SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish put on a show in the season opener, defeating Cleveland State by a score of 25-3 in Loftus Sports Center to start the 2024 season 1-0 on Wednesday evening.
Fourteen different Fighting Irish players scored a goal in the victory with 18 recording at least one point in the win.
The Irish attack was led by a trio of goal scorers, as Jake Taylor (5), Chris Kavanagh (3) and Jordan Faison (3) each recorded hat tricks. Pat Kavanagh played the role of distributor masterfully, dishing out a game-high five assists.
Notre Dame’s defense was equally impressive, stifling the Viking attack all night. The defense held Cleveland State to just 17 total shots, 10 of which were on target. Liam Entenmann made eight saves while giving up just two goals in just under three quarters of action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In his first collegiate debut, Faison wasted little time introducing himself to Fighting Irish fans, scoring on the opening possession of the night for Notre Dame’s first goal of the season. Chris Kavanagh, Jalen Seymour and Bryce Walker each added a goal in the opening 15 minutes of play to give the Irish a 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Notre Dame attack erupted in the second quarter, outscoring the visitors 8-1 to take a commanding lead at 12-1 into the halftime break. Taylor did a lot of the damage for the Irish, scoring three goals in the first seven minutes of the frame. Chris Kavanagh added two goals in the quarter to go along with scores from Faison, Devon McLane and Jeffery Ricciardelli, breaking the game wide open.
After Cleveland State scored on the opening possession of the second half the Irish went on a 7-0 run the rest of the third quarter to go on top 19-2 with 15 minutes to play.
Notre Dame closed the game strongly, outscoring the Vikings 6-1 in the final frame to put an exclamation point on the 25-3 win.
STAT OF THE GAME
The 25 goals scored are the third most in a game in program history and the most ever for the Irish in a season opener. The last time Notre Dame had 25 or more goals came in a 26-goal effort in a win over Lake Forest in the 1992 season.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish improved to 4-0 against Cleveland State in the all-time series.
- Eighteen of Notre Dame’s 25 goals were assisted, as the Irish totaled 43 points on the evening, just three shy of the program record.
- Seven different Notre Dame players scored their first career goal in an Irish uniform as Faison, McLane, Max Busenkell, Brock Behrman, Michael Ridgway, Griffin Grant and Ryan Sforzo each found the back of the net.
- With the win, the Irish are now 37-7 in season openers, including a 31-5 record under Baumer Family Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Kevin Corrigan.
- Notre Dame improves to 40-4 in home openers in program history and 33-3 under Corrigan.
- Chris Kavanagh’s has now totaled 18 points in season openers in his career after totaling seven in a win over Marquette last season and six against Detroit Mercy as a freshman.
- The five points from Chris Kavanagh give the junior 100 points in his career.
- With five assists, Pat Kavanagh has now recorded five or more assists in 13 games in his Fighting Irish career.
- Taylor’s five-goal performance marks his fifth in his career with five or more goals in a game.
- Faison, Shawn Lyght and Will Gallagher each made their first collegiate starts of their careers.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame is back in action this weekend, as it travels to Milwaukee to take on Marquette for the first road game of the season. The Irish take on the Golden Eagles at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT) on Sunday, Feb. 18. The game will be streamed on YouTube.
— ND —