NOTRE DAME, Ind. – A strong defensive performance led the No. 9/8 Fighting Irish to a 12-6 win over Bellarmine on Saturday afternoon inside Arlotta Stadium to improve to 2-0 on the young season.
In the attack Pat Kavanagh and Quinn McCahon were the standouts for the second straight outing. Kavanagh was the distributor all day, dishing out six assists while McCahon led the Irish in scoring with a career-high four goals.
The Notre Dame defense limited Bellarmine to just 20 total shots on the day and Liam Entenmann made eight stops in the cage for the Irish.
The combination of Kyle Gallagher and Charlie Leonard dominated the faceoff game for the Irish, combining to win 17-of-21 on the afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the second week in a row, the Irish got off to a great start, outscoring the Knights 5-1 over the opening 15 minutes of play. The visitors then managed to settle in and won the second quarter 3-2 to make the halftime score 7-4 in favor of the Irish.
McCahon and Ryan Hallenbeck did the majority of the damage for the Irish in the first half, combining to score five goals to give Notre Dame the lead.
Both defenses controlled the game in the third quarter, as each team added one goal in the frame to move the score to 8-5 heading into the final stanza.
The Irish put the game away with three straight scores to open the fourth, highlighted by Jake Taylor’s incredible behind-the-back finish for his first career goal to make the score 11-5. Notre Dame and Bellarmine tacked on one additional goal in the final three minutes to give the Irish the 12-6 victory.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
In a day where the attack struggled to find a consistent rhythm at times, McCahon had an efficient day to lead the offense. The junior scored his career-high four goals on just six shots. McCahon now has hat tricks in each of his first two games this season.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Irish won the groundball battle 37-13 on Saturday afternoon to help control the game. The faceoff combo of Gallagher (5 GBs) and Leonard (6 GBs) played a large role in the advantage.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish improve to 6-0 against Bellarmine in the all-time series.
- Corrigan moves to 307 career wins at Notre Dame, just four shy of tying Bob Shillinglaw (310 at Delaware) for the all-time wins leader at a single school at the DI level.
- Notre Dame has allowed just 6.5 goals per game over the first two games of the season.
- Kavanagh now has 13 assists through two games to surpass his total from last season.
- McCahon’s four goals are a career high and the junior leads the Irish in goals on the season with seven.
- With two goals in each of the first two games, Hallenbeck already has a career-high four goals on the season.
- Taylor scored his first career goal at Notre Dame.
- Jose Boyer recorded his first career point for the Irish, dishing out an assist in the win.
Up Next
The Irish are back in action at Arlotta Stadium to take on Marquette at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 17. The game will air on ACCN.
— ND —
The University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team pursues excellence on and off the field through the three pillars in which the program is built: Character, Culture & Community. These three foundational values guide the promise of the program, which is to provide its student-athletes with the most compelling and enriching experience in all of college athletics. Through academics, competition, service and travel, the program aims to immerse its players in situations that enhance their student-athlete experience to help them become the people, students and teammates they aspire to be.
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