Notre Dame Goes Back-to-Back in Dominating Fashion
Notre Dame lacrosse had been starving for a National Title since the program started in 1981. The Fighting Irish suffered tough moments to get to the mountaintop, but it might have been worth it as Notre Dame has now won back-to-back National Champions following Monday’s 15-5 win over Maryland.
The win capped one of the most dominating seasons in college lacrosse history. Albany was the closest to upsetting Notre Dame in the first round as the Great Danes lost 14-9.
It’s common to see the pressure of winning consecutive titles impact the game, but Notre Dame showed zero signs of playing tight against the Terps.
“We just stuck to making simple plays,” stated All-American goalie Liam Entenmann. “That's what we've preached all year; that's a huge thing that Coach talks about -- not overthinking anything just making little plays one by one that adds up to big plays and big victories. I think it wasn't anything that we did out of the ordinary; it was sticking to our system more than anything.”
The game did feature a two-hour weather delay and Maryland came out firing by taking a quick 2-0 lead. Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan saw his team handle it in stride.
“I would say some part of that is sort of like a duck,” explained Corrigan. “You look calm on the top, but underneath you're paddling like hell.
“We weren't worried at 2-0. First of all, you come off that rain delay and you're not sure what's going to happen. You're just hoping your guys are there. I felt emotionally our guys stayed pretty into it the whole time.”
Notre Dame’s players might follow Corrigan’s lead of staying true to the scheme and not doing too much, but big picture, the program is built to handle the bright lights.
“I don't think anybody plays a harder schedule than us,” Corrigan stated. “I don't care what the strength of schedule stuff says and everything else. We open up the season with two games against local teams and then we play top 10 teams every single week from that point on.
“We're not prone to panic in the first quarter because we know it's going to be a 60-minute game and given what the kind of body of work of the season, we're confident that we're going to have a chance to make some plays and do that.”
The season will be remembered by Notre Dame’s explosive offense, but it was the defense that really set the tone holding Maryland to just five goals as Liam Entenmann finished with 16 saves in his final collegiate game.
Notre Dame’s defense around Entenmann was also swarming. The Terps turned it over 16 times as Will Donovan and a crew of others made life difficult all day for the Maryland offensive attack.
“The thing about Will Donovan is he's a great ground ball guy,” said Corrigan. “He's great getting the ball out and helping us get some transition and that stuff, but he's a great defender. He's a great one-on-one defender and team defender. He's terrific in our team defense.
“We feel that gives us a real leg up because we have four long poles out there that are really good when he's on the field. So that's a huge part of our game. When they didn't cover well, they played really, really well team scheme and that allowed us to kind of get away with not covering well and we could slide and recover and they knew right what they were doing and played really smart.”
KAV DYNASTY
Matt Kavanagh laid the groundwork for Notre Dame lacrosse to take the next step as a program and it just happened that his two younger brothers would take the Irish to the promised land.
Monday was the final game Pat and Chris Kavanagh would be on the same field together in the blue and gold, so it would have been a tough task to upset two brothers on a mission. They didn’t disappoint as Chris finished with five goals and Pat dished out six assists, which were a program record for a playoff game.
The Kavanaghs play with a chip on their shoulder and it was still there following the win and after Chris had won the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player after he finished with 14 goals and 19 points in four games.
“Not bad for the 37th best player in the country ranked by Inside Lacrosse coming into the year,” Pat Kavanagh stated. “He's been my best friend my entire life. And to do this the past four years with him or three years, and then to win back-to-back national championships with my little brother and best friend since he was born, it's incredible.
“The kid is blossoming into a superstar, but he's always been one. He's kind of just played unselfishly his first few years and taken some time to grow and develop in areas that were a little weaker early on in his college career. You saw it this year, I think he had 16 total assists last year as a sophomore. Kind of just a pure goal scorer. And then this year almost 40 assists.”
And the memories of the last two years won’t be forgotten anytime soon as the Kavanagh brothers worked for this dating back to them learning the game.
“I was coming on the bus and I was looking at pictures of me and Pat when I was a freshman and sophomore and kind of crying for 25 minutes knowing it was my last game with 51, one of the best players if not the best player to ever play here alongside Liam,” Chris Kavanagh said.
“It was a pretty emotional day, but we put in the work for a while.”
Corrigan will still have one Kavanagh next season, but he also realizes the impact the family has left on his lacrosse program over the years.
“I would include in that Matt, who, the last two times we went back-to-back final fours was when Matt was playing for us,” Corrigan explained. “I think that whole family, the competitive drive that they have is really unique. And it's not just on game days. It's competitive drive to get better. So they're working on their skills. They're working on all the things that you need to do to be a great player.
“It's the competitive drive that knows that in a game like this you're not going to be able to do it by yourself so you better bring everybody along with you and they do that on an everyday basis. It would be hard to overstate the impact that the Kavanagh family has had on our program, in all honesty, and Pat and Chris, the past couple of years: We're sitting here, right?”
UP NEXT
The Kavanagh brothers will now go their separate ways. Pat will join Matt with the Boston Cannons in the PLL, and Chris will start to prepare for a three-peat.
Notre Dame has long been considered one of the top programs in the country, but now, the Irish will have a chance to move into dynasty talk if they can win a third title in a row.
“I'll remind you that I'm 2-34,” Corrigan said. “So it's a lot more about those guys in that locker room than it is about me because they're the guys who have done this in the last two years.
“I'll go back to not just the outstanding play of these guys because clearly you see how good they are, but their leadership has been phenomenal. One of the COVID effects that all of us have had the last few years is really large rosters. When you've got 60 guys on a roster and a game like this, the NCAA only allows you to play 32. You've got just as many guys who go into that game knowing they're not going to play a second as you have guys who are going to play.”
Notre Dame’s competitive and healthy culture will fuel the fire, but the foundation will once again be built on accountability.
“That dynamic, it's not something the coach creates. It's something they create. It's something that they are accountable for and to. When you have great kids and great leaders, you just kind of take your hands off the wheel on a lot of things; let those guys handle it. They know how to handle it.
“When they don't, they'll come ask. So we're really, really fortunate to have those kinds of guys, and I think that's why we've made this run that we've made the last two and a half years.”
