SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 3/4 Fighting Irish defeated Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, by a score of 13-10 in front of a sold-out Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium crowd. Notre Dame’s Chris Kavanagh had a career day, posting a career-high eight points off a career-best five goals and three assists.
Eight Notre Dame players combined to score the 13 goals, with nine coming off assists. Pat Kavanagh led the team in assists with three to total four points on the day.
Will Lynch continued his strong run of play from the dot, winning 14-of-24 faceoffs while scooping up a season-high 10 ground balls.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the opening 15 minutes of play, as Will Angrick scored the opener, his first since the 2022 season. Chris Kavanagh then got going, scoring a nifty backhand shuffle in front of goal and then he wrapped around the crease and beat the goalie near post from seemingly no angle to give the Irish the 3-0 advantage.
The Buckeyes managed to score the first two goals of the second stanza to cut the Notre Dame lead to one at 3-2 with just over 11 minutes left in the half. On the ensuing faceoff Lynch drew a 2-minute locked in penalty and the Irish capitalized with three goals over the two-minute span to grow the lead to 6-2.
Pat Kavanagh scored the first on the extra-man opportunity before Eric Dobson and Chris Kavanagh each found the back of the net.
The Buckeyes scored their third of the afternoon with under six minutes remaining in the second quarter to make the score 6-3, which is what the scoreboard read at the half.
The hosts outscored the Irish 4-2 in the third quarter to cut the Irish lead to one at 8-7. The two Notre Dame goals came from the midfield, as Reilly Gray and Jordan Faison each scored their first of the afternoon.
The Irish responded in a big way, scoring four straight goals in the first eight minutes of the final frame to take their biggest lead of the day at 12-7. The four goals came from four different players, as Dobson, Jeffery Ricciardelli, Bryce Walker and Chris Kavanagh each scored.
Ohio State added three goals as the game winded to a close but the Irish left Columbus with a three-goal win at 13-10 to improve to 4-1 on the season.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish extend their lead in the all-time series against Ohio State to 36-12 with the win.
- The Notre Dame defense has now held four of its five opponents in 2024 to 10 goals or less.
- Notre Dame’s EMO continues to be the premier unit in the country, cashing in on 5-of-6 opportunities in the win and has now scored on 13-of-17 opportunities on the season.
- The six offensive starters combined for 16 points (9G, 7A) in the victory.
- Chris Kavanagh recorded his first five-goal game of his career and he now has 15 hat tricks in his career.
- The eight-point effort is the most by an Irish player this season.
- Pat Kavanagh’s four-point effort gives him 240 for his career off 90 goals and his program-record 150 assists.
- The 10 saves from Entenmann give him back-to-back double-digit save performances.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame returns to Arlotta Stadium for its third straight matchup against a Big Ten opponent, as they take on No. 11/13 Michigan at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 16.
— ND —