SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 3 Notre Dame is heading to Championship Weekend for the sixth time in program history as they will take on No. 2 Virginia at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 27 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
GAME DETAILS
Location: Philadelphia | Lincoln Financial Field
Schedule: May 27 — 2:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2
Live Stats: UND.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
POSTSEASON SUCCESS
• The Irish advanced to Championship Weekend for the sixth time in program history with Sunday’s win over Johns Hopkins in Annapolis, Maryland.
• Notre Dame also advanced to the NCAA Championship final weekend in 2001, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015 and played in the title game in 2010 and 2014.
• The Irish have now made the NCAA Championship field in 16 of the last 17 tournaments.
• Notre Dame has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship in the 11 of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments.
• Notre Dame is 18-11 over its last 12 NCAA Championship appearances.
• Notre Dame owns a 23-25 record in its 26 trips to the NCAA Championship.
• This is the 14th time overall and 13th time in the last 15 seasons that the Irish have earned one of the eight national seeds for the NCAA Championship.
• The Irish are 9-3 in games played at Arlotta Stadium in NCAA Championships play.
THE VIRGINIA SERIES
• Saturday will be the 20th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Virginia. The Irish trail the Cavaliers in the series by a narrow margin of 8-11.
• Virginia won both regular season matchups this season.
• The Irish and Cavaliers have met once before in the NCAA Championships, as Notre Dame defeated Virginia by a score of 12-10 during the 2012 tournament in the quarterfinals in Chester, Pennsylvania.
• Max Pfeifer led the attack with three goals from the midfield and John Kemp made 14 saves in goal to help the Irish advance to Championship Weekend.
PAT KAVANAGH: TEWAARATON FINALIST
• Pat Kavanagh has been named a 2023 Tewaaraton Finalist, marking the second time in his career he has earned the distinction.
• The senior enters Championship Weekend third in the country in points per game (5.21) despite facing some of the best defenders in the country week in and week out.
• The senior has 73 points on the season off 23 goals and 50 assists.
• Kavanagh’s average of 3.57 assists per game ranks first in the country.
• The attackman also ranks second on the team in ground balls (36), trailing only Irish FOGO Will Lynch. He is also sixth on the team in caused turnovers with 10.
• Kavanagh has had a pair of monster performances against teams currently ranked in the national polls, tying his own ND record for points in a game with 10 (4G, 6A) against Michigan and posting eight (3G, 5A) in the win over then No. 1 Duke.
• The senior also has delivered in some of the biggest moments, scoring the game winner against No. 4 Maryland in triple OT to snap the Terrapins’ 22-game home win streak.
STRONG STARTS
• The Irish have wasted no time jumping on opponents early in games this season, outscoring the opposition by a combined score of 66-31 in first quarters.
• Notre Dame has scored on its first possession in eight of its 14 games this season
• Eric Dobson has scored Notre Dame’s opening goal in five games this season.
• Chris Kavanagh and Eric Dobson have thrived in first quarters, as Chris Kavanagh has a team-high 12 goals and Dobson has added 11 goals in the opening 15 minutes of play.
DOMINATING DEFENSE
• The Irish enter the weekend allowing just 9.57 goals per game, leading the ACC and ranking fifth in the country, despite playing seven games against opponents that are in the top 10 in goals scored per game.
• Notre Dame leads the ACC and ranks fifth in the country in caused turnovers per game this season, averaging 10.0.
• The Irish have recorded at least 10 caused turnovers in nine of 14 games this season.
• Notre Dame hasn’t allowed 30 or more shots on goal in any game this season and has held opponents to 20 shots on target or less in five games, including limiting Johns Hopkins to a season-low 19 shots in the quarterfinal win.
• ND recorded a season-high 14 caused turnovers in the win over No. 10/9 Ohio State.
ENTENMANN IS ELITE
• Senior Liam Entenmann has cemented his status as the top goalies in the country with his play in 2023, being named ACC Defensive Player of the Year, ACC Goalie of the Year and USA Lacrosse Magazine First Team All-American.
• Entenmann leads the ACC and ranks fourth in the country in goals against average, allowing just 9.41 goals per game.
• The senior has a save percentage of .567 (167 saves, 127 goals allowed), ranking fifth in the country.
• Entnemann has made double-digit saves in each of the last 12 games, including a season-high 16 in the win over No. 1 Duke.
• Entenmann currently ranks fourth on the ND all-time saves list with 519 in his career.
• He has been named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week three times this season following his performances in wins over No. 4 Maryland, No. 10/9 Ohio State and No. 15/14 UNC.
CASHING IN ON THE EMO
• For the second-straight season, Notre Dame has the top extra-man offense in the country.
• The Irish enter the weekend 21-for-34 (.618) on the EMO through this season, leading the ACC and ranking first in the country.
• Chris Kavanagh is seventh in the nation in EMO goals with seven.
• The Irish EMO unit cashed in on 21-of-31 chances (.677) during the 2022 season.
SHARING IS CARING
• Notre Dame’s ball movement has been dizzying at times this season, as the Irish have dished out 123 assists this season.
• ND ranks sixth in the country in assists per game, averaging 8.79.
• Pat Kavanagh leads the Irish in assists per game (3.57) and ranks first in the nation.
• Seventeen different players have recorded at least one assist this season.
• Pat Kavanagh is the program’s all-time career assist leader, tallying 133 in his career.
ATTACKING MIDFIELD DEPTH
• Despite the Kavanagh brothers earning much of the national headlines, the Irish midfield units have been very productive in 2023.
• The starting midfield trio of Eric Dobson, Quinn McCahon and Reilly Gray have combined for 56 goals in 2023.
• Dobson leads the group with 28 goals, while Gray has 16 and McCahon has added 12.
• The second midfield has combined for 28 goals, as Jack Simmons and Brian Tevlin have scored 10 and Bryce Walker has chipped in six.
• In the victory over Johns Hopkins the Irish received big-time performances from Simmons, who posted a season-high four points off three goals and an assist, and Jalen Seymour, who scored a pair of goals.
FITTING RIGHT IN
• Notre Dame welcomed four transfers to the 2023 roster and each player made has made significant contributions.
• Chris Fake and Chris Conlin have each earned starts as defensemen in every game this season, combining for 27 caused turnovers and 57 ground balls.
• Brian Tevlin and Jack Simmons have played major minutes in the midfield, as Simmons has 13 goals and nine assists while Tevlin has 10 goals and four assists while adding 33 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers.
• Tevlin has also traded his short stick in for a long stick on the Irish man-down unit at times this season.
STATEMENT WINS
In 12 wins on the season, the Irish have handed opponents their worst loss of the season in nine of them:
• Marquette – 21-10 (11 goals)
• Cleveland St. – 18-8 (10)
• Georgetown – 15-8 (7)
• Ohio St. – 16-3 (13)
• Michigan – 18-8 (10)
• Syracuse – 20-12 (8)
• Duke – 17-12 (5)
• UNC – 18-9 (9)
• Utah – 20-7 (13)
THE BROTHERS KAVANAGH
• Pat Kavanagh became the fourth Tewaaraton Finalist in program history in 2021 and his brother Chris joined the 2022 squad as an attackman.
• The two brothers have combined for 131 points this season, Pat totaling 73 (23G, 50A) and Chris recording 58 (43G, 15A).
• Chris and Pat became the first set of ND teammates to each record eight or more points in the same game in program history, each posting eight, in the win over Cleveland State.
• The brothers have linked up on 27 goals during their career, with one assisting the other’s goal.
• Pat led the team during the 2022 season in points (64) and assists (39). He was second in goals (24), caused turnovers (12) and ground balls (39) while Chris was second in points (33) and assists (11) while tied for third in goals (22).
• Pat broke his own single-season assist record for the second time, as he became the first player to reach 50 assists in a season in ND history.
• Pat owns the single-game points record at ND, recording 10 points in a game three times in his career, twice against Syracuse and this season again against Michigan.
• The brothers also excel in the ground ball aspect of the game, combining for 70 on the season.
RECORD-SETTING FIRST ROUND WIN
• The Irish set or matched a number of postseason program records in the 20-7 opening round win over Utah.
• Notre Dame’s 20 goals were the most the team has ever scored in an NCAA Tournament game and the 13-goal win marked the largest margin of victory for NCAA action.
• Jake Taylor tied the program record for goals in an NCAA Tourney game with five.
• Pat Kavanagh tied two NCAA postseason ND records, as he finished with seven points and four assists.
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 340-174 in his 37 seasons of coaching.
• The head coach is 330-159 in his 35 seasons at Notre Dame.
• Corrigan is the longest tenured men’s lacrosse coach at the DI level.