SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 1 Notre Dame heads to Philadelphia for Memorial Day Weekend for the second straight season, as it is set to take on Denver in the NCAA Championship semifinals on Saturday, May 25 at Lincoln Financial Stadium with a spot in Monday’s national title game on the line. Saturday’s game will air on ESPN2.
GAME DETAILS
Location: Philadelphia | Lincoln Financial Field
Schedule: May 25 — Noon ET
TV: ESPN2
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.
• With the quarterfinal win over No. 8 Georgetown, the Irish are making 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 now 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 22-11 over its last 13 NCAA Championship appearances.
• Notre Dame owns a 27-25 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 and 2023.
the DENVER series
• Saturday will be the 28th meeting between Notre Dame and Denver. The Irish lead the all-time series 16-11.
• The two sides last met in the shortened 2020 season, as Denver claimed a 14-11 win in South Bend.
• Twelve of the last 13 meetings have been decided by three goals or less.
VIDEO GAME NUMBERS
• The Irish enter Saturday’s game leading the country in scoring offense (15.87 goals per game), first in the country in points per game (25.4), first in the country in shooting percentage (37.5) and second in assists per game (9.53).
• Notre Dame has reached double-digit scoring in every game this season.
• Five of ND’s 13 opponents have allowed their most goals in a game this season to the Irish (Cleveland St., Marquette, Michigan, Duke and Virginia).
• 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 played fairly clean games thus far, as they are averaging just 14.53 turnovers per game which leads the ACC and ranks 11th in the country.
PICK YOUR POISON
• The Irish starting attack has combined for 183 points this season.
• Chris Kavanagh (36G, 36A), Pat Kavanagh (28G, 41A) and Jake Taylor (38G, 4A) are each having great seasons.
• The three attackman have a combined 562 points in their career off 314 goals and 248 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 41 points (33G, 8A) while Faison has 28 (20G, 8A) and Dobson has added 27 (15G, 12A).
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-38 on man-up situations.
• The mark of 71.1 percent is currently the best mark 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 135 total goals over the course of the season, giving up 9.4 goals per game despite playing some of the top attacks in the country.
• The 9.4 goals per game is the best mark in the ACC and fourth best in the country.
• Dating back to last season, which includes an NCAA Championship run, the Irish have held 13 of their last 19 opponents to 10 or fewer goals, including five of their last six 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 15 games during the 2024 season, 10 feature opponents ranked in the current USILA or Inside Lacrosse Top 20 Polls.
• The Irish are now 8-0 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 9-1 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 290 career points (114G, 176A).
• The attackman is the current NCAA DI active career leader in assists per game (2.93) and is second for total career assists (176).
• 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 the weekend with 715 saves.
• The goalie ranks first in the ACC in goals allowed per game (9.39) and save percentage (.551).
• 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 (72) with 36 goals and 36 assists.
• The junior is just the second player in program history to record 30 or more goals and assists in the same season, joining his brother Matt (42G, 33A – 2015).
• 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 104 career goals.
DOMINATING THE DOT
• Will Lynch is playing the best lacrosse of his career this season at the faceoff dot, winning 62.5 percent of his attempts to rank second in the country.
• The junior has won 178-of 285 attempts and is averaging 7.21 ground balls per game.
• Through two NCAA Tournament games Lynch is an astounding 39-of-52 (75.0%), 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 11-of-14 games this season.
KINGS OF THE QUEEN CITY
• Notre Dame won their third ACC Tournament title this season, defeating No. 5 UVA (18-9) and No. 6 Duke (16-6) in Charlotte to claim the championship.
• The Irish scored a combined 34 goals, which was tied for the all-time record for most goals scored in an ACC Tournament.
• Sixteen different Notre Dame players scored over the two games.
• Liam Entenmann was named the ACC Tournament MVP after posting 30 saves while allowing just 12 goals over the two games.
• The goalie was joined by Will Lynch, Shawn Lyght, Jake Taylor, Chris Kavanagh and Devon McLane on the ACC All-Tournament Team.