last season.

• Entenmann made double-digit saves in each of the final 13 games in 2023, including a season-high 18 in the win over No. 1 Duke to win the national title.

LYNCH LEVELING UP

• Junior FOGO Will Lynch is having the best season of his career in 2024, winning 62.2 percent of the faceoffs he has taken, ranking seventh in the country.

• Lynch is 97-for-156 on the season at the dot, scooping up 51 ground balls.

• To make this number even more impressive, Lynch has faced seven of the top 25 FOGOs in the country by faceoff winning percentage and won over 50 percent against six of the seven.

• Lynch had one of the best games of his career in the victory over No. 3 Syracuse, finishing 19-of-26 while adding 11 ground balls and a goal.

• The junior had a remarkable performance in the win over No. 3 Maryland, winning 12-of-18 faceoffs against Luke Weirman, a 2024 preseason All-American.

• The FOGO also has added two goals this season, scoring in wins over Marquette and Syracuse.

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.

• Kavanagh hasn’t missed a beat so far in 2024, as the junior is second on the team in points (38) with 21 goals and 17 assists

•The junior 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 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 15 in his career.

• The Rockville Centre, New York, native has 89 career goals.

THE FINISHER

• Jake Taylor has been one of the best crease finishers in the country this season, ranking sixth in the country with 3.25 goals per game.

• Taylor has recorded hat tricks in four of eight games and has scored multiple goals in seven outings.

• The attackman nearly tied his own program record for goals in a game in the win over Michigan, scoring seven goals in the contest to garner ACC Offensive Player of the Week, Inside Lacrosse Player of the Week and USILA Team of the Week honors.

• The grad student has 84 career goals, despite battling injury setbacks over the first four seasons in South Bend.

• Taylor came up clutch for the Irish in one of the biggest moments in program history, sending the 2023 NCAA Championship semifinal into overtime with a twister goal with under a minute left in regulation against Virginia.

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, six are currently ranked in the top 10 in the USILA or Inside Lacrosse Top 20 Polls.

• Three of Notre Dame’s 2024 opponents are currently ranked in the top four in the country.

• The Irish have three wins against teams ranked No. 3 in the country at the time of the matchup (Maryland, Syracuse and Duke).

• Notre Dame is 4-1 against teams currently ranked.

FAISON’S FIRST IMPRESSION

• Jordan Faison has had an impressive start to his ND lacrosse career, as he ranks fourth on the team in goals (14) and fifth in points (17).

• The freshman has three hat tricks, including a five-point effort (3G, 2A) in the win over No. 3 Maryland.

• The midfielder has scored in six of seven games this season.

• Faison enters the weekend leading the team in shooting percentage, scoring on 45.2 percent of his shots.

• Faison wasted no time introducing himself to the college lacrosse world, scoring 38 seconds into the 2024 season for the first Notre Dame goal of the season in his debut.

• The freshman finished with a three-goal hat trick and an assist in the win over Cleveland State. The three goals in his first career game are the most by a Notre Dame midfielder in their debut since at least the 2000 season.

• Faison also had an electric start to his Notre Dame football career, finishing with 19 catches for 322 yards and was second on the team with four touchdowns receptions despite playing in just seven games.

• The WR was named the 2023 Sun Bowl C.M. Hendricks Most Valuable Player after recording five catches for 115 yards and a touchdown in the win over Oregon State.

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 352-175 in his 38 seasons of coaching.

• The head coach is 342-160 in his 36 seasons at Notre Dame.

• Corrigan is the longest tenured men’s lacrosse coach at the DI level.