SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 1 Notre Dame opens up ACC with a pivotal top-5 matchup against No. 3 Syracuse at Arlotta Stadium at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 30. The game will air on ACCN.
GAME DETAILS
Location: South Bend, Indiana | Arlotta Stadium
Schedule: March 30 — 2 p.m. ET
TV: ACCN
Live Stats: FightingIrish.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
THE SYRACUSE SERIES
• Saturday will be the 21st meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Syracuse. The Irish and Orange have battled over the years to a standstill, with a record of 10-10 in the matchup.
• Notre Dame has won nine of the last 11 meetings between the two programs, including six straight.
• The Irish and Orange have played five times over the last three seasons, with Notre Dame scoring at least 18 goals in each meeting.
• Pat Kavanagh has been a problem for the Syracuse defense in his five meetings, as he has totaled 43 points (18 G, 25A) in the matchup.
VIDEO GAME NUMBERS
• The Irish enter Saturday’s matchup leading the country in scoring offense (17.0 goals per game), points per game (27.83) and assists per game (10.83).
• For the first time in program history Notre Dame recorded back-to-back 20+ goal performances, coming in its first two games of the season.
• The combined 46 goals over the two games shatter the previous program record for most goals in back-to-back games, as the 1992 squad previously held the record with 40 goals.
• The 22-goal win over Cleveland State, the 13-goal victory at Marquette and the five-goal win over Maryland 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 13.5 turnovers per game which is the third best mark in the country.
PICK YOUR POISON
• The Irish starting attack has combined for 84 points this seasons.
• Pat Kavanagh (7G, 22A), Chris Kavanagh (16G, 14A) and Jake Taylor (22G, 3A) are each off to great starts this season.
• The three attackman have a combined 463 points in their career off 257 goals and 206 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 17 points (12G, 5A) while Faison has 16 (13G, 3A) and Dobson has added 11 (6G, 5A).
DOMINATING DEFENSE
• The Irish have allowed just 50 total goals over the course of the season, giving up just 8.33 goals per game, which leads the country.
• The Blue and Gold have held Cleveland State (3), Maryland (9) and Michigan (9) to their lowest goal outputs of the season.
• Dating back to last season, which includes an NCAA Championship run, the Irish have held nine of theirl last 11 opponents to 10 or fewer goals.
• 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.
• Notre Dame led the ACC and ranked ninth in the country in caused turnovers per game last season, averaging 9.69.
CASHING IN ON THE EMO
• For the third-straight season, Notre Dame’s man-up offense is among the nation’s best, scoring on 77.8 percent of its opportunities.
• Notre Dame comes into the weekend 14-of-18 on man-up situations.
• Jeffery Ricciardelli leads the unit with four goals while Jake Taylor and Chris Kavanagh have each scored three goals for the Irish when having the player advantage this season.
• Ricciardelli’s four goals lead the ACC and ranke fourth in the country for EMO scoring.
• The Irish finished the 2023 season going 22-for-41 (.537) on the EMO ranking fifth in the country.
• Chris Kavanagh finished seventh in the nation in EMO goals with eight.
• The Irish EMO unit cashed in on 21-of-31 chances (.677) during the 2022 season.
THE CONDUCTOR
• Pat Kavanagh became the first Notre Dame player to be named a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist two times, earning the honor in 2021 and 2023.
• The attackman is the current NCAA DI active career leader in assists per game (3.08) and is second for total career assists (157).
• Kavanagh is closing in on the Notre Dame all-time career points record, as he is currently 24 shy of breaking the record held by Randy Colley ‘95 (see table on left).
• 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 157 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 three 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 graduate student is off to a flying start in 2024, earning ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week after his first week of play in which he totaled 12 points off two goals and 10 assists.
• Kavanagh has recorded two or more assists in every game this season.
THE STOPPER
• Grad student Liam Entenmann 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.
• The grad student ranks fourth in the country this season in goals allowed per game with a mark of 8.65.
• As the weather is heating up, so is Entenmann. The goalie had a big game against No. 3 Maryland this season, making 13 saves while limiting the Terrapins to just nine goals and made a season-high 15 saves in the win over No. 18 Michigan.
• 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.
• Entenmann currently ranks fourth on the ND all-time saves list with 609 in his career.
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 so far in 2024, as the junior is tied with his brother for team leader in points (23) with 15 goals and eight assists
•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 78 career goals.
THE FINISHER
• Jake Taylor has been one of the best crease finisher in the country this season, tied for third in the country with 3.67 goals per game.
• Taylor has recorded hat tricks in four of six games and has scored multiple goals in five of six outings.
• The attackman nearly tied his own program record for goals in a game in the win over Michigan, scoring seven goals in the contest to garner ACC Offensive Player of the Week, Inside Lacrosse Player of the Week and USILA Team of the Week honors.
• The grad student has 80 career goals, despite battling injury setbacks over the first four seasons in South Bend.
• Taylor came up clutch for the Irish in one of the biggest moments in program history, sending the 2023 NCAA Championship semifinal into overtime with a twister goal with under a minute left in regulation against Virginia.
LYNCH LEVELING UP
• Junior FOGO Will Lynch has gotten off to a great start in 2024, winning 61.8 percent of the faceoffs he hast taken, ranking 10th in the country.
• Lynch is 63-for-102 on the season at the dot, scooping up 37 ground balls.
• To make this number even more impressive, Lynch has faced five of the top 25 FOGOs in the country by faceoff winning percentage and won over 50 percent against four of the five.
• The junior had a remarkable performance in the win over No. 3 Maryland, winning 12-of-18 faceoffs against Luke Weirman, a 2024 preseason All-American.
• The FOGO also has added a goal this season, scoring in the win over Marquette.
THE ATTACK IS BACK
• The Irish returned a lot of firepower from the 2023 roster that claimed the national title, as the top five goal scorers are back in 2024.
• Notre Dame brings back 78.6 percent of its goals (195/248), 77.4 percent of its assists (103/133) and 78.2 percent of its points (298/381).
• Four players who recorded 30+ points last season are back, which include Pat Kavanagh (77), Chris Kavanagh (62), Eric Dobson (45) and Jake Taylor (33).
CHALLENGING SLATE AHEAD
• Notre Dame has never shied away from putting together a challenging schedule and the 2024 slate is no different.
• Of Notre Dame’s 11 regular-season opponents, seven are currently ranked in the top 15 in the USILA or Inside Lacrosse Top 20 Polls.
• Four of five of Notre Dame’s remaining regular season opponents are ranked in the top 10 of the current Inside Lacrosse and USILA polls.
FAISON’S FIRST IMPRESSION
• Jordan Faison has had an impressive start to his ND lacrosse career, as he ranks third on the team in goals (13) and fifth in points (16).
• The freshman has three hat tricks, including a five-point effort (3G, 2A) in the win over No. 3 Maryland.
• The midfielder has scored in every game this season.
• Faison enters the weekend ranked second in the country in shooting percentage, scoring on 56.5 percent of his shots.
• Faison wasted no time introducing himself to the college lacrosse world, scoring 38 seconds into the 2024 season for the first Notre Dame goal of the season in his debut.
• The freshman finished with a three-goal hat trick and an assist in the win over Cleveland State.
• The three goals in his first career game are the most by a Notre Dame midfielder in their debut since at least the 2000 season.
• The freshman has 13 goals and three assists on the season.
• Faison also had an electric start to his Notre Dame football career, finishing with 19 catches for 322 yards and was second on the team with four touchdowns receptions despite playing in just seven games.
• The WR was named the 2023 Sun Bowl C.M. Hendricks Most Valuable Player after recording five catches for 115 yards and a touchdown in the win over Oregon State.
FAMILY AFFAIR
• The Fighting Irish feature four pairs of brothers on the 2024 roster.
• The four sets of brothers are BJ and Gavin Burlace, Will and Andrew Donovan, Pat and Chris Kavanagh, and Jeffery and Thomas Ricciardelli.
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 350-175 in his 38 seasons of coaching.
• The head coach is 340-160 in his 36 seasons at Notre Dame.
• Corrigan is the longest tenured men’s lacrosse coach at the DI level.