SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 1 Notre Dame open up NCAA Tournament play with a first round matchup against UAlbany at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 12 at Arlotta Stadium. The game will air on ESPNU.
GAME DETAILS
Location: South Bend, Indiana | Arlotta Stadium
Schedule: May 12 — 5 p.m. ET
TV: ESPNU
Buy Tickets: Click Here
Live Stats: FightingIrish.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
POSTSEASON SUCCESS
• The Irish won their first NCAA title in 2023, defeating Duke in the title game by a final score of 13-9 in Philadelphia on Memorial Day.
• Notre Dame has now made the NCAA Championship field in 17 of the last 18 tournaments.
• Notre Dame has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship in the 11 of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments.
• Notre Dame is 20-11 over its last 12 NCAA Championship appearances.
• Notre Dame owns a 25-25 record in its 26 trips to the NCAA Championship.
• This is the 15th time overall and 14th time in the last 16 seasons that the Irish have earned one of the eight national seeds for the NCAA Championship.
• The Irish are 10-3 in games played at Arlotta Stadium in NCAA Championships play.
• Notre Dame advanced to the NCAA Championship final weekend in 2001, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2023 and played in the title game in 2010, 2014 and 2023.
THE UALBANY SERIES
• Sunday will be the fourth meeting all-time between Notre Dame and UAlbany and the third in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Irish enter the first round matchup with a 3-0 record against the Great Danes.
• The two most recent matchups came in the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Tournaments, as the Irish won both in the quarterfinal round to advance to Championship Weekend.
• The Irish defeated the Great Danes by a score of 14-10 during the 2015 season to go to the Final Four, with Sergio Perkovic leading the Irish offense with four goals and an assist and Conor Doyle added three goals and an assist in the win.
• In 2014 the Irish and Great Danes played in what many consider one of the best lacrosse games ever played, as Notre Dame outlasted UAlbany in a 14-13 overtime thriller in Hempstead, New York.
• Notre Dame trailed 12-7 early in the fourth quarter but socred six of the final seven goals of regulation to send it to overtime. Then Matt Kavanagh won it in the overtime period to send the Irish to the Final Four.
VIDEO GAME NUMBERS
• The Irish enter Sunday’s game leading the country in scoring offense (16.0 goals per game), first in the country in points per game (25.46), first in the country in shooting percentage (37.3) and fifth in assists per game (9.46).
• Notre Dame has reached double-digit scoring in every game this season.
• Five of ND’s 11 opponents have allowed their most goals in a game this season to the Irish (Cleveland St., Marquette, Michigan, Duke and Virginia).
• The 10-goal win over Cleveland State, the 13-goal victory at Marquette, the five-goal win over Maryland and the 10-goal win over Duke 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 14.38 turnovers per game which leads the ACC and ranks ninth in the country.
PICK YOUR POISON
• The Irish starting attack has combined for 157 points this season.
• Pat Kavanagh (22G, 38A), Chris Kavanagh (30G, 29A) and Jake Taylor (35G, 3A) are each having great seasons.
• The three attackman have a combined 536 points in their career off 299 goals and 237 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 35 points (27G, 8A) while Faison has 26 (18G, 8A) and Dobson has added 24 (14G, 10A).
CASHING IN ON THE EMO
• For the third-straight season, Notre Dame’s man-up offense is among the nation’s best, scoring on 70.3 percent of its opportunities.
• Notre Dame comes into Sunday 26-of-37 on man-up situations.
• The mark of 70.3 percent is the second best mark in NCAA history..
• Jeffery Ricciardelli leads the unit with seven goals, ranking seventh in the country, while Devon McLane has scored six, Jake Taylor has recorded five and Chris Kavanagh has added four.
• The Irish finished the 2023 season going 22-for-41 (.537) on the EMO ranking fifth in the country.
• The Irish EMO unit cashed in on 21-of-31 chances (.677) during the 2022 season.
DOMINATING DEFENSE
• The Irish have allowed just 115 total goals over the course of the season, giving up 9.58 goals per game despite playing some of the top attacks in the country.
• The 9.58 goals per game is the best mark in the ACC and ninth best in the country.
• Not only has the Irish defense been stingy but they have also been disruptive, averaging 9.25 caused turnovers per game, which is the 14th best mark in the country.
• Dating back to last season, which includes an NCAA Championship run, the Irish have held 12 of their last 17 opponents to 10 or fewer goals, including each of their last three opponents.
• Notre Dame has allowed just nine goals in each of its wins over UVA, marking the first time that Virginia was held under 10 goals in back-to-back games since 2016, the first time in the shot clock era.
• 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.
BEATING THE BEST
• Notre Dame has never shied away from putting together a challenging schedule and the 2024 slate is no different.
• Of Notre Dame’s 13 games during the 2024 season, nine feature opponents ranked in the current USILA or Inside Lacrosse Top 20 Polls.
• The Irish are now 7-0 against top-10 teams at the time of the matchup this season.
• The Irish have three wins against teams ranked No. 3 in the country at the time of the matchup (Maryland, Syracuse and Duke).
• Notre Dame is 8-1 against teams currently ranked.
KINGS OF THE QUEEN CITY
• Notre Dame won their third ACC Tournament title this season, defeating No. 5 UVA (18-9) and No. 6 Duke (16-6) in Charlotte to claim the championship.
• The Irish scored a combined 34 goals, which was tied for the all-time record for most goals scored in an ACC Tournament.
• Sixteen different Notre Dame players scored over the two games.
• Liam Entenmann was named the ACC Tournament MVP after posting 30 saves while allowing just 12 goals over the two games.
• The goalie was joined by Will Lynch, Shawn Lyght, Jake Taylor, Chris Kavanagh and Devon McLane on the ACC All-Tournament Team.
THE CONDUCTOR
• Pat Kavanagh became the first Notre Dame player to be named a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist three times, earning the honor in 2024, 2023 and 2021.
• The graduate student was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year this season after leading the Irish to an undefeated 4-0 regular-season record in league play.
With four points in the regular-season win over Virginia, Kavanagh became the all-time career points record holder at Notre Dame, which was previously held by Randy Colley (273). Kavanagh has 281 career points (108G, 173A).
• The attackman is the current NCAA DI active career leader in assists per game (2.98) and is second for total career assists (173).
• Kavanagh has recorded three or more points in every game this season.
• 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 172 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 four 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 STOPPER
• Grad student Liam Entenmann was named a 2024 Tewaaraton Finalist, becoming the third men’s goalie in history to earn the distinction and first since 2011.
• Entenmann was named the 2024 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and ACC Goalie of the Year, claiming both awards for the second straight season.
• Entenmann joins former Irish great Matt Landis as the only two players in ACC history to garner ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors multiple times.
The goalie 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.
• Entenmann became the all-time program saves leader in the win over Cornell, surpassing Joey Kemp (633 saves) for the top spot. The shot stopper enters the weekend with 700 saves.
• The goalie ranks first in the ACC in goals allowed per game (9.34) and save percentage (.563).
• The grad student turned in his best performance of the season in the ACC semifinal win over No. 5 Virginia, making a season-high 18 saves while allowing just six goals in a dominant performance against one of the best attacks in the country.
• The goalie followed up the performance with 12 saves while allowing just six goals in the ACC Tournament title, leading the Irish to the victory and was named the ACC Tournament MVP.
• 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.
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 in 2024, as the junior is second on the team in points (59) with 30 goals and 29 assists.
• The attackman is one assist away from becoming just the second player in program history to record a 30G-30A season, joining his brother Matt (42G, 33A – 2015).
• With four points (1G, 3A) in the ACC semifinal win over No. 5 UVA, Chris broke into the top 10 on Notre Dame’s career scoring list. The junior has 154 points off 98 goals and 56 assists and currently ranks ninth in program history.
•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 15 in his career.
• The Rockville Centre, New York, native has 98 career goals.
ACC HONORS
• The Irish cleaned up four of the five major awards handed out by the ACC following the regular season, as Pat Kavanagh was named Offensive Player of the Year, Liam Entenmann claimed Defensive Player of the Year and Goalie of the Year, and Kevin Corrigan was named the Coach of the Year.
• Entenmann became just the second player in ACC history to earn multiple ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, joining former Notre Dame great Matt Landis.
• Entenmann picks up Notre Dame’s sixth ACC Defensive Player of the Year award, which marks the most for any program since it was created during the 2012 season.
• Pat Kavanagh is the second Fighting Irish player in program history to earn ACC Offensive Player of the Year, as former standout Bryan Costabile took home the award in 2019.
• Corrigan garners the honor for the first time in his career and has now has now earned seven conference coach of the year honors over his career, with the previous six coming from other leagues.
• Entenmann and Kavanagh were one of seven Irish players on the All-ACC team, being joined by Chris Kavanagh (A), Eric Dobson (M), Will Donovan (LSM), Ben Ramsey (SSDM) and Will Lynch (FO).
• The seven Irish honorees are tied for the most All-ACC selections of any team in conference history, as Notre Dame also had seven representatives last season. Of the 19 total All-ACC Team members, Donovan, Lynch and Ramsey are the only representatives at their positions.