Maryland men’s lacrosse falls to Notre Dame in national championship, 15-5

Philadelphia, PA – As “Let’s go Irish” chants filled the stadium, Jake Taylor fired a goal past the legs of Logan McNaney. The goal pushed the lead to ten with five minutes remaining in the game and secured Notre Dame’s second straight NCAA Championship.

No. 7 Maryland men’s lacrosse (11-6, 3-2 Big Ten) failed to capture its second title in three years against No. 1 Notre Dame 15-5 at Lincoln Financial Field on Monday. The Terps’ five goals are the second lowest in championship history.

In March’s meeting, Notre Dame (16-1, 4-0 ACC) defeated Maryland, 14-9. The Irish controlled possessions by picking up 10 more groundballs and causing 11 turnovers. The defense locked down the Terps and forced a 20-minute scoring drought in the meeting. 

The national championship had a similar script. The Irish defense stifled Maryland’s offense which entered the game averaging 14 goals per game during the tournament run. Notre Dame forced 11 turnovers while Liam Entenmann made 16 saves and held the Terps to five goals.

“[Entenmann] doesn’t have any weaknesses,” Daniel Kelly said. “You’re gonna get a great look but he closes in on it pretty quickly. He’s a big kid too, he takes a lot of the net up. But there’s a lot of those [shots] that we want back.”

Luke Wierman’s faceoff success was a bright spot but was offset by turnovers. The senior won 17-of-24 faceoffs and added six groundballs. Wierman struggled in the first meeting with the Irish with his second-worst win percentage of the season.

Maryland’s defense had no answer for the Kavanagh brothers. Chris Kavanagh broke Notre Dame’s single-game tournament record in the third quarter with his fifth goal and finished with five. Pat Kavanagh added his mark with six assists, the program’s single-game tournament assist record.

Both teams warmed up and were ready to go at noon. However, following the national anthem, a thunderstorm delayed the game for two hours.

The Terps offense started hot with goals from Ryan Siracusa and Kelly, giving the Terps an early lead. Notre Dame quickly answered and capitalized on six Maryland first-quarter turnovers. A three-goal run helped the Irish to a two-goal lead.

“We’re not prone to panic in the first quarter because we know it’s gonna be a 60-minute game,” Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan said. “Given the kind of body of work of the season, we were confident that we’re gonna have a chance to make some plays.”

Logan McNaney struggled early and did not record a save in the first half. Entering the game, he had not recorded a save percentage below .500 during the tournament run.

McNaney recorded his first save a minute into the second half and still finished with 10 saves.

This combined with errant passes and careless turnovers allowed Notre Dame to go on a seven-goal run. Eric Malever scored right before the half to snap a 19-minute scoring drought and Maryland entered the half down 10-4.

“[Notre Dame] played very poised. They are very unselfish,” head coach John Tillman said, “They don’t have any weaknesses. I knew it’d be a challenge, having played them once before… They are awesome and they are worthy champions. They deserve it.”

The offensive woes continued in the second half. Kelly accounted for Maryland’s lone second-half goal as the team shot 1-for-20.

With the loss, Tillman falls to 2-6 in national championship games with Maryland. The Terps notched upset wins over No. 2 Duke and No. 6 Virginia in the NCAA tournament after falling to Penn State in the Big Ten tournament.

“My hat’s off to Notre Dame but I mean I can’t speak highly enough about the group that we have in that locker room,” Kelly said, “We’ll be back next year.”

Meanwhile, Notre Dame secures its second title in program history. The Fighting Irish were one loss short of a perfect season, a feat the Terps achieved in 2022.