It was a fantastic Senior Day at Arlotta as the Irish move to 9-1 overall and 3-0 in ACC play
Senior Day weekend was a special one for Notre Dame lacrosse as the #1 ranked Fighting Irish beat the Tar Heels of North Carolina by a final score of 14-6. It was a dominating second half for our Irish as we outscored the Heels 9-2 en route to one of our best offensive and defensive performances on the season.
It was a little bit of a chilly day at Arlotta on Saturday, but the fans came out in droves with over 3,200 in attendance to cheer on Notre Dame in our final regular season home matchup. And for those who were there, while it was the same look Irish on the field, our lids were a little bit different as Notre Dame came out in some matte blue helmets. If you ask me, they looked awesome, and while I am always a fan of our typical gold helmets, I thought these were pretty special.
Saturday | 11:30 AM | Arlotta Stadium
Free Admission #GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/0QLfZ38ITK
— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) April 19, 2024
And fans were treated to a special performance and a chance to have a nice moment with those seniors who were playing their last regular season home game at Notre Dame. It won’t be the final, final game at Arlotta for this crew as we are all but assured to host an opening round NCAA tournament game over Mother’s Day weekend in the Bend.
In watching the replay, it was an all-around, complete game for our Irish as the team came together across all aspects and played maybe our best overall game of the year. While it wasn’t a 20 goal outburst that we have seen from our boys, and while UNC was down only one at half, this really felt like a team that came out with a dominant mindset and then performed that way on the field.
All right, so much to talk about around this game, let’s get after it…
First Quarter
The game began with Colin Hagstrom at the faceoff circle with Will Lynch out for the day. The teams felt each other out for a little bit with the Irish causing a penalty on the Tar Heels’ first possession to go on the man-up. And after some nifty passing around the horn, Devon McLane put it home to make it 1-0 just a few minutes into the action. Carolina would get on the board on their next possession with a strong move from up top that got past Liam Entenmann to make it 1-1. To note, shortly after this, we saw an awesome check by Will Donovan that caused a Carolina player’s stick to helicopter in the air. We then saw some good back and forth action before Pat Kavanagh took it from X to GLE and made UNC pay to make it 2-1 at 6:59 left. Another note, the third midfield line (Bryce Walker, Jalen Seymour and Fisher Finley) got out there in the first quarter, great to see them out and getting some run. Carolina would get the final two goals of the quarter as James Matan put one in on a back handed shot with 4 seconds left on the shot clock and 1:39 to go. Then off the ensuing faceoff, Dominic Pietramala got a rocket home to make it 3-2 Heels. And that is where we would end the quarter.
Vintage Pat Kavanagh finish. Watch on ACCN.#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/DeVkDNc8t8
— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) April 20, 2024
Second Quarter
North Carolina won the faceoff and Notre Dame caused a turnover to get the ball back. Soon after, Eric Dobson hit the post before we saw an awesome feed from Pat Kavanagh to Jordan Faison who buried it home from about 10 yards out to knot the score at 3-3. Next Irish possession we saw a great feed from Max Busenkell to Jake Taylor on the doorstep, but Collin Krieg made a really nice save for Carolina. Notre Dame would get a goal as Will Angrick dodged from up top and went low far post to make it 4-3 Irish about half way through the quarter. Tyler Buchner came out onto the field at the 6 minute mark at the SSDM position before UNC got a nice bounce on a missed pass to put it past Liam to get to 4-4 with 5:16 to go. Notre Dame would get possession with 2:50 to go and call timeout to get things settled. And coming out of the TO, Pat Kavanagh would make hit home with another goal coming from X to score to make it 5-4 Irish. That is where we would be as we went to the half.
Tic-tac-toe.
Dobson finds Pat Kavanagh who dumps it to Faison for the finish. Tied up 3-3 in the 2nd.#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/lQMF6olG9s
— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) April 20, 2024
Third Quarter
Early in the quarter the Irish would get the ball back after a Carolina failed clear, and Devon McLane would eventually put it in the back of the cage off a nice feed from Pat Kavanagh to make it 6-4 Irish. Devon would get the next goal as well to get his hat trick after a feed from Eric Dobson. With barely a cradle, and from distance, he went near post on a rocket to make it 7-4 Notre Dame. Jake Taylor went down after a play where he went into a Tar Heel and had to go to the locker room with 8:23 to go….Jeffery Ricciardelli came on as his sub. A great offensive possession followed with Pat Kavanagh to Reilly Gray to Chris Kavanagh to make it 8-4 Notre Dame. Jake Taylor came back, hit the pipe, Pat Kavanagh caused a turnover, Notre Dame kept possession and Bryce Walker hit home off a feed from Chris Kavanagh to make it 9-4 Notre Dame with 5:04 to go. Chris Kavanagh would get the next goal off a feed from Pat and hit it low to make it 10-4 Irish. Reilly Gray would close it out to make it 11-4 Irish and that is where we would end the quarter. A 6-0 dominant quarter from Notre Dame, right up there with one of our best overall quarters of the whole season.
Déjà vu?
Chris Kavanagh follows up McLane with some heat of his own to put the Irish up 8-4. Watch on ACCN.#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/eV4cgVt6hZ
— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) April 20, 2024
Bryce Walker joins the party on Senior Day!#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/M87RdCtpzd
— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) April 20, 2024
Fourth Quarter
North Carolina got on the scoreboard first as they put one home from Logan McGovern at the 12:04 mark to make it 11-5 Irish. The following possession, Notre Dame would get a great feed from Will Angrick to Fulton Bayman, but he was denied at the doorstep on an awesome save by Krieg to keep the score where it was. UNC got another one back at 10:33 to get the score to 11-6 Irish as Harry Wellford got a rebound and put it home. And on their next possession, Carolina would hit the pipe before Notre Dame got the ball back and Eric Dobson made them pay with a lefty rocket on the run to make it 12-6 Irish with 7:27 to go. Notre Dame went on the man-up with 5:18 left and Chris Kavanagh scored making it 13-6 with 4:50 to go. Carolina went on the man-up but Notre Dame fended it off and caused a shot clock violation. Finally Jeffery Ricciardelli got it to 14-6 Irish with 1:00 to go off a feed from Tyler Buchner and that is where we would finish up. Notre Dame moves to 9-1 on the season and 3-0 in the ACC.
Hammer Time
Dobson rips one on the run and the Irish lead 12-6 halfway through the 4th. Watch on ACCN.#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/Y3bOCE60HX
— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) April 20, 2024
. .
The Kavanaghs combine for 11 points and Entenmann finishes with 12 saves in the Senior Day victory over UNC!#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/bwhzK7dcX3
— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) April 20, 2024
Notes and Thoughts
Shout out to the eleven senior players from Notre Dame: Colin Hagstrom, Bryce Walker, Eric Dobson, Michael Lynch, Carter Parlette, Ross Burgmaster, Casey Doyle, Ridge Johnson, Jack Conroy, Mick Lee and Conrad Delgado. There have been so many superstars on Notre Dame over the last few years, but this senior class has accomplished so much across their four years at Notre Dame. They are a glue that is a HUGE part of the success over the last over 2.5 years for this team. They are graduating from Notre Dame, they have given their all and they are will always be remembered. Hope everyone recognizes this and gives them their due….they deserve it.
Was it just me or did it sound like every shot hit the pipe? I did not have the chance to watch the game live so had to watch the replay in order to do my viewing, but man, shots all day long were going in the net off the pipes. There is no better sound than a lacrosse goal getting scored and the ball ricocheting off a pipe. PING. It’s a sound that makes lacrosse so great and you know it when you hear it!
The extra pass: they talked about it a lot on the broadcast and it is known as a “hockey assist,” but this might have been one of the best days of passing that I can remember from a Notre Dame team. It was noticeable on that first man-up goal how smooth and fast the passing was, and throughout the day you saw the unselfishness of the players as they made that one extra pass to the next man who was more wide open than them. This extra dish allowed for some easy step down shots and when we had the chance to put it home….we buried it. Kudos to this offensive unit as they are clicking at the right time.
Speaking of passing, the man-up group was 2 for 2 on the day as we continue to be over 70% on the season. This group of six: Kavanagh, Kavanagh, Ricciardelli, Dobson, McLane and Taylor…..is just so good. They are tough to stop on so many levels and they are on the track to set a new NCAA single season record with one game left.
Owen Duffy was out for the day for UNC and I feel for him as they showed him with a brace on his leg. That type of injury does not look good, and he was having a tremendous freshman season. He is going to be fun to watch during his career and it will be neat to see him continue to expand his game at the college level over the upcoming three years.
The third midfield line was in the game in the first quarter and that was so great to see. Fisher Finley, Jalen Seymour and Bryce Walker were out there and they looked really good. They are fast and they give the Irish a change of pace from our other top two lines who have been out there for much of the season. I will give this group of three a lot of credit as they are good enough to play anywhere in the country and they have been patiently waiting for their numbers to be called over these last few weeks. When they saw the field on Saturday….they delivered. Bryce had a goal on the day (and they probably could have given him an assist on the Pat Kavanagh goal as well) and Jalen was taking the ball to the cage with some authority from up top. Let’s see what the coaching staff does this weekend in Virginia, hopefully they are back out there and running.
With this third midfield line getting out there, this is the type of depth that we have talked about all year and what separates Notre Dame. We are going to want to continue to get some runs across all three of these lines as we are going to need these nine guys for the ACC tournament (we could get two games in 48 hours) and for the NCAA tournament (which we all know is a complete grind) as it could end up being another set of games across 48 hours over Memorial Day weekend. These nine are big time players with a lot of experience and it has me excited for what we can do across the next 30 days.
Getting the ball at X and taking it to GLE and scoring is becoming a patented move for Pat Kavanagh. He is so quick when he is behind the cage, he consistently beats his man and he always seems to get enough room to score (he has done this so many times throughout the season). Slide on him here and he will make you pay as well as he will then just hit the open man for what usually is a wide open goal.
While on the topic of Pat Kavanagh, I continue to just be so impressed with his overall game. His riding ability is unmatched (maybe only by his brother Chris). His ability to find and hit the open man is just so fun to watch. So many times in this game he would throw a pass that was more of a “lob” than on a rope that went over the cage and would hit a man open on the other side of the goal from where he was. That type of pass is just so hard to make happen, but he does it with ease. He also plays with a ferocious competitiveness that is just so fun to watch. And need a big goal? He has proven over and over throughout his career that he will be someone who will make a game-defining play. I have said this so many times before, but when you have Pat Kavanagh on your team, he just refuses to let your team lose. And that aspect of him is infectious across this entire Notre Dame roster.
This was noted on the broadcast too, but another nice job on the defensive end by Jordan Faison. On Saturday he made a great check while out there which followed up his amazing turnover-causing play against Cornell. He is so fast that even when he is out there on the defensive side of things, he makes it really tough for the offensive player to make plays.
Let’s stay with some defensive talk and let’s give some applauds to our defensive unit on the day. What an outing for them as they held UNC to 6 overall goals and zero goals in the game-defining third period. In all, UNC had only three goals across the last 45 minutes of the game. That’s elite defense. Coming off the Cornell game, one where I am sure the players and the coaching staff did a lot of viewing of film, the entire unit was just on point all Saturday: our long poles locked down their men; Liam was locked in; our SSDMs were all over the field on faceoffs, clears, covering their guys; our LSMs continued to be disruptive on a variety of levels. It was a complete performance from this overall unit and so good to see as we start to hit the most crucial part of the season. Great work by everyone involved, this is a tape that I am sure everyone had no problem watching this week.
Awesome job by Will Hagstrom and Andrew Greenspan on the day. Notre Dame lost the faceoff battle 12-11 overall, but these two did their job with Will Lynch out for the afternoon. We have talked about it time and time again, but our ability to have a second (and sometimes third) faceoff man that we can rely on is going to continue to pay dividends throughout the year and in the postseason.
Tyler Buchner got some run in this game early on (he picked up an assist on our final goal) and I also saw Nate Schwitzenberg (shout out Loyola Academy) out there on the wings and getting some work at LSM. Great to see these guys getting some run as it looks like the coaching staff is gaining confidence in some additional depth pieces which will only continue to pay dividends later on.
With it being senior weekend, there were lots of Notre Dame lacrosse grads and their families in attendance at Arlotta. So awesome to see the bond that these guys have with not only their former teammates, but Notre Dame in general. Sure there was a lot of fun had throughout the weekend and so good to have a lot of these guys back in town in the Bend.
Great to have these guys back in the Bend this weekend.#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/9MW5AgX6Z8
— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) April 21, 2024
Lastly, huge shoutout to the #2 ranked Glenbard West Hilltopper lacrosse team. Last night here in Glen Ellyn, IL they played St. Viator, the #1 ranked team in the state of Illinois. The Hilltoppers were victorious by a score of 12-11 and now move to #1 in the state for the first time in program history. Way to go GBW!!
Fred’s Pics
As always, at the bottom of this article will be some of the pics that Fred Assaf took while in person at the game. Some wonderful shots from Fred, some great captures of the Senior Day game. Unreal job, as always, by the the BEST out there. All photo credits to Fred Assaf.
What’s Next
The Irish travel to Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday to take on the Cavaliers in the final regular season game of the year, along with the final ACC matchup of the season. Game time is 2 PM EST and will be broadcast on ESPNU. Virginia is currently ranked #5 in the country and they are coming off a one goal loss to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome this past weekend.
We have talked about these stats before, but Notre Dame is now 29-3 in our last 32 lacrosse games. Those three losses are Virginia, Virginia and Georgetown (in OT). If there is one team in the country that is our kryptonite, it is the Cavaliers of Virginia. This year they are 10-3 with losses to Johns Hopkins, Duke and the aforementioned Orange. And if you have been following the regular season of college lacrosse for the last bunch of years, there really are three to four teams that have stood out above the rest. And across three of them, in regular season play it seems like Notre Dame owns Duke, Duke owns Virginia, and Virginia owns Notre Dame.
UVA has recruited so well over the years and they are loaded with talent up and down their roster. They are led by Connor Shellenberger who is one of the best players in the country. He is so tough to stop as he can beat you with his scoring or his passing. Both are lethal and that is what makes him such a good player and such a tough player to defend. And if I am being honest, if there is one player in the country who I am most worried about against ND, it is him.
The other thing that UVA brings to the table that is different than most is the size of their defenders. They are big and they are long and in the past they have caused some matchup problems for our Irish. How they decide to defend against Pat and Chris and Jake will be one of the key things to watch this weekend. Additionally, how we look to run our offense against this group will be must watch lacrosse.
This will be an awesome test for our Irish and this could be the first of what could be multiple matchups against the Cavaliers. With the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament just around the corner, I would not be shocked if this game was the first game of three between these two teams across the next 30 days.
Tune if folks, this will be some of the best lacrosse you will see all year. We will be watching two of the top teams in the country battling it out and overall NCAA tournament seeding will be on the line.
Final, final…the next Exit 77 podcast should be coming your way tomorrow on Friday. David Brogan and I will break down the UNC game and look ahead to UVA. Also, don’t forget to follow along with 18Stripes, last week they had a great interview with Carter Parlette.
Let’s Go Irish!!
We are getting closer and closer to our “Time To Be Great” mantra….
It’s Virginia Week#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/VSxA11zjqG
— Notre Dame Lacrosse (@NDlacrosse) April 22, 2024