SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 2-seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish will take on No. 6 seed Syracuse in a highly anticipated Final Four matchup at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 23 at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia with a spot in the national title game on the line. The game will air on ESPN2.
GAME DETAILS
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia | Scott Stadium
Schedule: May 23 — 2:30 p.m. ET
Tickets: Click Here
TV: ESPN2
Live Stats: FightingIrish.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
POSTSEASON SUCCESS
• The Irish have won two of the last three NCAA Championships, capturing the titles in 2023 and 2024.
• Notre Dame owns a 32-26 record in its 29 trips to the NCAA Championship.
• The Irish have made eight trips to Championship Weekends, seven coming since the 2010 season.
• Notre Dame is 11-1 over its last four NCAA Tournament appearances with eight of the wins coming by five or more goals.
• Notre Dame has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship in 14 of the last 16 NCAA Tournaments. The Irish are tied for the longest active quarterfinal streak with four straight appearances.
• Notre Dame has reached the title game on Memorial Day four times in program history, including twice in the last three seasons.
• Notre Dame has made the NCAA Championship field in 19 of the last 20 tournaments.
• This is the 16th time overall and 15th time in the last 18 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, 2024 and 2026 and played in the title game in 2010, 2014, 2023 and 2024.
• The Fighting Irish have an all-time record of 18-11 in first round NCAA Tournament games, including a mark of 14-1 in their last 15 appearances.
THE SYRACUSE SERIES
• Saturday will be the 25th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Syracuse.
• The Irish and Orange are deadlocked at 12-12 heading into the semifinal matchup.
• Notre Dame has won 11 of the last 15 meetings between the two programs, including eight of 10.
• The Irish have scored 15 or more goals in six of the last nine matchups between the two sides, dating back to the beginning of the 2021 season.
• Max Busenkell and Luke Miller each notched hat tricks in the regular-season meeting between the two sides.
• Notre Dame used a big second half to secure the win, outscoring Syracuse 9-3 over the final 30 minutes of regulation to earn the 16-11 victory.
RESUME BUILDING
• Notre Dame has never shied away from playing the top teams in the country and has racked up wins, especially over the last few seasons.
• The Fighting Irish are 32-9 against ranked teams since the beginning of the 2023 season.
• Nineteen of the 32 wins have come in blowout fashion with the Irish winning by five or more goals.
• Furthermore, Notre Dame has faired just as well against the best of the best, posting a record of 23-6 against teams ranked in the top 10 of the USILA poll at the time of the matchup since the beginning of the 2023 season.
• The Irish are 9-1 against ranked opposition this season and 6-1 against top-10 teams (Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, UNC, Richmond, Georgetown and Ohio State).
THE BEST PLAY HERE
• Notre Dame has produced more Tewaaraton finalists over the past six seasons than any other program, totaling six during the time frame.
• Shawn Lyght is the latest, being selected as a 2026 finalist as a defenseman.
• Lyght is the first defenseman in a decade to earn the honor, the most recent was another Notre Dame standout in Matt Landis (2016).
• Pat Kavanagh was named a finalist three times (2021, 2023, 2024) while Chris Kavanagh (2025) and Liam Entenmann (2024) were also finalists for the most prestigious individual award in college lacrosse.
• Pat Kavanagh became the first Notre Dame player to win the honor following the 2024 season.
LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
• Notre Dame enters the weekend allowing just 8.57 goals per game, ranking fifth in the country.
• The Irish have held Georgetown (9), Michigan (4), Richmond (8), UNC (5), Duke (6) and Jacksonville (5) to season lows in goals scored this season.
• Notre Dame handcuffed a top-10 Jacksonville attack in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, holding the Dolphins to just five goals, two coming in the fourth quarter against Irish reserves.
• The Fighting Irish turned in arguably the best defensive performance of the season, holding UNC to a season-low five goals in the 10-5 victory. Only two of the five goals were scored in settled six-on-six possessions.
• Notre Dame held Maryland to eight goals in College Park, which is tied for the Terps lowest scoring output in a home game since the advent of the shot clock in 2019.
• Schwitzenberg has earned ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice this season following wins over Maryland and UNC.
• Notre Dame held Richmond to just eight goals, tying its mark for the lowest they have scored in a game this season.
• The Irish had their most disruptive performance of the season in the win over No. 3 Georgetown, limiting the Hoyas to just nine goals while recording a season-high 19 caused turnovers.
• Lyght finished the contest against Georgetown with a season-high three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
• Donovan has been a menace to opposing attacks, recording 15 caused turnovers and 38 ground balls.
• The short-stick defensive midfield unit that consists of Christian Alacqua, Chris Reinhardt, Kyle Bergen and Miguel Iglesias has impressed this season as well.
LYGHTS OUT
• Shawn Lyght has been named a Tewaaraton Award finalist, marking the first time a defenseman has achieved the feat since 2016 when Notre Dame great Matt Landis was a finalist for the most prestigious individual award in college lacrosse.
• Lyght becomes the sixth defenseman to ever be named a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award.
• For the second-straight season, Lyght was named the ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, becoming just the third player in league history to earn the honor multiple times.
• Lyght joins Notre Dame legends Matt Landis and Liam Entenmann as the only three to accomplish the feat.
• The junior was selected as the Schmeisser Award co-winner following an incredible sophomore season in 2025.
• Lyght was also named a USA Lacrosse First Team All-American following the 2025 regular season.
• In the win over UNC last season, Lyght held UNC’s prolific attackman Owen Duffy to just one assist on the day, matching his career low for points in a game.
• This season’s matchup against Duffy he limited the junior to two points off a goal and assist and the assist came off a man-down situation in which Lyght was not on the field.
• Lyght consistently draws the No. 1 option for the opposing attack throughout the season.
BACK BETWEEN THE PIPES
• Goalie Thomas Ricciardelli was named the ACC Goalie of the Year following his impressive 2026 regular season, leading the Irish to the ACC regular season title.
• The senior is 12-2 on the season, making 154 saves while allowing 8.30 goals per game, ranking sixth in the country.
• His save percentage of 57.9 is the best mark in the ACC and ranks fifth in the country.
• Ricciardelli has recorded a save percentage of .500 or better in 10 of 134games this season.
• Ricciardelli opened the 2026 NCAA Tournament in dominant fashion, making 16 saves while allowing just three goals in the win over Jacksonville.
• The senior was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season following the win over Duke, as he finished with 17 saves while allowing just six goals in the victory in Durham.
• The shot stopper turned in a remarkable performance in the win over No. 1 UNC, making 16 saves while allowing just five goals while adding three ground balls and a caused turnover.
• The New Canaan, Connecticut, native allowed a season-low four goals while making 11 saves in the win over Michigan on March 14.
• In the win over No. 1 Richmond, the senior was masterful, making 14 saves while allowing just eight goals to help the Irish knock off the top-ranked Spiders.
• Ricciardelli impressed in his debut season, leading the ACC and ranking sixth in the country goals against average (9.14).
• The shot stopper made 158 saves during the 2025 campaign while allowing 121 goals.
• The goalie saved at least 50 percent of shots he faced in 10 of 14 games last season.
• In his first NCAA Tournament appearance, Ricciardelli turned in an incredible performance against No. 2 Ohio State, making 15 saves while allowing just six goals for a mark of 71.4 percent.
EVERYBODY EATS
• The Irish can beat you in a number of ways, as the attack has been very balanced this season.
• The Fighting Irish have four attackmen that have recorded at least 23 points through 13 games.
• Josh Yago (28G, 19A) leads the team in points with 47 followed by Luke Miller (31G, 11A) and Brock Behrman (18G, 14A). Teddy Lally (14G, 9A) has excelled off the bench, adding 23 points to bolster the unit.
• Will Maheras has paced the midfield with 31 points (17G, 14A). Matt Jeffery (17G, 12A) has added 29 points. Will Angrick (13G, 6A) has recorded 19 while Jalen Seymour (12G, 4A) has 16 on the season.
• Twenty-two different players have registered a goal this season and 28 have tallied at least one point during the 2026 season, including 19 with multiple points.
DOMINATE THE DOT
• Tyler Spano and Aiden Diaz-Matos have excelled at the faceoff dot as a tandem this season.
• Spano enters the weekend with a win percentage of .589 (113-of-192) while Diaz-Matos has a percentage of .548 (73-of-134) this season.
• The Irish have finished 50 percent or better at the dot in each of the last seven games and 11-of-14 games on the season.
• Facing Brady Wambach of UNC, who entered the matchup with the best percentage in the country, Spano won 10-of-17 faceoffs against the Tar Heels along with six ground balls to help the Irish win the possession battle.
• Spano has won a team-high 70 ground balls while Diaz-Matos has collected 43 on the year.
FROM THE GRIDIRON TO THE LACROSSE FIELD
• Two Notre Dame lacrosse players on the 2026 squad also are on the football roster, as Matt Jeffery and Dylan Faison are both dual-sport athletes.
• Jeffery was the ACC Freshman of the Year in 2025 after making an impact in the midfield.
• Faison was the No. 1 ranked incoming player in the class of 2026 before he reclassified and joined the Irish for this spring semester.
• Jeffery has been productive in his sophomore campaign, posting 29 points off 17 goals and 12 assists despite drawing a pole in the majority of matchups.
• The sophomore had a breakout performance in the win over Duke, scoring three goals for his first career hat trick.
• Faison has broken into the rotation as of late, playing on the second-midfield line and scoring his first career goal in the win over No. 1 Richmond.
• The freshman then scored two goals and added an assist in the win over Duke.
• Faison has six goals and an assist on the season for seven points in just nine games played.
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 382-182 in his 40 seasons of coaching.
• The head coach is 372-167 in his 38 seasons at Notre Dame.
• Corrigan is the longest tenured men’s lacrosse coach at the DI level.