SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 6 Fighting Irish (8-3, 3-1 ACC) closed out the regular season with a 10-8 win over Penn in front of a packed Arlotta Stadium crowd on Saturday afternoon. Notre Dame enters postseason play winners of three straight.
For the second straight game Notre Dame used a big second half to secure a comeback victory, outscoring the Quakers 8-2 over the final 30 minutes of play.
The offense was led by the attacking duo of Devon McLane and Chris Kavanagh on Saturday. McLane scored a season-high four goals and Kavanagh also recorded a hat trick with three goals to go along with three assists.
The Notre Dame defense held the opposition to single digits for the third straight game and fifth time in the last six outings. Thomas Ricciardelli made seven saves but also made an impact with two caused turnovers and four ground balls.
Senior faceoff specialist Will Lynch also played a major role in the win, finishing 13-for-19 from the dot while adding six ground balls and an assist to tilt the field in Notre Dame’s direction all afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish got off to a slow start, as Penn outscored the hosts 3-1 in the first frame. After the Quakers opened the scoring Kavanagh buried a shot from the top on a man-up opportunity to level the score at 1-1. The visitors then scored the final two goals of the quarter to take a two-goal lead.
Penn continued to build its lead over the second quarter, scoring the first three goals of the stanza to go on top 6-1 with just over two minutes left in the half. McLane cut the deficit to four with 13 seconds left in the frame with his first of the afternoon, making the score 6-2 at the break.
For the second-straight week the Irish came out flying in the third quarter. Notre Dame scored the first four goals of the third quarter with McLane firing in three and Kavanagh adding one to level the game at 6-6 with less than nine minutes left in the quarter.
Penn stopped the run and retook the lead with a goal at the 5:52 mark of the third but the visitor’s were unable to hold the advantage for long. A goal from Fisher Finley leveled the score before Will Maheras and Jake Taylor scored within a 14-second span to give the Irish a 9-7 lead with 15 minutes left in regulation.
Penn pulled within one in the first 30 seconds of the fourth, making the score 9-8 but a late goal from Kavanagh in the final three minutes of play sealed the win for Notre Dame at 10-8.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Irish attack has exploded in the second half over the last three games, outscoring the opposition by a combined mark of 28-8 over the final 30 minutes of play.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish improved to 4-2 against Penn in the all-time series and are now 4-0 when playing the Quakers in South Bend.
- Notre Dame dominated the ground ball battle 40-18 in the win.
- With three goals in the win, Kavanagh now has 143 career goals, which is the second best mark in program history.
- Kavanagh’s six points give him 229 in his career, moving him past his brother Matt (225) for third all-time in program history for career points.
- Kavanagh now has 26 career hat tricks with six coming during the 2025 campaign.
- McLane’s hat trick was his first of the season and eighth during his two-year Notre Dame career.
- Taylor’s goal gives him 125 in his career and he is just two goals shy of passing Mikey Wynne (126) for third on the all-time career scoring list at Notre Dame.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will be the top seed in the ACC Tournament in Charlotte. The Irish will play in the semifinals against the No. 4 seed Syracuse on Friday, May 2 on ACCN. With a win the Irish would advance to the title game on Sunday, May 4 at noon ET on ACCN. All games will be played at American Legion Memorial Stadium. Tickets can be purchased here.
— ND —