SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The No. 6/7 Fighting Irish won its fifth straight game on Sunday, turning in an impressive performance in an 18-11 road win over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. Notre Dame never trailed in the contest.
Pat Kavanagh continued to terrorize the Syracuse defense, tying his own program record for points in a game with 10 off four goals and six assists. Eric Dobson also had a notable day, turning in his second straight hat trick with three goals.
On the other end of the field Liam Entenmann was dialed in for the full 60 minutes. The junior goalie made a career-high 22 saves while allowing just 11 goals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The two sides each scored a goal in the first five minutes of action, with Notre Dame striking first off a Reilly Gray goal. The Irish dominated the final 10 minutes of the first frame, scoring four of the last five to take a 5-2 lead after the opening 15 minutes.
The Irish carried it’s momentum into the second quarter, scoring the first three goals to open an 8-2 lead. All eight goals were scored by eight different players.
Syracuse responded with three of the next four goals to trim the lead to 9-5 with under four minutes remaining in the half but the Irish struck just before half off a rocket from Chris Kavanagh to give Notre Dame a 10-5 lead heading into the halftime break.
The third quarter featured nine goals with the Irish outscoring the hosts 5-4 in the frame to make the score 15-9 with 15 minutes left in the game. All five goals were scored by different Irish players, including Ryan Hallenbeck’s first of the season off a faceoff win.
Pat Kavanagh opened the fourth frame with his third goal of the day to extend the lead to 16-9. The two sides traded scores the rest of the way, as Notre Dame cruised to the 18-11 victory.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME
Pat Kavanagh was surgical in his 10-point outburst on Sunday, both as a scorer and distributor. The junior tied his own program record for points in a game which he set last season in a win over Syracuse. In four games against the Orange, the attackman has 38 points (16G & 22A). Kavanagh has totaled nine or more points in all four career games against Syracuse.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME
Entenmann frustrated the Syracuse shooters all game, saving 66.7 percent of the shots he faced. The junior surpassed the 20-save milestone for a single game for the first time in his career, as his previous career high came earlier this season against Michigan with a 19-save performance. Entenmann has registered double-digit saves in 10 of 11 games this season.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Irish have outscored Syracuse by a combined score of 80-36 over the last four meetings, all coming in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish have now won four straight and eight of the last 10 meetings against the Orange.
- The Irish offense has scored 86 goals during the current five-game win streak while holding the opposition to 45.
- Notre Dame’s extra-man unit continued its elite level of play, finishing 2-for-2 on the day, improving to 19-of-28 on the season (67.9 percent).
- Six of Notre Dame’s seven wins have come by at least five goals.
- Eleven different Irish players registered a goal in the victory.
- Dobson has recorded back-to-back hat tricks for the first time in his career.
- With six assists, Pat Kavanagh has seven games with three or more assists on the season and the junior has 22 over the last five games.
- Gray recorded his first multi-goal game of his career.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame returns home to Arlotta Stadium to close out the regular season in a rivalry matchup against Duke to close out the regular season. Faceoff is scheduled for noon ET on Saturday, May 7. The game will air on ESPN2.
— ND —