Category: Lacrosse

Notre Dame’s Pat Kavanagh Wins Lacrosse’s Biggest Individual Award

College lacrosse’s biggest individual honor goes to…

Notre Dame wrapped up one of the very best seasons in the history of college lacrosse Monday as the Fighting Irish dominated Maryland 15-5 and won their second-straight national championship.

The hardware kept coming for Notre Dame as the week went on however as on Thursday it was announced that attackman Pat Kavanagh was this year’s winner of the most coveted individual honor in the sport, the Tewaaraton Award.

The Tewaaraton Award is recognized as the pre-eminent lacrosse award, annually honoring the top male and female college lacrosse player in the United States.

Joining Kavanagh as a finalist was Notre Dame teammate and goaltender Liam Entenmann as well as Matthew Brandeau (Yale), Brennan O’Neill (Duke) and Connor Shellenberger (Virginia).

This was Entenmann’s second time being a finalist and the third time for Kavanagh.

Kavanagh scored an astounding 80 points with season with 20 of those coming in the postseason en-route to Notre Dame’s second straight national championship.

Kavanagh is the first player in Notre Dame history to take home the award after becoming the seventh Fighting Irish player to be named a finalist.

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Gators lacrosse finishes 4th in final IWLCA Poll after successful season

The final ILWomen/IWLCA Division I Poll for the 2024 lacrosse campaign was announced Tuesday and the Gators had their best finish since 2012.

The final ILWomen/IWLCA Division I Poll for the 2024 lacrosse campaign was announced Tuesday, with the Florida Gators finishing fourth in the final tally. It marks UF’s fifth top-five finish in program history — their first since 2014 — and the team’s best finish since 2012 when they were ranked third.

The Orange and Blue rose six spots from their previous ranking of No. 10 on May 6, representing the largest increase for any team since then. UF finished the season with a 20-3 overall record and a perfect 6-0 mark in the American Athletic Conference competition.

The Gators earned their 12th regular season conference championship and their 11th conference tournament championship (10th consecutive) before their deep run in the playoffs this spring. They ultimately fell to the top-seeded Northwestern Wildcats, 15-11, in the Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

Florida compiled a 7-3 record against ranked opponents, with three coming on the road and 12 double-digit victories, totaling nine games with 20 or more goals scored and 17 games of allowing under 10 goals.

UF ranked first nationally in scoring offense (17.61 goals/game), points per game (26.48), scoring margin (plus-9.09), shot percentage (.550), and clearing percentage (.959), along with ranking second in free position percentage (.639), third in assists per game (8.87), sixth in draw controls per game (17.70) and seventh in scoring defense (8.52 goals allowed/game).

The Orange and Blue’s 20 wins and 20-game winning streak were both the highest in the country and program history. Florida’s 2024 totals of 405 goals, 204 assists and 407 draw controls are all records for most in a Florida season.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Best Photos of Notre Dame’s Lacrosse Championship Win Over Maryland

The party is on in South Bend!

Notre Dame had been a very successful men’s lacrosse program for years but was unable to reach the sport’s peak until last May when they won their first national championship.

Fast forward a year and the Fighting Irish are back on top after dominating their way to a second-straight national championship.  Notre Dame overcame a slow start in Monday’s championship against Maryland where they trailed 2-0 early on.

The Irish went on an incredible run however, outscoring the Terrapins 15-3 the rest of the way en-route to that second-straight national championship.

We’ve had reaction from much of the Notre Dame community following the win here at Fighting Irish Wire but would like to share the best photos from Sunday’s dominating win below.

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Pat McAfee Congratulates Notre Dame Lacrosse for Repeat Championship

Friends of the Progrum

Notre Dame men’s lacrosse earned their second-straight national championship that culminated Monday with a 15-5 a domination of Maryland in the national championship game.

Despite falling behind 2-0 early, Notre Dame quickly bounced back and made things rather uninteresting shortly after.  The win was expected entering the tournament after Notre Dame lost just one game all year.  They avenged that loss in the national quarterfinals when they beat Georgetown which led to their blowout victories over Denver and Maryland.

Former Indianapolis Colts punter and current national talk show host [autotag]Pat McAfee[/autotag] has been a supporter of the Notre Dame lacrosse program for the last year or so when he learned of the Kavanagh brothers.  He took a moment on Tuesday to look back to his visit with the team last fall which included a great one-liner from Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan.

Check out the video below.

Pat McAfee has done many things (NFL player, WWE performer, College Gameday host, husband, and father, and more) but we don’t think star lacrosse player will be added to that list anytime soon.

Regardless, some national love from a major player in sports media for a team that certainly earned it over the past two years.

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Marcus Freeman celebrates Notre Dame lacrosse’s national championship

Celebrating with the champs!

The City of Brotherly Love played host to the NCAA men’s lacrosse final four this weekend with the championship taking place on Monday. Notre Dame routed Maryland in that game to win its second straight national championship.

Many notable Notre Dame personalities were in attendance, including head football coach [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag].

Freeman took in the championship game last year when Notre Dame beat Duke and returned to see the Irish crowned champions again Monday. After the dominating win, Freeman joined the on-field celebration and even posed for pictures with a few multisport athletes that have played on the Notre Dame football team.

Freeman is of course with (L-R in group photo) Mick Assaf, [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag]. It’s certainly wild to see Notre Dame’s last two bowl game MVPs winning a national championship together in lacrosse.

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Tyler Buchner’s insane 18 months between Notre Dame and Alabama

What a wild run for TB12!

When [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] chose Notre Dame as part of the football team’s 2021 recruiting class, the hope was he would help the Fighting Irish win a national championship.

He did, but not like some anticipated.

On Monday, Buchner capped an absolutely wild 18 months.

Buchner was Notre Dame’s starting quarterback in 2022, but he struggled against Ohio State and Marshall before getting injured and missing the rest of the regular season.  He returned for the Gator Bowl and took home game MVP honors after throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for two more in a comeback win over South Carolina.

After Sam Hartman transferred to Notre Dame for the 2023 season, Buchner entered the transfer portal following spring practice, ultimately ending up at Alabama. He started one game for the Crimson Tide last fall, struggled mightily and sat behind Jalen Milroe the rest of the year.

At the conclusion of the regular season, Buchner announced he would return to Notre Dame but not to play football. Instead, the former Fighting Irish starting quarterback joined the reigning national championship lacrosse team, a sport he starred at during high school in California.

On Monday, Buchner and the Fighting Irish capped the incredible season with a dominating, 15-5, win over Maryland in the national championship.  Buchner played in a reserve role this year as expected since he hadn’t played lacrosse competitively in five years.

Whatever the future has in store for Buchner, it’ll be hard to imagine him ever experiencing as crazy of an 18-month run as he just went through.

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Notre Dame Routs Maryland to Secure Second Straight National Championship

BACK 2 BACK!

It was a bit of a concerning start for No. 1 Notre Dame on Monday when the NCAA men’s lacrosse national championship game finally got started but all’s well that ends well for the Fighting Irish.

Maryland started things off with a 2-0 lead almost 3:30 into the contest but Notre Dame quickly came back.

Will Angrick got Notre Dame on the board roughly a minute later and 51 seconds after that, Jake Taylor’s 40th goal of the season tied things 2-2.

Notre Dame and Maryland then traded goals as things sat a 3-3 with 6:06 left in the first quarter but it was an onslaught from the Fighting Irish from there.

Jalen Seymour, Eric Dobson, Devon McLane, Chris Kavanagh (three times in a row), and Reilly Gray scored seven goals in a row for Notre Dame to give the Irish a 10-3 advantage before Maryland would score just before halftime to cut the lead to six.

Jordan Faison started the scoring in the second half with a behind the back goal, his 22nd of the season which gave the Irish an 11-4 advantage.  Chris Kavanagh quickly added another pair of goals to bring the lead to nine.

Fisher Finley and Jake Taylor would add the final goals of the year to close the game a 15-5 victor.  Notre Dame goaltender Liam Entenmann stopped 16 of 21 Maryland shot attempts in the victory.

We’ll have more on this story as the celebration is on for the Irish.  In the meantime, check out some of the best photos from the blowout championship victory below!

College Lacrosse National Championship Weather Update

An update from Philadelphia

The NCAA men’s lacrosse national championship game between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 7 Maryland has been delayed due to inclement weather in Philadelphia.

The game was originally set to face off at 12 p.m. ET on Monday but weather pushed back the start.  As of 1:11 p.m. ET we have the latest update in regard to when those in charge hope to get the game going.

Notre Dame is looking to win back-to-back national titles after winning their first in program history in 2023.  Maryland is looking to win their second title in three years after bringing home the hardware in 2022.

The game can be seen on ESPN2 when it resumes.

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How to watch Notre Dame lacrosse playing for another NCAA Championship

The Irish are trying to go back-to-back

The Notre Dame lacrosse team once again will be playing for a NCAA National Championship, the same one that the Irish won last season.

As Notre Dame tried to repeat as championship, you will be able to catch all the action today. Since the game is on a Monday, the Irish have decided to wear green, so make sure you match them with your gear today.

Find out below all of the information that you will need to see the top rated Irish battling No. 7 Maryland for a title.

Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

When: Monday, May 27th, 20204

What time: 12:00 p.m. ET

Which network: ESPN

Go Irish, beat the Terrapins!

UPDATE: The game has been pushed back due to weather with a tentative start time of 2 p.m. ET.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Watch: Tyler Buchner Lacrosse Highlights

TB12 like you probably haven’t seen him before…

Much was made earlier this off-season when former Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner announced he was returning to South Bend.  He wasn’t coming back to play football though, instead choosing to pick up his lacrosse stick again and become a part of that program.

This comes after Buchner followed Tommy Rees to Alabama for one season where he wound up starting one game at quarterback for the Crimson Tide.

So now Buchner returns and is set to play a different sport for the Fighting Irish.  Just how good of a lacrosse player is the former starting quarterback?

Finding lacrosse highlights of high school players isn’t nearly as easy finding football highlights but based on how he looked as a freshman in high school, Buchner is one heck of a talent.  Check out the video below from Buchner’s freshman year.

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