SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 16/15 Notre Dame welcomes No. 18/18 Syracuse for a top 20 ACC showdown at Arlotta Stadium at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 2. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
GAME DETAILS
Location: South Bend, Indiana | Arlotta Stadium
Schedule: April 2 — 2 p.m. ET
TV: ESPNU
Live Stats: UND.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS GAME
• Saturday’s game will be a Mental Health Awareness Game, raising awareness for mental health and honoring the late former Notre Dame lacrosse player Tommy O’Brien, who passed away in June of 2020.
• Syracuse will be honoring Rob Kavovit, a former Syracuse lacrosse standout, who passed in March of 2021.
• Fans will be able to purchase “Mental Matters” t-shirts, with proceeds going to both the Tommy O’Brien Fund and the 15 for Life Foundation at the game or they can purchase a shirt online here (blue shirts are Notre Dame and white shirts are Syracuse).
Fans can also donate directly to the foundations by following this link or they can also text TommyOBrien to 41444 to receive the link
• The game is the culminating event of Mental Health Awareness week, which is being sponsored by SAACs “Irish Strong” initiative.
THE SYRACUSE SERIES
• Saturday will be the 18th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Syracuse. The Irish trail in the all-time series with the Orange, as Notre Dame has a 7-10 record in the matchup.
• Despite trailing in the series, Notre Dame has won six of the last eight meetings between the two programs.
• Saturday’s matchup will be the first of two games between the two sides this season, as the Irish play the Orange in the Carrier Dome on Saturday, May 1.
• The Irish won both games last season by a combined score of 40-19, taking the first matchup in the Carrier Dome by a final of 18-11 before besting the Orange at Arlotta 22-8 in the regular-season finale.
THE KAVANAGH BROTHERS
• Pat Kavanagh became the fourth Tewaaraton Finalist in program history in 2021 and his brother Chris joined the 2022 squad as an attackman.
• Pat currently leads the team in points (24), goals (11), assists (13), caused turnovers (9) and ground balls (24) while Chris is third in points (14) with 11G and 3A.
• The brothers have linked up on eight goals this season, with one assisting the other’s goal.
• In the 2022 season opener, Pat and Chris combined for 14 points off eight goals and six assists, despite each playing less than a half.
• Pat was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week following the four-goal, four-assist outing.
• Pat produced a team-high 64 points on the season off 38 assists and 26 goals.
• In just 12 games Pat became the all-time single-season ND assist record holder, passing older brother Matt (33) for the record. Matt’s 33-assist season came in an 18-game 2014 season.
• Of the five Tewaaraton Finalists, Pat led the group in assists per game (3.17), ground balls (35) and caused turnovers (9).
• Pat’s 38 assists over 12 games ranked third in the NCAA and led the ACC in assists per game with an average of 3.17.
• In the final game of the 2021 regular season Pat broke the program record for points in a game with a 10-point showing off five goals and five assists in the blowout win over No. 9 Syracuse.
CAUSING HAVOC
• The Irish lead the ACC and rank fifth in the country in caused turnovers per game, averaging 10.83 per game.
• The Irish defense has caused double-digit turnovers in five of its six outings and have registered at least nine in each game.
• Notre Dame recorded a season-high 14 caused turnovers against Georgetown on Feb. 26.
• Despite playing attack, Pat Kavanagh leads the team with nine caused turnovers on the year while defenseman Jason Reynolds has forced eight turnovers this season.
• In just his first start of the season, Matt Douglas caused three turnovers against No. 2 Virginia.
CASHING IN ON THE EMO
• Notre Dame enters the weekend ranked third in the country in man-up offense this season in EMO efficiency.
• The Irish EMO unit has cashed in on 10-of-17 chances (.588) this season.
• Six players have combined to score the 10 goals, with Pat Kavanagh, Eric Dobson, Chris Kavanagh and Jeffery Ricciardelli each scoring two man-up goals.
CHALLENGING SLATE
• Notre Dame has never shied away from putting together a challenging schedule and the 2022 slate is no different.
• Of Notre Dame’s 12 regular-season opponents, seven are currently ranked in the top 20 in either the USILA or Inside Lacrosse polls.
• Five of Notre Dame’s first six games have come against teams ranked in the USILA and Inside Lacrosse rankings at the time of the game, including three ranked in the top three.
• Three of Notre Dame’s four losses have come against the top three teams currently ranked in this week’s polls.
ALL CLEAR
• The Irish have been exceptional at clearing the ball this season, ranking third in the country with a 89.7 percentage.
• Notre Dame went 23-for-25 on clears against Michigan, 25-for-25 against Maryland, 19-for-21 against Georgetown and 24-for-25 in the win over Detroit Mercy.
• On the other side the Irish ride has held opponents to clearing at just a 76.1 percent clip, ranking fifth in the country.
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 325-172 in his 36 seasons of coaching.
• The head coach is 315-157 in his 34 seasons at Notre Dame.
• Corrigan is the longest tenured men’s lacrosse coach at the DI level.