CHARLOTTE – No. 1 Notre Dame will play in its fourth straight ACC Championship title game, as it takes on No. 6 Duke at noon ET on Sunday, May 5 in Charlotte at American Legion Memorial Stadium. The game will air on ACCN.
GAME DETAILS
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina | American Legion Memorial Stadium
Schedule: May 5 — Noon ET
TV: ACCN
Live Stats: FightingIrish.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at the matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
IRISH IN THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Notre Dame is playing in its seventh ACC Championship this weekend. The Irish have an all-time record of 7-4 at the ACC Championships.
• The Irish have won two ACC titles in its previous six appearances, winning the 2014 and 2018 championships.
• The Fighting Irish have now advanced to the title game in five of the last seven ACC Tournaments.
• Notre Dame claimed an ACC Championship title in the team’s first season in the league in 2014. Notre Dame won a pair of one goal games over Maryland (6-5) in the semifinal and Syracuse (15-14) in the final.
• In 2018, Notre Dame defeated Duke in the semifinals by a final score of 14-11 before claiming the crown in a dominant 17-7 win over Virginia at Klockner Stadium.
THE DUKE SERIES
• Sunday will be the 33rd meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Duke and the second this season.
• The Irish and Blue Devils have played to a standstill in the all-time series at 16-16.
• Notre Dame has won each of the last five meetings and six of the last seven dating back to the 2021 season.
• The Irish won won the regular-season meeting earlier this year by a score of 15-12 in Durham at Koskinen Stadium.
• Pat Kavanagh led the Irish attack with seven points off four goals and three assists, while his brother Chris posted four goals and an assist.
• Liam Entenmann made 14 saves in goal to help keep the Blue Devils offense in check.
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.
VIDEO GAME NUMBERS
• The Irish enter Sunday’s final leading the country in scoring offense (16.0 goals per game), first in the country in points per game (25.58), first in the country in shooting percentage (36.8) and second in assists per game (9.58).
• 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 22-goal win over Cleveland State, the 13-goal victory at Marquette and the five-goal win over Maryland 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 14.67 turnovers per game which leads the ACC and ranks 12th in the country.
PICK YOUR POISON
• The Irish starting attack has combined for 146 points this season.
• Pat Kavanagh (20G, 37A), Chris Kavanagh (27G, 27A) and Jake Taylor (32G, 3A) are each having great seasons.
• The three attackman have a combined 525 points in their career off 291 goals and 234 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 33 points (25G, 8A) while Faison has 25 (18G, 7A) and Dobson has added 22 (14G, 8A).
CASHING IN ON THE EMO
• For the third-straight season, Notre Dame’s man-up offense is among the nation’s best, scoring on 72.2 percent of its opportunities.
• Notre Dame comes into Sunday 26-of-36 on man-up situations.
• The mark of 72.2 percent is on pace to be the best single-season percentage 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 12 games during the 2024 season, nine feature opponents ranked in the current USILA or Inside Lacrosse Top 20 Polls.
• The Irish are now 6-0 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.
THE CONDUCTOR
• Pat Kavanagh became the first Notre Dame player to be named a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist two times, earning the honor in 2021 and 2023.
• 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 278 career points (106G, 172A).
• The attackman is the current NCAA DI active career leader in assists per game (3.02) and is second for total career assists (172).
• 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.
• Kavanagh has recorded three or more points in every game this season.
THE STOPPER
• Grad student Liam 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 688 saves.
• The goalie ranks first in the ACC in goals allowed per game (9.6) and save percentage (.556).
• 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.
• As the weather is heating up, so is Entenmann. He was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week after making 13 saves against UNC (4/20) while allowing just six goals.
• The goalie had a big game against No. 3 Maryland this season, making 13 saves while limiting the Terrapins to just nine goals and made a season-high 15 saves in the win over No. 18 Michigan.
• 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 (54) with 27 goals and 27 assists.
• 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 149 points off 95 goals and 54 assists.
•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 95 career goals.
CORRIGAN ALL-TIME DI PROGRAM WINS LEADER
• With the win over No. 1 Duke on April 10, 2021, 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 356-175 in his 38 seasons of coaching.
• The head coach is 346-160 in his 36 seasons at Notre Dame.
• Corrigan is the longest tenured men’s lacrosse coach at the DI level.