No. 3 Maryland men’s lacrosse unable to top No. 6 Notre Dame, falls 14-9

No. 3 Maryland men’s lacrosse cut its deficit to two in the second quarter. But No. 6 Notre Dame squashed that momentum, scoring four unanswered goals. 

The Terps were unable to avenge their three-overtime loss to the Irish last season. Notre Dame defeated Maryland, 14-9, at home on Sunday. 

Notre Dame’s defense was the difference maker, forcing 11 turnovers. At one point there was just under 20 minutes of play in between Maryland goals.

The Irish (3-1) played well-rounded, beating the Terps (4-1) in about every aspect of the game. Goalie Liam Entenmann put together one of his best performances of the season, allowing nine goals with 13 saves, a .591 save rate. Faceoff specialist Will Lynch earned Notre Dame possessions all afternoon, winning 12-of-18. 

Terps goalkeeper Logan McNaney’s first half saw him allow nine goals with just six saves. Notre Dame stifled him, applying pressure every time he touched the ball. McNaney seemed to settle in at the end of the half, making a quick-reflect mid-air save to mirror Pat Kavanagh’s stick, but he ultimately finished with a poor outing protecting the cage.

Maryland committed a handful of mental errors, including multiple late hits that gave Notre Dame extra-man opportunities — two of the Irish’s goals came in man-up opportunities. The Terps finished with four penalties while Notre Dame had none.

Maryland still had bright spots, especially from attacker Eric Malever who led the team in scoring. The senior scored a season-high three goals and added an assist as well.

Senior Daniel Maltz started the scoring off for his 10th goal of the season and 100th of his career. Entenmann originally blocked it but couldn’t locate the ball, which rolled into the net.

The Irish then put together a four-goal scoring run to answer. Its second goal was a jaw-dropping no-look goal from Kavanagh over his right shoulder with a defender attached to him.

Notre Dame’s leading scorer Jake Taylor accounted for three of the four goals. Malever finally stopped the run in the final seconds of the quarter, but the Terps still trailed 4-2 entering the second.

The unsung hero of the scoring run was the Irish’s defense — the unit forced four turnovers and allowed two goals on 10 shots in the first quarter.

The second quarter was more of the same with Maryland making mistakes and Notre Dame capitalizing. McNaney committed a turnover behind the net, leading to an easy Chris Kavanagh goal at the 11:55 mark of the frame.

Maryland’s offense began to cut into the lead in the back half of the quarter. Defender Ajax Zappitello caused a turnover, leading to a fast break score from Malever. Ryan Siracusa scored a minute later to cut the lead to 7-5.

But Notre Dame killed the momentum with two goals in the final minute of the half. Midfielder Devon McLane scored three goals in the quartern and the run continued in the third with two goals from freshman Jordan Faison.

Eric Spanos scored two goals a minute apart to start the fourth and cut the lead to three. But Chris Kavanagh killed the Maryland momentum with a goal of his own, leading to the win.

The Terps will look to bounce back next weekend against winless Brown. The opponent will be Maryland’s first non-ranked opponent of the season.