It was a rematch of last year’s national championship lacrosse game and again between a pair of the nation’s top-ranked teams on Sunday. No. 1 Notre Dame traveled to No. 3 Duke in a showdown that lived up to the billing.
Notre Dame jumped out to an early lead, scoring the game’s first goal before exchanging the next pair with the Blue Devils to hold a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the Fighting Irish head to halftime on a scoring spree. After allowing two Duke goals to open the period, Notre Dame scored five-straight to hold an 8-4 halftime edge. The Brothers Kavanagh, Chris and Pat, each scored a pair of goals during that 5-0 run.
Duke scored early in the second to get back within three before the two teams matched the final portion of the third quarter which ended with Notre Dame holding a 10-7 lead.
The first part of the fourth quarter belonged to the Devils as they struck fast to score four goals while allowing just one, tying the game at 11 with 9:09 to play. It’s one thing to give up a lead, it’s another to fall behind, and Notre Dame never did that keeping things at least tied.
From there the Irish outscored Duke 3-1 to close the contest and win 14-12.
Pat Kavanagh led the Irish with four goals and three assists while Chris Kavanagh also scored four goals while assisting one.
As is the norm, Notre Dame goaltender Liam Entenmann was great, stopping 14 Duke shots in the win.
Notre Dame returns to action next weekend when they travel to Cornell.
