SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 1 Notre Dame will play on Memorial Day for the NCAA National Title for the second-straight season, as it takes on No. 7 Maryland at noon ET on Monday, May 27 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The game will air on ESPN.
GAME DETAILS
Location: Philadelphia | Lincoln Financial Field
Schedule: May 27 — Noon ET
TV: ESPN
Buy Tickets: Click Here
Live Stats: FightingIrish.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
POSTSEASON SUCCESS
• The Irish won their first NCAA title in 2023, defeating Duke in the title game by a final score of 13-9 in Philadelphia on Memorial Day.
• Notre Dame will play in its fourt NCAA Championship title game in program history on Monday.
• With the quarterfinal win over No. 8 Georgetown, the Irish made their seventh trip to Championship Weekend and have now made it in back-to-back seasons for the second time in program history (2014 & 2015).
• Notre Dame has made the NCAA Championship field in 17 of the last 18 tournaments.
• Notre Dame has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship in 12 of the last 14 NCAA Tournaments.
• Notre Dame is 23-11 over its last 13 NCAA Championship appearances.
• Notre Dame owns a 28-25 record in its 27 trips to the NCAA Championship.
• This is the 15th time overall and 14th time in the last 16 seasons that the Irish have earned one of the eight national seeds for the NCAA Championship.
• Notre Dame advanced to the NCAA Championship final weekend in 2001, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2023 and 2024 and played in the title game in 2010, 2014, 2023 and 2024.
THE MARYLAND SERIES
• Monday will be the 18th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Maryland. The Irish trail the Terrapins 8-9 in the matchup, however the Irish have won each of the last two contests between the two sides.
• Six of the last eight matchups have been extremely tight with the games being decided by two goals or less.
• Three of the last six matchups have went into overtime.
• Notre Dame was victorious in the matchup earlier this season, winning by a score of 14-9 at Arlottas Stadium in March.
• Jake Taylor scored four goals in the win while Devon McLane and Jordan Faison each added three scores. Will Lynch won 12-of-18 faceoffs at the dot.
• The Irish came away victorious in one of the best games of the season last year in College Park, earning a 13-12 win in three overtimes.
• Pat Kavanagh scored his only goal of the game in the third overtime to deliver the Irish the victory. His brother Chris, led the team in scoring with three goals in the game.
MAY MAGIC
• Since the calendar has turned May the Irish are not only 5-0 but all five wins have been by five or more goals.
• Four of the five victories in the month of May have come against top-10 opponents.
• The Fighting Irish have won 12 straight games in the month of May, dating all the way back to the 2022 season.
• Over those last 12 games the Irish have scored 187 goals (15.58 per game) while allowing just 112 goals (9.33 goals per game).
• This May, Chris Kavanagh has 26 points over five games off 13G and 13A while his brother Pat has 21 points off 12G and 9A.
• Liam Entenmann has also played his best lacrosse of 2024 in May, making 58 saves while allowing 37 goals for a save percentage of .611.
VIDEO GAME NUMBERS
• The Irish enter Monday’s final leading the country in scoring offense (15.69 goals per game), first in the country in points per game (25.06), first in the country in shooting percentage (37.5) and fourth in assists per game (9.38).
• Notre Dame has reached double-digit scoring in every game this season.
• The 10-goal win over Cleveland State, the 13-goal victory at Marquette, the five-goal win over Maryland and the 10-goal win over Duke represent the largest margin of victory for the Irish in the respective all-time series.
• The Irish have also thrived at clearing the ball, ranking sixth in the country in clearing percentage with a mark of 89.8 percent.
PICK YOUR POISON
• The Irish starting attack has combined for 193 points this season.
• Chris Kavanagh (39G, 37A), Pat Kavanagh (31G, 43A) and Jake Taylor (39G, 4A) are each having great seasons.
• The three attackman have a combined 572 points in their career off 321 goals and 249 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 44 points (36G, 8A) while both Faison (21G, 8A) and Dobson (16G, 13A) have added 29.
CASHING IN ON THE EMO
• For the third-straight season, Notre Dame’s man-up offense is among the nation’s best, scoring on 71.1 percent of its opportunities.
• Notre Dame comes into Saturday 27-of-39 on man-up situations.
• The mark of 69.2 percent is currently one of the best marks in NCAA history.
• Jeffery Ricciardelli and Devon McLane lead the unit with seven goals each, ranking eighth in the country, while Jake Taylor has recorded five and Chris Kavanagh has added four.
• 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.
DOMINATING DEFENSE
• The Irish have allowed just 141 total goals over the course of the season, giving up 9.19 goals per game despite playing some of the top attacks in the country.
• The 9.19 goals per game is the best mark in the ACC and second best in the country.
• Dating back to last season, which includes an NCAA Championship run, the Irish have held 14 of their last 20 opponents to 10 or fewer goals, including six of their last seven opponents.
• Notre Dame allowed just nine goals in each of its wins over UVA, marking the first time that Virginia was held under 10 goals in back-to-back games since 2016, the first time in the shot clock era.
• 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.
BEATING THE BEST
• Notre Dame has never shied away from putting together a challenging schedule and the 2024 slate is no different.
• Of Notre Dame’s 16 games during the 2024 season, 11 feature opponents ranked in the current USILA or Inside Lacrosse Top 20 Polls.
• The Irish are now 9-0 against top-10 teams at the time of the matchup this season.
• 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 10-1 against teams currently ranked.
THE CONDUCTOR
• Pat Kavanagh became the first Notre Dame player to be named a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist three times, earning the honor in 2024, 2023 and 2021.
• The graduate student was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year this season after leading the Irish to an undefeated 4-0 regular-season record in league play.
• With four points in the regular-season win over Virginia, Kavanagh became the all-time career points record holder at Notre Dame, which was previously held by Randy Colley (273). Kavanagh has 295 career points (117G, 178A).
• The attackman is the current NCAA DI active career leader in assists per game (2.92) and is second for total career assists (178).
• Kavanagh has recorded three or more points in every game this season.
• 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 176 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 four 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.
THE STOPPER
• Grad student Liam Entenmann was named a 2024 Tewaaraton Finalist, becoming the third men’s goalie in history to earn the distinction and first since 2011.
• Entenmann was named the 2024 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and ACC Goalie of the Year, claiming both awards for the second straight season.
• Entenmann joins former Irish great Matt Landis as the only two players in ACC history to garner ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors multiple times.
• The goalie 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 became the all-time program saves leader in the win over Cornell, surpassing Joey Kemp (633 saves) for the top spot. The shot stopper enters Monday with 727 saves.
• The goalie ranks first in the ACC in goals allowed per game (9.17) and save percentage (.558).
• The grad student turned in his best performance of the season in the ACC semifinal win over No. 5 Virginia, making a season-high 18 saves while allowing just six goals in a dominant performance against one of the best attacks in the country.
• The goalie followed up the performance with 12 saves while allowing just six goals in the ACC Tournament title, leading the Irish to the victory and was named the ACC Tournament MVP.
• 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.
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 in 2024, as the junior leads the team in points (76) with 39 goals and 37 assists.
• The junior joins his brothers Matt (42G, 33A – 2015) and Pat (31G, 43A – 2024) as the only players in program history to record 30+ goals and assists in the same season.
• 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 tie the program record for most goals scored in an NCAA Tourney game.
• With four points (1G, 3A) in the ACC semifinal win over No. 5 UVA, Chris broke into the top 10 on Notre Dame’s career scoring list. The junior has 159 points off 99 goals and 60 assists and currently ranks ninth in program history.
•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 107 career goals.
DOMINATING THE DOT
• Will Lynch is playing the best lacrosse of his career this season at the faceoff dot, winning 63.6 percent of his attempts to lead the country.
• The junior has won 196-of 308 attempts and is averaging 7.27 ground balls per game.
• Through three NCAA Tournament games Lynch is an astounding 57-of-75 (76.0%), the best mark of any player in the postseason.
• The FOGO also has added a career-high four goals this 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 junior has won over 50 percent of faceoffs in 12-of-15 games this season.