In Notre Dame reaching its seventh NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Final Four this weekend, Irish coach Kevin Corrigan reflected this week on how critical to that end is the way the pieces fit together.
On Thursday, the USILA (United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association) illuminated just how special those pieces are individually.
First-teamers Liam Entenmann, Pat Kavanagh and Ben Ramsey highlight a program-record 11 Irish men’s lacrosse players who earned All-America status from the USILA for the 2024 season. The top-ranked/top-seeded Irish (14-1) meet 5 seed Denver (13-3) Saturday at noon EDT (ESPN2) in the first of two NCAA Tourney semis in Philadelphia.
The Pioneers had four All-Americans named.
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No. 6 seed Virginia (12-5) and 7 seed Maryland (10-5) meet in the second semifinal, at 2:30, with Saturday’s survivors returning to Lincoln Financial Field for Monday’s championship. Notre Dame is the defending national titleist.
Eric Dobson, Will Donovan and freshman Shawn Lyght were named to the second team. Chris Kavanagh, Will Lynch, Jake Taylor, Devon McLane and Chris Conlin earned honorable mention.
Entenmann, a grad senior, is a repeat first-teamer and also repeated as the Ensign C. Markland Kelly Jr. Outstanding Goalie for the second year in a row. He was an honorable mention All-American in 2022 and a second-teamer in 2021.
There was no All-America team in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic truncating the season after a handful of games that spring.
Grad senior Pat Kavanagh is an All-American for the fourth time but made the first team for the first time on Thursday. He was a second-teamer in 2023 and 2021, and a third-teamer in 2022. Junior midfielder Ramsey was a third-team selection in 2023.
The Irish and Denver, one-time conference rivals years ago, will be meeting for the 28th time on Saturday. Notre Dame leads the series, 16-11, with 12 of the past 13 meetings decided by three goals or fewer.
Corrigan said earlier this week that Notre Dame’s culture of unselfishness is a big reason why the Irish are back in the Final Four for the second year in a row.
“It permeates everything that we do and everything that we’re about,” he said. “I’m super proud of that, because that’s something that the guys do. There have been books written about this stuff and everything else.
“It only happens if it happens in your locker room every single day and you have young guys who understand the importance of that. And guys — your best players have to be guys who buy into that.
“I’ve got a quote here on my desk — Jeff Van Gundy says your best player has to set a tone of intolerance for anything that gets in the way of winning. I think that’s exactly what those guys are like. They’re like we’re here for one thing. We're here to be the best team that we can be.”
2024 USILA Awards
Lt. Raymond J. Enners Outstanding Player of the Year: Ajax Zappitello, Maryland
Lt. Col. JI Turnbull Outstanding Attackman: Connor Shellenberger, Virginia
Lt. j.g. Donald MacLaughlin Jr. Outstanding Midfielder: Shane Knobloch, Rutgers,
William C. Schmeisser Defensive Player of the Year: Jake Piseno, Albany
Ensign C. Markland Kelly Jr. Outstanding Goalie, Liam Entenmann: Notre Dame
2024 All-Americans
FIRST TEAM
A-Connor Shellenberger, Virginia
A-Brennan O'Neill, Duke
A-Pat Kavanagh, Notre Dame
M-Shane Knobloch, Rutgers
M-Evan Plunkett, Army
M-Graham Bundy Jr., Georgetown
M-Andrew McAdorey, Duke
SSDM-Ben Ramsey, Notre Dame
SSDM-Beau Pederson, Michigan
SSDM-Dylan Hess, Georgetown
LSM-Jake Piseno, Albany
FO-Will Coletti, Army
D-Ajax Zappitello, Maryland
D-Kenny Brower, Duke
D-Brendan Lavelle, Penn
D-Scott Smith, Hopkins
G-Liam Entenmann, Notre Dame
SECOND TEAM
A-CJ Kirst, Cornell
A-Matt Brandau, Yale
A-TJ Malone, Penn State
M-Jake Stevens, Syracuse
M-Mikey Weisshaar, Towson
M-Eric Dobson, Notre Dame
SSDM-Grant Haus, Penn State
SSDM-Aidan Maguire, Duke
SSDM-Chase Yager, Virginia
LSM-Stephen Zupicich, Villanova
LSM-Will Donovan, Notre Dame
FO-Justin Wietfeldt, Michigan
FO-Luke Wierman, Maryland
D-Cole Kastner, Virginia
D-Shawn Lyght, Notre Dame
D-AJ Pilate, Army
G-Emmet Carroll, Penn
G-Jack Fracyon, Penn State
THIRD TEAM
A-Payton Cormier, Virginia
A-Joey Spallina, Syracuse
A-Sam King, Harvard
M-Griffin Schutz, Virginia
M-Alexander Vardaro, Georgetown
M-Matt Collison, John Hopkins
SSDM-Jackson Peters, Navy
SSDM-Brett Martin, John Hopkins
LSM-Tyler Carpenter, Duke
FO-Alec Stathakis, Denver
D-Mason Woodward, Marquette
D-Billy Dwan, Syracuse
D-Jimmy Freehill, Denver
G-Chayse Ierlan, John Hopkins
HONORABLE MENTION
A-Louis Perfetto, Boston University
A-Chris Kavanagh, Notre Dame
A-Michael Boehm, Michigan
A-Brayden Mayea, High Point
A-Coulter Mackesy, Princeton
A-Josh Zawada, Duke
A-Jacob Angelus, John Hopkins
A-Owen Duffy, North Carolina
A-Ross Scott, Rutgers
A-Dyson Williams, Duke
A-Scott Cole, Lehigh
A-Owen Hiltz, Syracuse
A-Nick DeMaio, Towson
A-Garrett Degnon, John Hopkins
A-Jake Taylor, Notre Dame
A-Levi Anderson, St. Joseph;s
A-Ryan Bell, Providence
A-Aidan Carroll, Georgetown
A-Dalton Young, Richmond
M-Devon McLane, Notre Dame
M-Hunter Drouin, Colgate
M-Jacob Morin, Army
M-Mac Costin, Penn State
M-Eric Spanos, Maryland
M-Sam English, Syracuse
M-Hugh Kelleher, Cornell
M-Lance Madonna, Richmond
SSDM-Casey Wilson, Denver
SSDM-Marquez White, Princeton
SSDM-Connor Cmiel, Ohio State
LSM-Roy Meyer, Boston University
LSM-Ben Wayer, Virginia
LSM-AJ Mercurio, Denver
LSM-Max Yates, Colgate
FO-Will Lynch, Notre Dame
FO-Jake Naso, Duke
FO-Machado Rodriguez, Yale
FO-Brady Wambach, North Carolina
FO-Nate Laliberte, Bryant
FO-Mason Kohn, Syracuse
D-Jackson Bonitz, Navy
D-Richard Checo, Lehigh
D-Marcus Hudgins, Ohio State
D-Colin Mulshine, Princeton
D-Ty Banks, Georgetown
D-Colby Barsz, Towson
D-Alex Ross, Penn State
D-Levi Verch, St. Joseph's
D-Chris Conlin, Notre Dame
D-Patrick Morrison, Boston University
G-Michael Gianforcaro, Princeton
G-Will Mark, Syracuse
G-Anderson Moore, Georgetown
G-Kevin Ellington, Delaware
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