NOTRE DAME, Ind. – No. 4/4 Notre Dame closes out the regular season with another top 10 matchup at Arlotta Stadium, as the Irish host No. 9/8 Syracuse at noon ET on Saturday, May 1. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
GAME DETAILS
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana | Arlotta Stadium
Schedule: May 1 — Noon ET
Live Stream: ESPNU
Live Stats: UND.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
THE SYRACUSE SERIES
• Saturday will be the 17th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Syracuse. The Irish trail in the all-time series with the Orange, as Notre Dame has a 6-10 record in the matchup.
• Despite trailing in the series, Notre Dame has won five of the last seven meetings between the two programs.
• Saturday’s matchup will be the second meeting between the two teams this season, as Notre Dame won in the Carrier Dome on April 3 by a score of 18-11.
• The Irish have won four of the last six matchups against Syracuse.
• Four of the last eight games in the series have been decided by one goal.
TOUGHEST STRETCH IN PROGRAM HISTORY
• Last Sunday’s game against No. 4 UNC marked the fourth straight game the Irish faced a team ranked in the top four in the country.
• The Irish had previously never played three straight games against teams ranked in the top five in the USILA poll at the time of the matchup.
• Notre Dame is currently 2-2 in the stretch, ouscoring its opponents by a combined total of 53-44 with wins over No. 4 Syracuse (18-11), No. 1 Duke (13-8) and losses at No. 3 Duke (13-12 OT) and No. 4 UNC (12-10).
• Saturday’s tilt against the Orange will mark the sixth straight game against a top 10 opponent.
CORRIGAN BECOMES ALL-TIME DI PROGRAM WINS LEADER
• With the win over No. 1 Duke on April 10, 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 321-167 in his 35 seasons of coaching.
• The head coach is 311-152 in his 33 seasons at Notre Dame.
• Corrigan is the longest tenured men’s lacrosse coach at the DI level.
KAVANAGH’S BREAKOUT SEASON
• Pat Kavanagh has enjoyed a breakout 2021 sophomore season that has propelled him into the Tewaaraton converstation as the year has progressed.
• The attackman has a team-high 49 points on the season off 31 assists and 18 goals. The 5.44 points per game rank sixth in the country.
• Kavanagh needs just three assists to pass his brother Matt (33) for sole possession of the single-season program assist record. Matt’s 33 assist season came in an 18-game 2014 season.
• Kavanagh’s 31 assists over his first nine games ranks third in the NCAA in assists per game with an average of 3.44.
• Kavanagh couldn’t have started his sophomore season any better, totaling nine points (2G, 7A) in the win over RMU.
• Kavanagh became just the second player in program history to dish out seven assists in a game, joining John Olmstead who accomplished the feat on April 21, 1988 in a win over Wittenberg.
• Kavanagh turned in another monster nine-point performance in the win over No. 4 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, totaling four goals and five assists.
• This performance earned the sophomore US Lacrosse Magazine National Player of the Week, ACC Offensive Player of the Week and USILA Team of the Week status.
• The sophomore has recorded the 10th and 11th games in program history with nine points, tying the program record, and was the first to do it since his older brother Matt Kavanagh had nine points (3G, 6A) in the win over Syracuse in 2016.
• Kavanagh’s seven-point performance against Duke (4G, 3A) marked the most points the Blue Devils gave up to a single player in a game all season.
DOMINATING DEFENSE
• The Irish defense leads the ACC and ranks fourth in the country in scoring defense this season, allowing just 8.56 goals per game despite playing some of the best attacking teams in the country.
• Robert Morris (7 goals), Marquette (3) and Duke (8) recorded season lows in scoring against the Irish.
• The close defense is comprised of two grad students in Jack Kielty and Kyle Thornton and senior Arden Cohen.
• Thornton has averaged 1565 caused turnovers per game to lead the Irish and rank second in the conference.
• Kielty and Cohen have started 45 straight games together.
• The Irish SSDMs are the unsung heroes of the defense, as Ryan Hallenbeck, Danny Cassidy, Nick Harris and Tommy McNamara have done an excellent job throughout the year.
• Hallenbeck (4 goals) Harris (3 goals) and Cassidy (2 goals) have also made contributions in the transition attack for the Irish.
CASHING IN ON THE EMO
• The Irish have been clinical in extra-man opportunities this season, boasting the best unit in the country.
• Notre Dame has converted 18-of-30 man-up opportunities into goals for a rate of 60.0 percent, the best in the ACC and second best in the country.
• Will Yorke has been a key in the success for the Irish, scoring eight goals on the EMO to lead the country.
IRISH X-MEN
• The Notre Dame duo of Kyle Gallagher and Charlie Leonard have been a force in the 2021 season.
• The Irish have won 60.9 percent of faceoffs this season, going 140-for-230 from the X.
• Kyle Gallagher is 85-for-138 (61.6 percent) on the year with 58 ground balls, a goal and three assists to rank 14th in the country in FO percentage.
• Charlie Leonard has also made an impact at the dot, going 52-of-86 this season with 33 ground balls, two goals and an assist.
ENTENMANN IS ELITE
• Sophomore goalie Liam Entenmann has been playing on another level this season, leading the ACC and ranking fourth in the country in goals against average (8.57).
• Entenmann ranks 12th in the nation and leads the ACC in save percentage (57.4 percent).
• The Chaminade product made a career-high 18 saves while allowing just three goals in the blowout win over Marquette.
STRONG STARTS FOR THE IRISH
• Notre Dame has dominated the opening 30 minutes of games in 2021, outscoring opponents 72-36.
• The second quarters have been Notre Dame’s best periods to date, recording 44 goals while holding the opposition to just 21 over eight games.
• The Irish have held a halftime lead in eight of nine games this season: the Irish led Robert Morris 12-2, Bellarmine 7-4, Marquette 9-2, Cleveland State 8-3, Virginia 7-5, Syracuse 11-8, Duke 7-5 and Duke 7-3.
BALANCED ATTACK
• Twenty different players have found the back of the net for the Irish through eight games, combining to score 124 goals.
• Seven of the 20 scorers have recorded double digit goal totals on the year.
• Fourteen different players combined to score 19 goals in the win over Cleveland State.
• Thirteen different players combined to score 19 goals in the opener against Robert Morris.
• Nine players combined to score 10 goals in the win over Marquette.
KIELTY’S GOT IT COVERED
• Grad student Jack Kielty has put on a defensive clinic this season, locking down some of the best attacking talents in the country.
• Kielty was named US Lacrosse Magazine National Player of the Week following his performance against Duke, holding Michael Sowers to just one assist in the win.
• The defenseman also held Robert Morris’ Ryan Smith (currently 9th in goals per game) to a season low one goal and three points.