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Game 9 Preview: #4 UNC

No. 2 Notre Dame looks to quickly rebound from an overtime setback against No. 3 Duke from Thursday night with another top five showdown against No. 4 North Carolina at Kenan Stadium. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 25. The game will be broadcast live on ACCN.

GAME DETAILS
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina | Kenan Stadium
Schedule: April 25 — 2 PM 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 UNC SERIES

• Sunday will be the 20th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and UNC.

• The Irish trail in the series with the Tar Heels by a razor thin margin, as Notre Dame has a 9-10 record in the matchup.

• The matchup has been extremely competitive, as 14 of the 19 games in the series have been decided by two goals or less.

• Notre Dame won the most recent matchup, earning a 12-10 victory at Arlotta Stadium in the 2019 regular season finale.

TOUGHEST STRETCH IN PROGRAM HISTORY

• Sunday’s game against No. 4 UNC marks the fourth straight game the Irish will face 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 2-1 in the stretch, ouscoring its opponents by a combined total of 43-32 with wins over No. 4 Syracuse (18-11),  No. 1 Duke (13-8) and an OT loss at No. 3 Duke (13-12).

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 321-166 in his 35 seasons of coaching.

• The head coach is 311-151 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 46 points on the season off 30 assists and 16 goals. The 5.75 points per game rank fifth in the country.

• Kavanagh needs just four 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 30 assists over his first eight games leads the NCAA in assists per game with an average of 3.75.

• 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 third in the country in scoring defense this season, allowing just 8.12 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 1.75 caused turnovers per game to lead the Irish and rank second in the conference.

• Kielty and Cohen have started 44 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 16-of-26 man-up opportunities into goals for a rate of 61.5 percent, the best in the nation.

• Will Yorke has been a key in the success for the Irish, scoring seven 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 63.2 percent of faceoffs this season, going 129-for-204 from the X.

• Kyle Gallagher is 79-for-125 (63.2 percent) on the year with 55 ground balls, a goal and three assists to rank 11th in the country in FO percentage.

• Charlie Leonard has also made an impact at the dot, going 47-of-73 this season with 28 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 third in the country in goals against average (8.13).

• Entenmann ranks ninth in the nation and leads the ACC in save percentage (58.3 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 68-32.

• The second quarters have been Notre Dame’s best periods to date, recording 41 goals while holding the opposition to just 18 over eight games.

• The Irish have held a halftime lead in all eight 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 114 goals.

• Seven of the 19 scorers have recorded eight or more goals 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.