CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The No. 9 Fighting Irish (7-3, 3-1 ACC) added a marquee win to their 2025 resume on Saturday, defeating No. 5 North Carolina by a score of 12-6 behind a huge second half performance on the road.
Notre Dame outscored the Tar Heels 11-2 over the final minutes of play and closed the contest by scoring the final seven goals.
Chris Kavanagh was the catalyst to the Irish attack, scoring a game-high four goals in the win. Jalen Seymour added two scores in the win, finishing with multiple goals for the second straight game.
On the defensive end Notre Dame suffocated the Tar Heels attack in the settled six-on-six all afternoon, allowing just four goals while at even strength. Will Donovan was everywhere, causing three turnovers while scooping up a career-high six ground balls.
The defensive duo of Shawn Lyght and Nate Schwitzenberg put the clamps on the prolific UNC attacking duo of Owen Duffy and Dominic Pietramala, holding the two to a combined one goal and one assist.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tar Heels jumped out to a four goal lead, outscoring Notre Dame 4-0 over the opening 15 minutes of play.
The Irish locked in on the defensive end in the second quarter, shutting out UNC to keep the game within reach for Notre Dame. Kavanagh got the Irish on the board in the final minute of the second stanza, cutting the deficit to three at 4-1 at the half.
Notre Dame’s offense came to life in the third quarter, scoring four of the first five goals of the half to level the game at 5-5 with just under four minutes left in the frame.
North Carolina responded with it’s sixth goal of the day to retake the lead at 6-5 but the Irish responded with goals from Kavanagh and Maheras in the final minute of the third to take its first lead of the game at 7-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Irish attack stayed hot entering the final frame, pushing the run to five straight as the Notre Dame midfield trio of Jordan Faison, Matt Jeffery and Seymour each scored to make the score 10-6 with 9:13 left in regulation.
Notre Dame wasn’t done scoring, as Ben Ramsey scored a transition goal for the second straight game before Devon McLane put an exclamation mark on the comeback with a goal in the final two minutes to seal the 12-6 victory.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Irish defense held the hosts to their lowest goal total of the season and handed the Tar Heels their largest margin of defeat of the year. Notre Dame is now 7-0 when holding teams to single digits in scoring.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish improved to 14-11 against North Carolina in the all-time series, posting wins in each of the last five matchups. All five victories have come by at least six goals.
- Notre Dame is now 16-4 over the last four seasons of regular-season ACC play.
- With four goals in the win, Kavanagh now has 140 career goals, which is the second best mark in program history.
- Kavanagh’s four points give him 223 in his career. The senior is three points shy of passing his brother Matt (225) for third all-time in program history for career points.
- Taylor’s goal gives him 124 in his career and he is just three goals shy of passing Mikey Wynne (126) for third on the all-time career scoring list at Notre Dame.
- Thomas Ricciardelli finished with a .600 save percentage and has now recorded a save percentage of .600 or better in 8 of 10 contests.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame returns to Arlotta Stadium for the regular season finale, taking on Penn at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 26 in South Bend. The game will air on ESPNU and admission to the game is free.
— ND —