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MLAX: Kavanaghs carry Notre Dame past Georgetown into NCAA semis

Tyler James

All Star
Staff
Dec 31, 2021
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Game Recap:

Notre Dame men’s lacrosse refused to let Saturday’s NCAA quarterfinals matchup with Georgetown follow the same script of ND’s lone loss of the season to the Hoyas in late February.

The top-seeded Irish jumped out to a 2-0 lead midway through the first quarter with goals by Devon McLane and Reilly Gray. In February’s 11-10 overtime loss, Notre Dame never led by two goals.

Then when Chris Kavanagh scored his first goal 53 seconds later, it became a harbinger of what was to come in Notre Dame’s 16-11 victory over Georgetown. Kavanagh, a junior attacker, set a Notre Dame tournament record with eight points (five goals and three assists) and tied his single-game high with the output.

Kavanagh’s older brother Pat, a graduate senior attacker, also scored a hat trick with three goals and one assist. They led a fierce offensive onslaught from the Irish that never relented through four quarters.

Notre Dame dominated in faceoffs with a 23-8 advantage, which made a comeback effort extremely tough for Georgetown. Junior specialist Will Lynch won 21 of his 26 faceoffs.

The Irish limited Georgetown to one goal in each of the first two quarters. That allowed Notre Dame to build a 7-2 halftime lead. Chris Kavanagh scored his first three goals in the first half. Pat Kavanagh scored his first with seven seconds remaining before halftime.

Notre Dame extended its lead in the third quarter with a strong finish. Georgetown showed some fight with a pair of goals in the first six minutes of the third quarter, but the Irish responded with three goals in the final four minutes. The Kavanagh brothers scored one goal each in that four-minute stretch, and freshman Jordan Faison scored his first goal.

Devon McLane, who started Notre Dame’s scoring less than one full minute into the game, scored his second goal with 6:41 remaining in regulation to extend ND’s lead to eight for the first time. He scored on an assist from Chris Kavanagh to capitalize on an extra-man advantage.

Notre Dame goalie Liam Entenmann saved eight shots while allowing 10 goals. Alex Zepf replaced him for the final 2:13 and allowed one goal.

The defending champion Irish will return to the Final Four in Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. Notre Dame’s semifinal opponent will be determined Sunday in Towson, Md., when No. 4 seed Syracuse (12-5) takes on No. 5 seed Denver (12-3). Notre Dame beat Syracuse, 14-12, on March 30 in South Bend.

The two NCAA semifinal games will be played next Saturday in Philadelphia.

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Photo credit: Nick Ieradi/Notre Dame Athletics
Pictured: Chris Kavanagh

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Game Thread:

No. 1 Notre Dame men's lacrosse will get its shot at revenge today in an NCAA quarterfinals matchup with Georgetown.

The Hoyas (13-3) gave Notre Dame (13-1) its only loss of the season on Feb. 25 in South Bend. Georgetown emerged with an 11-10 victory in overtime.

The Irish have won 11 games since, including an NCAA Tournament first-round victory over Albany, 14-9, on Sunday. Eight-seed Georgetown advanced with a 12-9 victory over Penn State.

Watch: ESPNU
Live stats: Here

ICYMI: @Eric Hansen wrote about Notre Dame's Jake Taylor this week:

 
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