SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 1 Fighting Irish recorded its second top-3 win of the season, defeating No. 3 Syracuse by a score of 14-12 in front of a sold out Arlotta Stadium crowd on Saturday afternoon. Notre Dame improves to 6-1 on the season and begins ACC play with a record of 1-0.
Will Lynch set the tone from out outset at the faceoff dot and turned in one the best performances of his career. The junior won 19-of-26 faceoffs, marking a season high and scooped up 11 ground balls. Lynch also scored a goal, the second of his season in the win.
The trio of Pat Kavanagh, Chris Kavanagh and Eric Dobson each finished with three points and 10 Notre Dame players scored at least one goal in the win.
The Irish defense was exemplary, causing havoc in both settled situations and on the ride. Notre Dame caused 13 total turnovers, led by Chris Conlin, Will Donovan and Pat Kavanagh with three each.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Syracuse scored the opener in the first two minutes of play and then the Irish grabbed the lead by scoring three straight courtesy of Reilly Gray (2) and Ben Ramsey. The Orange answered with two goals of their own to level the score at 3-3 with two minutes left in the first frame.
Notre Dame closed the quarter strongly, as Dobson scored his first of the afternoon followed by two from Pat Kavanagh to give the Irish a 6-3 lead after the opening 15 minutes of action.
The two sides each scored twice over the first 14 minutes of play, with the Irish goals coming from Devon McLane and Will Angrick.
The Irish finished the half with a flurry, scoring twice in the final minute to take a 10-5 lead into the half. Chris Kavanagh scored off a pass from Dobson followed by Lynch winning the faceoff and burying his shot to send the Irish faithful into a frenzy.
Notre Dame pushed its lead to six by the end of the third quarter, outscoring the visitors 3-2 in the frame to make the score 13-7. Jake Taylor scored twice in the quarter, including a highlight-worthy one-handed finish and Jordan Faison added one to continue his streak of scoring in every game of the season.
The Orange tried to make a frantic comeback in the fourth quarter, scoring the first three goals of the period in the opening three minutes to cut the lead in half at 13-10. Liam Entenmann made the play of the day, making a diving save across the crease to make a save on the doorstep during a man-down situation to keep the lead at three.
Dobson scored his second of the afternoon with just under seven minutes of play remaining to push the lead back to 14-10. Syracuse managed to score the final two goals of the day but the Irish held on to claim the big resume win with a final score of 14-12.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish now lead the all-time series with a mark of 11-10, winning each of the last seven matchups.
- Notre Dame finished with a season-high 13 caused turnovers.
- The Irish attack has finished in double-figures for goals in every game this season.
- Notre Dame handed Syracuse its first loss in regulation this season.
- All six offensive starters scored at least one goal in the win.
- Lynch has now won the faceoff matchup in six of seven games, despite facing some of the top FOGOs in the country.
- Freshman defenseman Shawn Lyght was masterful, holding All-American Joey Spallina to just one point on an unsettled goal.
- With three points, Pat Kavanagh now has 46 points in his career over six games against Syracuse.
- Pat Kavanagh also impacted the game on the ride, causing three turnovers and collecting six ground balls.
- Conlin had a career day, scooping up a career-high seven ground balls while adding a season-high three caused turnovers.
UP NEXT
The Irish hit the road for a two-game road swing, starting off with another top-5 matchup, as they take on No. 5 Duke at Koskinen Stadium at noon ET on Sunday, April 7. The game will air on ACCN.
— ND —