Tag: Lacrosse

Notre Dame beats Duke to earn first national championship

Played like a champion today

The third time was the charm for Notre Dame men’s lacrosse this weekend.  On Saturday the Irish had an incredible last-second comeback to beat Virginia for the first time in three tries in 2023 and earned a spot in Monday’s national championship game.

Monday saw the Irish play in the national title game for the third time in program history, oddly enough with each one being against Duke.  This time the Irish finished the job as they dominated defensively for a 6-1 halftime lead.

Duke came out firing in the second half as the Blue Devils started on a 6-1 run to draw even at seven.  Notre Dame took that blow and answered back though scoring four-straight goals to get the lead back.

Notre Dame then held on to a 13-8 victory to secure their first national championship in program history.

We’ll have tons more on this throughout the day as the Irish are FINALLY national champions!

Where in the world is Marcus Freeman: Lacrosse semifinals edition

Go Irish, beat Cavs!

There may not be a bigger Notre Dame athletics fan than head football coach [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag].  We’ve seen Freeman show up seemingly endlessly at Notre Dame women’s basketball games with his family.  We’ve seen him at a good amount of men’s basketball games, too.  He’s thrown out first pitches at Irish baseball games and slugged home runs for charity with the softball team.

You can add the men’s lacrosse national semi-finals to that list, too.  Freeman didn’t just wish the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team luck against Virginia in Saturday’s semifinals, but let the world know he was on his way to Philadelphia to support the Irish.

Notre Dame and Virginia are battling for a spot in the lacrosse national championship that will take place Monday with this winner taking on Duke.

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Lacrosse fans were furious that Duke’s game-winning NCAA semifinal goal didn’t get called for a crease violation

Lacrosse fans were FURIOUS that Duke looked to have won its NCAA semifinal game on a crease violation.

Lacrosse fans couldn’t believe that Duke’s lacrosse team didn’t get called for a crease violation on a game-winning overtime goal over Penn State in Saturday’s NCAA semifinals.

As the game went to extra minutes, Duke midfielder Garrett Leadmon popped in the ball for a walk-off score on Penn State that won the game, 16-15, and got his team into the NCAA finals.

However, it looked like Leadmon may have stepped into the crease (the circular area around the net) on the game winner, which would’ve been a rule violation and nullified the goal.

The referees looked to have missed the call, which did not thrill the lacrosse viewers at home who felt that Leadmon had earned a penalty.

There aren’t reviewable replays in NCAA lacrosse for these situations, which didn’t allow for a second look at Leadmon’s game-winning goal.

Lacrosse fans felt that the Duke midfielder indeed crossed the crease to spark the overtime victory, and they were vocal about it on social media.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.

How to watch Notre Dame-Virginia on lacrosse championship weekend

Go Irish. Beat Cavs.

Will the third time be the charm for Notre Dame in 2023?  The Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse team is undefeated against every team in the nation this year besides Virignia.  The Irish, who twice dropped games to the Cavaliers this season, get a third chance Saturday in the national semi-finals.

Notre Dame is trying to reach the NCAA Tournament championship game for the third time in program history.  They have previously done so in 2010 and 2014.

If you’re unable to make it to Philadelphia this weekend you can watch the game live on TV.

Location: Philadelphia – Lincoln Financial Field
Schedule: Saturday, May 27 — 2:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2

The winner of Saturday’s Notre Dame-Virginia contest will take on the winner of Duke-Penn State for the national championship on Monday.

32 for 32: Facts to celebrate the life of the late great Browns running back Jim Brown

These are 32 facts about Jim Brown as provided by the #Browns’ media relations department shortly after his death

Cleveland Browns legend Jim Brown died unexpectedly last week at the age of 87. His career was defined by excellence on the gridiron and a steadfast determination to create social change during a time of extreme prejudice in American culture.

With his passing, Cleveland loses one of its most cherished and iconic figures, whose presence will never be duplicated. In celebration of his accomplishments and a life well lived, here are 32 facts about Brown, who wore number 32 for the Browns from 1957 until his retirement in 1965 as provided by the Browns’ media team.

Notre Dame onto Elite Eight in men’s lacrosse

Go Irish, beat Johns Hopkins

A year ago the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team was inexplicably left out of the NCAA Tournament.  A year later they’re the nation’s third overall seed and now just one win away from advancing to the final four.

This comes after the Irish annihilated Utah 20-7 on Saturday’s first round of the 16-team tournament.  Things started fast for the Irish as they jumped out to an 8-0 advantage and the issue was never really in doubt.

Jake Taylor set a Notre Dame tournament record by netting five goals.  As usual, Pat Kavanagh was stellar as he netted three himself and assisted on three more.  Chris Kavanagh added two more goals and an assist for the victorious Irish.

Notre Dame now advances to the national quarterfinals in Annapolis where they’ll take on the sixth-seed, Johns Hopkins University on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET.

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Notre Dame back at No. 1 in men’s lacrosse rankings

Light up Grace Hall again!

We knew it was coming but it’s official as Notre Dame is back atop the men’s college lacrosse rankings.  The Irish were rated second a week ago before beating then-No. 1 Duke in South Bend, 17-12.

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As a result the Irish moved back up to the No. 1 spot as they now have a week off.  They’ll return to action next weekend (April 22) when they host No. 11 North Carolina.

Notre Dame has just three regular season games to go as in addition to hosting the Tar Heels, the Irish will travel to No. 2 Virginia on April 29 and then to North Carolina the first weekend in May.

Below is how the entire Men’s Division 1 Lacrosse Media Poll checks out:

College lacrosse: No. 2 Notre Dame takes down No. 1 Duke

Back to No. 1!

For the second time in just weeks Notre Dame played host to the two top ranked teams in men’s lacrosse.  This time was a different finish for the second-ranked Fighting Irish.

No. 1 Duke started Saturday’s showdown quickly, jumping out with the game’s first score and holding a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.  It was all Irish from there, though.

Notre Dame turned things up in a big way in the second frame, scoring four-straight goals to start the period.  The Irish would dominate the segment, outscoring Duke 7-1 during the 15 minutes and leading 9-4 at halftime.  The second half then began with more of the same.

Notre Dame scored again just 35 seconds into the third quarter to lead 10-4 before Duke started to mount a bit of a comeback.  The Blue Devils were able to get things to 12-9, but that was as close as things would get. The Irish rattled off five-straight goals to lead 17-9 and essentially end the contest.  Notre Dame wound up winning 17-11, their third victory in four tries all-time in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game.

The 17 goals were also the most allowed by Duke in a regulation game since 2015.

What happens now is that Notre Dame is almost certainly to be the nation’s top-ranked team come Monday.

Notre Dame notes – courtesy of Notre Dame media relations:

  • The Irish are now 3-1 in program history in games featuring the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country.
  • Notre Dame has now won three straight against Duke and four of the last five.
  • With five assists on the day, Pat Kavanagh has 117 career assists, which improves his Notre Dame program record.
  • Chris Kavanagh’s hat trick was the eighth of his season and 10th of his career.
  • Pat Kavanagh finished with eight points, giving him 195 in his career. That total moves him into third place in program history, passing Pat Walsh (192).
  • Pat Kavanagh also led the team in ground balls on the day and also posted a caused turnover.
  • Entenmann recorded 15 saves, marking his seventh straight game with double-digit saves. The 15 saves are a season-high for the senior
  • Dobson has 21 goals on the season and has recorded back-to-back hat tricks for the first time during the 2023 campaign.

Notre Dame is off next week before they welcome top-10 North Carolina for their home finale on April 22.

Watch: Notre Dame football teams hypes, cheers on Irish lacrosse team

Does this happen anywhere else besides Notre Dame?

There is showing up to your friends and classmates games to offer support and then there is being their ultimate hype team.  Notre Dame’s football team offered the later on Saturday afternoon as the top-ranked Irish hosted No. 3 Virginia.

The football team had just wrapped up their Saturday practice obligations as the showdown of lacrosse powers was taking place in South Bend.  The Fighting Irish football team didn’t just show up to watch the game but instead turned into as great of group of cheerleaders one could ever ask for.  The game was broadcast on ESPNU and the cameras caught the sight of the football team getting more than a bit excited when the Irish tied things up at seven early in the second half.

If you’re wondering, that’s corner back [autotag]Cam Hart[/autotag] with the stick during the celebration. We’re not sure how he got it but we’re certainly glad he did.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you see [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] showing up to cheer on the Irish women’s basketball team regularly and then see this kind of support from the players for some of their classmates.

Unfortunately, the support wasn’t enough as the top-ranked Irish fell to No. 3 Virginia, 15-10.

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Top-ranked Notre Dame lacrosse falls to Virginia

Tough one for the Irish today

Last week in college lacrosse, top-ranked Virginia fell to Maryland in a hard fought battle.  Notre Dame’s dominating win over Michigan left the Irish unbeaten and that combination put the Irish atop the national media rankings this week.  It also set up a showdown between last week’s top-ranked Cavaliers against this week’s No.1 Fighting Irish in South Bend.

Unfortunately, the unbeaten streak to start the year is over for the Irish after a hard-fought contest against No. 3 Virginia.  Early in the third quarter Notre Dame was able to tie the game at seven thanks to a goals from Chris Kavanagh and Pat Kavanagh both but the momentum wouldn’t hold.

Virginia answered back with a 4-0 run of their own pushing their lead to 11-7 before both squads alternated scoring before quarter’s end.  Leading 13-9 entering the final frame the Cavaliers put things out of reach as they stretched the lead to 15-9 before ultimately winning 15-10.

What the result means is that Notre Dame’s run as the nation’s top-ranked team was short lived.  The Irish beat No. 2 Maryland in an overtime thriller earlier in the year while No. 3 Virginia fell to Maryland in overtime.  One would think that based off their convincing win over the Irish that Virginia will retake the top spot in next week’s rankings.

Notre Dame returns to action next weekend as they hit the road to take on Syracuse on Saturday.

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