Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Game 4 Preview: Cleveland State

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – No. 8/8 Notre Dame closes out the non-conference portion of its regular season schedule on Saturday by hosting Cleveland State at 1 p.m. ET at Arlotta Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on ACCNX.

GAME DETAILS
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana | Arlotta Stadium
Schedule: March 20 — 1 p.m. ET
Live Stream: ACCN
Live Stats: UND.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame

THE CLEVELAND SERIES

• Saturday will be the second meeting all time between Notre Dame and Cleveland State.

• The Irish hold a 1-0 lead in the series.

• The first matchup in the series came in 2020, with Notre Dame winning 17-7 at home. Pat Kavanagh led the Irish attack with three goals and four assists in the victory.

CORRIGAN REACHES HISTORIC MILESTONE

• Baumer Family Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Kevin 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 318-164 in his 34 seasons of coaching.

• The head coach is 308-149 in his 33 seasons at Notre Dame.

• Corrigan is the longest tenured men’s lacrosse coach at the DI level.

HERE TO ASSIST

• Pat Kavanagh has dished out 18 assists over his first three games to lead the NCAA in assists per game with an average of 6.0.

• 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.

• The sophomore also recorded the 10th game 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.

• The sophomore followed up the record-setting day with a six-assist performance in the win over Bellarmine.

• In the win over Marquette, Kavanagh had another six-point effort, totaling one goal and five assists.

DOMINATING DEFENSE

• The Irish defense has locked down its three opponents to open the 2021 season, allowing just 5.33 goals per game to rank first in the ACC and second in the country.

• Both Robert Morris (7 goals) and Marquette (3 goals) 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.

• Kielty and Cohen have started 38 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 through two games.

• Hallenbeck  (4 goals) and Harris (2 goals) have also made contributions in the transition attack for the Irish.

IRISH X-MEN

• The Notre Dame duo of Kyle Gallagher and Charlie Leonard have been the most dominant in the country to start the 2021 season.

• The Irish have won 76.1 percent of faceoffs this season, going 51-for-67 from the X.

• Kyle Gallagher is 28-for-34 on the year with 20 ground balls to lead the country in FO percentage.

• Charlie Leonard ranks fourth in the country in FO percentage and is 22-of-30 this season with 16 ground balls.

ENTENMANN IS ELITE

• Sophomore goalie Liam Entenmann has been playing on another level this season, leading the country in save percentage (.720).

• Entenmann ranks second in the nation in goals agaisnt average, allowing just 4.88 goals per outing.

• The Chaminade product made a career-high 18 saves while allowing just three goals in the blowout win over Marquette.

McCAHON LEADING THE ATTACK

• Quinn McCahon is enjoying a breakout season, scoring a team-best eight goals over three games.

• McCahon has registered the first two hat tricks of his career in wins over Robert Morris and Bellarmine.

• The junior midfielder scored a career-high four goals in the win over Bellarmine and finished with three in the victory over Robert Morris.

STRONG STARTS FOR THE IRISH

• Notre Dame has dominated the opening 30 minutes through three games in 2021, outscoring opponents 28-8.

• The Irish have not trailed in any game this season and have held at least a lead of three goals at the half of every contest.

• At the halftime break, the Irish led Robert Morris 12-2, Bellarmine 7-4, and Marquette 9-2.

BALANCED ATTACK

• Fourteen different players have found the back of the net for the Irish through three games, combining to score 41 goals.

• 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.