Notre Dame is the most complete team in men’s college lacrosse.
If there was any doubt, it was all erased Sunday when then-No. 6 Notre Dame beat then-No. 3 Maryland, 14-9, in South Bend, Indiana. At that point, the Terps (4-1) were unbeaten and the Fighting Irish (3-1) were coming off a stunning 11-10 overtime loss to then-No. 19 Georgetown the week before.
The Hoyas worked that game to perfection, using the shooting clock wisely in each possession. Georgetown coach Kevin Warne was doing the greatest backward roll since American gymnast Simone Biles.
The Georgetown win put Maryland in an unenviable position of having to play the defending national champion on the road, but the Terps are the epitome of team lacrosse. The Fighting Irish, though, take it to another level.
“Notre Dame doesn’t have a glaring weak spot anywhere on the field,” Big Ten and ESPN analyst Mark Dixon said. “They faceoff well, have solid short stick defensive midfielders and their and their specialty units are among the most prolific in lacrosse.”
That’s not to say Notre Dame will win the national championship again. It’s way too early for that declaration and Georgetown showed that the Fighting Irish can be beat. But it’s going to take a Herculean effort.
The Fighting Irish have outscored their opponents 70-31 and are sound up the middle. On offense, they have attackmen Pat Kavanagh (four goals, 15 assists) and brother Chris (10 goals, five assists). Will Lunch has been dominant in faceoffs, winning 43 of 64 for the season and 12 of 18 against Maryland All-American Luke Wierman last week.
And then there is the stopper, goalie Liam Entenmann. The 6-feet-3 senior has an 8.08 goals-against average and a .538 save percentage. The Fighting Irish are like most teams in most sports: If they can control and win the middle of the field, they will win most of their games.
Defensive players such as John Sexton and Matt Landis were synonymous with Notre Dame lacrosse, but that’s no longer the case, even though the identity of the Fighting Irish hasn’t changed in 2024.
“Defensively they don’t have as big a name as in years past but continue to be stingy and disciplined,” Dixon said. “They do have the best goalie in the country and together with the rope unit they make scoring on this Irish group as difficult as ever.”
Entenmann is big at 203 pounds and can fill a cage. But he also has a low center of gravity when he crouches, which makes it tough for opponents to score regardless if they shoot high or low. The Kavanaghs are tough and they’ve gotten even better with attackman Jake Taylor (15 goals, two assists) and midfielder Jordan Faison (nine goals, three assists), a 5-10, 175-pound freshman who plays wide receiver on the school’s football team.
Taylor is the sharpshooter and crease attackman on Notre Dame’s extra-man offense, which has converted on 8 of 11 opportunities. Because of his athleticism, Faison has added another gear to the offense and complements fellow midfielders Devon McLane (five goals, five assists) and Eric Dobson (three goals, three assists).
“The returnees on offense have been joined by a spark from the freshman,” Dixon said. “I’m not sure anyone anticipated this kind of production from him.”
Notre Dame still has a tough remaining schedule with games against No. 6 Duke (3-1), No. 5 Virginia (4-1), No. 9 Syracuse (5-2), No. 13 Michigan (5-1) and No. 18 North Carolina (3-2). The talent is there, but do the Fighting Irish have some other intangibles from a year ago to win another title?
“Things I worry about with Notre Dame — last year they had Chris Fake and Brian Tevlin, two key transfers from Yale who excelled on the field and in the locker room. Do they have those kinds of leaders this year?” Dixon said. “While I love the way Pat Kavanagh plays, can he make it through 2024 in one piece? He’s the heart of this team. If he goes down what would that do to ND?”
Those are fair questions, but their opponents have to face an even bigger one: How do you beat the most complete team in the country?
Georgetown found a way, but that might have been Notre Dame’s wake-up call. The Fighting Irish aren’t sleeping anymore.
Go ask Maryland.
No. 4 Notre Dame at Ohio State
Saturday, noon
Stream: Big Ten Plus