HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – No. 1 Notre Dame avenged its only loss of the season on Saturday, defeating No. 8 Georgetown 16-11 in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals at James M. Shuart Stadium to advance to championship weekend for the seventh time in program history.
For the second-straight season the Irish advance to the semifinals and will face No. 5 Denver on Saturday, May 25 in Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field. The game will air on ESPN2. Buy tickets here.
Chris Kavanagh had arguably the best game of his career, tying his career high in points (8) off five goals and three assists to lead the Irish attack. His brother Pat Kavanagh also had a hat trick and finished with four points off three goals and an assist.
Will Lynch continued his dominant run of play at the faceoff dot, winning 21-of-26 attempts while also scooping up 12 ground balls and scoring a goal.
In goal Liam Entenmann made eight saves while giving up 10 goals to help the Irish defense keep the Hoya attack at bay.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish got off to a great start, scoring the first three goals of the day to jump out to a 3-0 lead with over six minutes left in the frame. Devon McLane started the scoring, firing in a goal on the first possession. Notre Dame followed up with goals from Reilly Gray and Chris Kavanagh to build the early lead. The Hoyas scored the final goal of the quarter to make it a 3-1 game after 15 minutes of action.
Notre Dame carried its momentum into the second quarter, outscoring the Hoyas 4-1 to take a 7-2 lead into the break. The two sides each scored a goal to begin the quarter before the Irish closed with three in the final four minutes to open up the five-goal advantage.
The Kavanagh brothers accounted for three of the four goals in the second quarter, as Chris had two and Pat had one. Eric Dobson also added a goal to help carry the Irish attack.
The Hoyas scored the first goal of the second half to cut the Irish lead to four goals but a nine-goal second half lifted the Irish to the quarterfinal victory and will advance to Philadelphia to compete in the Final Four for the second consecutive year.
ND STAT OF THE GAME
Chris Kavanagh’s eight points are a program record for points in an NCAA Tournament game and his five goals tie the program record for goals in an NCAA Tournament contest.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- Notre Dame improves to 27-25 in NCAA Championships history, including a record of 22-11 over the last 13 tournament appearances.
- The Irish have now advanced to the semifinal round in back-to-back seasons.
- Notre Dame extends its win streak to 12 games, which is the longest since winning 15 consecutive games during the 2009 season.
- The Irish are 11-9 against Georgetown in the all-time series.
- With the win, Notre Dame improves to 8-0 against teams ranked in the top-10 at the time of the matchup in 2024.
- The Irish are now 8-0 in games played away from South Bend this season.
- The Notre Dame attack has finished in double-figures for goals in every game this season.
- With his first goal of the day, Chris Kavanagh became the 10th player in program history to reach the 100-goal milestone for their career. Three of the 10 members are now Kavanagh brothers (Matt, Pat and Chris).
- Pat Kavanagh has recorded at least three points in every game this season.
- With eight points, Chris Kavanagh has reached the five-point mark in nine games this season.
- Marco Napolitano scored his first career goal in the victory and Entenmann recorded his first assist of the season.
UP NEXT
The Irish advance to the semifinals and will face No. 5 Denver on Saturday, May 25 in Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field. The game will air on ESPN2. Buy tickets here.
— ND —