SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 3/4 Notre Dame continues the Big Ten portion of its non-conference scheduled by traveling to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State at noon ET on Saturday, March 9. The game will be played at Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium and will be available to stream on B1G+.
GAME DETAILS
Location: Columbus, Ohio | Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium
Schedule: March 9 — Noon ET
Stream: B1G+ ($)
Live Stats: FightingIrish.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
THE OHIO STATE SERIES
• Saturday will be the 48th meeting all time between Notre Dame and Ohio State. The Irish lead the all-time series with the Buckeyes, holding a 35-12 advantage in the matchup.
• The most recent installment between the two sides came last season at Arlotta Stadium with the Irish winning by a score of 16-3.
• The Irish have won 17 of the last 20 matchups with Ohio State, including the 9-0 shutout at Arlotta Stadium on March 21, 2015, which is the last time the Irish held an opponent scoreless in a game.
• In last season’s victory the attack was led by Chris Kavanagh and Eric Dobson, who each finished with five points on the afternoon. Goalie Liam Entenmann made 13 saves while allowing just three goals and the defense recorded 14 caused turnovers, paced by three from Chris Conlin.
VIDEO GAME NUMBERS
• The Irish enter Saturday’s matchup ranked fourth in the country in scoring offense (17.5 goals per game), first in points per game (28.5) and first in assists per game (11.0).
• 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 13.25 turnovers per game which is the tied for the best mark in the country.
PICK YOUR POISON
• The Irish starting attack has combined for 51 points this seasons.
• Pat Kavanagh (4G, 15A), Chris Kavanagh (10G, 5A) and Jake Taylor (15G, 2A) are each off to great starts this season.
• The three attackman have a combined 430 points in their career off 241 goals and 189 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 15 points (10G, 5A) while Faison has 12 (9G, 3A) and Dobson has added seven (3G, 4A).
DOMINATING DEFENSE
• The Irish have allowed just 31 total goals over the course of the season, giving up tjust 7.75 goals per game, which leads the country.
• The Blue and Gold have held three of its four opponents to their lowest goal totals of the season (Cleveland State – 3, Marquette – 8, Maryland – 9).
• Dating back to last season, which includes an NCAA Championship run, the Irish have held seven of theirl last nine opponents to single-digit goal outputs.
• 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 72.7 percent of its opportunities.
• Notre Dame comes into the weekend 8-of-11 on man-up situations.
• Jake Taylor and Jeffery Ricciardelli have each scored three goals for the Irish when having the player advantage this season.
• 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 active career leader in assists per game average (3.06) and tied for first for total career assists (150).
• Kavanagh is closing in on the Notre Dame all-time career points record, as he is currently 34 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 150 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 leads the ACC and ranks third in the country this season in goals allowed per game with a mark of 8.08.
• The goalie had a big game against No. 3 Maryland this season, making 13 saves while limiting the Terrapins to just nine goals.
• 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 583 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 for third on the team in points with 10 goals and five 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 13 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, leading the Irish with 15 goals on the season.
• His average of 3.75 goals per game leads the ACC and ranks fifth in the country.
• Taylor has recorded hat tricks in three of four games and has scored multiple goals in all four outings.
• The grad student has 73 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 67.2 percent of the faceoffs he hast taken, ranking third in the country.
• Lynch is 43-for-64 on the season at the dot, scooping up 23 ground balls.
• 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, eight are currently ranked in the top 20 in the USILA or Inside Lacrosse Top 20 Polls.
• Eight of Notre Dame’s final nine regular season opponents are ranked in 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 fourth on the team in goals (9) and fifth in points (12).
• The freshman has two hat tricks, including a five-point effort (3G, 2A) in the win over No. 3 Maryland.
• 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 scored at least one goal in each game and has nine 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 347-175 in his 38 seasons of coaching.
• The head coach is 337-160 in his 36 seasons at Notre Dame.
• Corrigan is the longest tenured men’s lacrosse coach at the DI level.