NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Fighting Irish earned their 10th trip to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals to set up a highly anticipated showdown against undefeated No. 3 seed Maryland at Arlotta Stadium at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 23. The game will air on ESPNU.
GAME DETAILS
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana | Arlotta Stadium
Schedule: May 23 — 2:30 PM ET
Live Stream: ESPNU
Live Stats: NCAA.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
POSTSEASON SUCCESS
• Notre Dame and Maryland are the only two programs to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship field in each of the last 15 seasons.
• Notre Dame has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship in the 10 of the last 11 campaigns.
• Notre Dame is 16-10 over the last 11 NCAA Championships.
• Notre Dame owns a 21-24 record in its 25 trips to the NCAA Championships.
• The Irish are 9-2 in games played at Arlotta Stadium in NCAA Championships play.
• This is the 13th time overall and 12th time in the last 13 seasons that the Irish have earned one of the eight national seeds for the NCAA Championship.
• Notre Dame advanced to the NCAA Championship final weekend in 2001, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015 and played in the title game in 2010 and 2014.
THE MARYLAND SERIES
• Sunday will be the 14th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Maryland. The Irish trail the Terrapins 6-7 in the matchup.
• This will be the fifth meeting between the two powerhouses in NCAA tourney play, with the current record at 2-2. The Irish won the two most recent NCAA matchups, winning 7-5 in 2010 (QF) and 11-6 in 2014 (SF).
• The Irish suffered their first defeat of the 2020 season in the most recent matchu, falling 14-9 in College Park.
PAT KAVANAGH: TEWAARATON FINALIST
• Pat Kavanagh has enjoyed a breakout 2021 sophomore season that has propelled him to become the fourth Tewaaraton Finalist in program history.
• The attackman has a team-high 61 points on the season off 36 assists and 25 goals. The 5.55 points per game rank fourth in the country.
• In just 10 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, Kavanagh leads the group in assists per game (3.27), ground balls (30) and caused turnovers (9).
• Kavanagh’s 36 assists over 11 games ranks second in the NCAA and leads the ACC in assists per game with an average of 3.27.
• Kavanagh is the only player in the country to earn US Lacrosse Magazine National Player of the Week honors twice this season (4/6 & 5/4).
• The attackman has been a regular on the SportsCenter Top 10 segment, appearing four times this season with a number of other goals going viral.
• In the final game of the regular season Kavanagh 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.
•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 then 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 on April 22 (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 second in the country in scoring defense this season, allowing just 8.45 goals per game despite playing some of the best attacking teams in the country.
• Robert Morris (7 goals), Marquette (3), Duke (8) and Syracuse (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 1.45 caused turnovers per game to lead the Irish and rank second in the conference.
• Kielty and Cohen have started 47 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), Cassidy (2 goals) and McNamara (1 goal) have also made contributions in the transition attack for the Irish.
KIELTY IS ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
• Jack Kielty earned ACC Defensive Player of the Year status following the regular season, giving the Irish four of the last six distinctions for the honor.
• 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.
ENTENMANN IS ELITE
• Entenmann was named a US Lacrosse Magazine Second Team All-American and selected to the All-ACC Team following the regular season after his remarkable season.
• The sophomore has been playing on another level this season, leading the ACC and ranking second in the country in goals against average (8.37) and fourth in save percentage (.592).
• Entenmann stood on his head in his NCAA tourney debut, making 17 saves on 25 shots (68 percent) in the win over Drexel.
• The Chaminade product made a career-high 18 saves while allowing just three goals in the blowout win over Marquette.
IRISH ALL-AMERICANS
• Six Irish players have been selected as All-Americans over the last two weeks.
• US Lacrosse Magazine tabbed Jack Kielty and Pat Kavanagh as first team selections, Liam Entenmann (second team), Kyle Thornton (third team) and Arden Cohen and Kyle Gallagher as honorable mention selections.
• Inside Lacrosse also picked the same six players, as Kielty was a first teamer, Kavanagh and Thornton on the second team, Cohen and Entenmann took third team honors and Gallagher was an honorable meniton selection.
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 323-167 in his 35 seasons of coaching.
• The head coach is 313-152 in his 33 seasons at Notre Dame.
• Corrigan is the longest tenured men’s lacrosse coach at the DI level.
STRONG STARTS FOR THE IRISH
• Notre Dame has dominated the opening 30 minutes of games in 2021, outscoring opponents 92-46.
• The second quarters have been Notre Dame’s best periods to date, recording 57 goals while holding the opposition to just 25.
• The Irish have held a halftime lead in nine of 10 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, Duke 7-3, Syracuse 13-6 and Drexel 7-3.
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 22-of-40 man-up opportunities into goals for a rate of 55 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 ACC.
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 61.6 percent of faceoffs this season, going 175-for-284 from the X.
• Kyle Gallagher is 102-for-165 (61.8 percent) on the year with 65 ground balls, a goal and three assists to rank 13th in the country in FO percentage.
• Charlie Leonard has also made an impact at the dot, going 68-of-109 this season with 4 ground balls, three goals and an assist.
BALANCED ATTACK
• 21 different players have found the back of the net for the Irish in 2021, combining to score 156 goals.
• Seven of the 21 scorers have recorded double digit goal totals on the year.
• All six starters in attack or midfield have each produced at least 20 points on the year.