NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Fighting Irish earned the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will take on Drexel in the first round matchup. The game will be played at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium in Denver. Opening faceoff is slated for 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 15. The game will air on ESPNU.
GAME DETAILS
Location: Denver, Colorado | Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium
Schedule: May 15 — 5 PM ET
Live Stream: ESPNU
Live Stats: NCAA.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
POSTSEASON SUCCESS
• Notre Dame and Maryland are the only two programs to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship field in each of the last 15 seasons.
• Notre Dame has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship in the nine of the last 10 campaigns.
• Notre Dame is 15-10 over the last 10 NCAA Championships.
• Notre Dame owns a 20-24 record in its 24 trips to the NCAA Championship.
• This is the 13th time overall and 12th time in the last 13 seasons that the Irish have earned one of the eight national seeds for the NCAA Championship.
• The Irish are 9-2 in games played at Arlotta Stadium in NCAA Championships play.
• Notre Dame 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 DREXEL SERIES
• Saturday will be the sixth meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Drexel. The Irish lead the all-time series with a record of 4-1.
• This Saturday’s matchup will be the first meeting between the two sides in postseason play.
• The Irish were victorious in the most recent matchup, coming away with a 6-5 decision during the 2012 season in Philadelphia.
CORRIGAN BECOMES ALL-TIME DI PROGRAM WINS LEADER
• With the win over No. 1 Duke on April 10, 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 322-167 in his 35 seasons of coaching.
• The head coach is 312-152 in his 33 seasons at Notre Dame.
• Corrigan is the longest tenured men’s lacrosse coach at the DI level.
• Pat Kavanagh has enjoyed a breakout 2021 sophomore season that has propelled him to become the fourth Tewaaraton Finalist in program history.
• The attackman has a team-high 59 points on the season off 36 assists and 23 goals. The 5.9 points per game rank fourth in the country.
• In just 10 games Pat became the all-time single-season ND assist record holder, passing older brother Matt (33) for the record. Matt’s 33 assist season came in an 18-game 2014 season.
• Kavanagh’s 36 assists over 10 games ranks second in the NCAA and leads the ACC in assists per game with an average of 3.6.
• Kavanagh is the only player in the country to earn US Lacrosse Magazine National Player of the Week honors twice this season (4/6 & 5/4).
• The attackman has been a regular on the SportsCenter Top 10 segment, appearing three times this season with a number of other goals going viral.
• In the final game of the regular season Kavanagh broke the program record for points in a game with a 10-point showing off five goals and five assists in the blowout win over No. 9 Syracuse.
• Kavanagh couldn’t have started his sophomore season any better, totaling nine points (2G, 7A) in the win over RMU.
• Kavanagh became just the second player in program history to dish out seven assists in a game, joining John Olmstead who accomplished the feat on April 21, 1988 in a win over Wittenberg.
• Kavanagh turned in another monster nine-point performance in the win over No. 4 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, totaling four goals and five assists.
• This performance earned the sophomore US Lacrosse Magazine National Player of the Week, ACC Offensive Player of the Week and USILA Team of the Week status.
• The sophomore has recorded the 10th and 11th games in program history with nine points, tying the then program record, and was the first to do it since his older brother Matt Kavanagh had nine points (3G, 6A) in the win over Syracuse in 2016.
• Kavanagh’s seven-point performance against Duke on April 22 (4G, 3A) marked the most points the Blue Devils gave up to a single player in a game all season.
DOMINATING DEFENSE
• The Irish defense leads the ACC and ranks third in the country in scoring defense this season, allowing just 8.5 goals per game despite playing some of the best attacking teams in the country.
• Robert Morris (7 goals), Marquette (3), Duke (8) and Syracuse (8) recorded season lows in scoring against the Irish.
• The close defense is comprised of two grad students in Jack Kielty and Kyle Thornton and senior Arden Cohen.
• Thornton has averaged 1.5 caused turnovers per game to lead the Irish and rank second in the conference.
• Kielty and Cohen have started 46 straight games together.
• The Irish SSDMs are the unsung heroes of the defense, as Ryan Hallenbeck, Danny Cassidy, Nick Harris and Tommy McNamara have done an excellent job throughout the year.
• Hallenbeck (4 goals) Harris (3 goals), Cassidy (2 goals) and McNamara (1 goal) have also made contributions in the transition attack for the Irish.
CASHING IN ON THE EMO
• The Irish have been clinical in extra-man opportunities this season, boasting the best unit in the country.
• Notre Dame has converted 22-of-37 man-up opportunities into goals for a rate of 59.5 percent, the best in the ACC and second best in the country.
• Will Yorke has been a key in the success for the Irish, scoring eight goals on the EMO to lead the ACC.
IRISH X-MEN
• The Notre Dame duo of Kyle Gallagher and Charlie Leonard have been a force in the 2021 season.
• The Irish have won 61.1 percent of faceoffs this season, going 160-for-262 from the X.
• Kyle Gallagher is 95-for-153 (62.1 percent) on the year with 64 ground balls, a goal and three assists to rank 13th in the country in FO percentage.
• Charlie Leonard has also made an impact at the dot, going 60-of-99 this season with 36 ground balls, three goals and an assist.
ENTENMANN IS ELITE
• Entenmann was selected to the All-ACC Team following the regular season after his remarkable season.
• The sophomore has been playing on another level this season, leading the ACC and ranking fourth in the country in goals against average (8.41) and sixth in save percentage (.580).
• The Chaminade product made a career-high 18 saves while allowing just three goals in the blowout win over Marquette.
STRONG STARTS FOR THE IRISH
• Notre Dame has dominated the opening 30 minutes of games in 2021, outscoring opponents 85-43.
• The second quarters have been Notre Dame’s best periods to date, recording 54 goals while holding the opposition to just 24.
• The Irish have held a halftime lead in nine of 10 games this season: the Irish led Robert Morris 12-2, Bellarmine 7-4, Marquette 9-2, Cleveland State 8-3, Virginia 7-5, Syracuse 11-8, Duke 7-5, Duke 7-3 and Syracuse 13-6.
BALANCED ATTACK
• 21 different players have found the back of the net for the Irish in 2021, combining to score 146 goals.
• Seven of the 21 scorers have recorded double digit goal totals on the year.
• All six starters in attack or midfield have each produced at least 20 points on the year.
• The Irish have been an unselfish unit, averaging 9.3 assists per game, ranking fourth in the country and first in the ACC.
ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
• Jack Kielty earned ACC Defensive Player of the Year status following the regular season, giving the Irish four of the last six distinctions for the honor.
• Kielty has put on a defensive clinic this season, locking down some of the best attacking talents in the country.
• Kielty was named US Lacrosse Magazine National Player of the Week following his performance against Duke, holding Michael Sowers to just one assist in the win.
• The defenseman also held Robert Morris’ Ryan Smith (currently 9th in goals per game) to a season low one goal and three points.