NOT born to run, Liam Entenmann continues to ascend for No. 1 Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Liam Entenmann’s evolution into men’s college lacrosse’s top goalie was hardly rooted in inspiration.

In fact, it was a matter of outright avoidance.

“I just really didn’t like running,” the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Notre Dame grad student revealed matter-of-factly earlier this week of why he gravitated to that position, as the No. 1-seeded Irish (12-1) were prepping to start defense of their 2023 national title Sunday at Arlotta Stadium.

But he loved lacrosse, a sport his father, Bill, an uncle and five cousins have or are playing at the college level. He just wanted to forge his own path, however turbulent it might turn out to be along the way.

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And it has been at times, even though this past week he became just the third goalie in the 24-year history of the Tewaaraton Award — lacrosse’s version of the Heisman Trophy — to be named a finalist and would be the first to actually take it home, should he beat out teammate and three-time finalist Pat Kavanagh, 2023 winner Brennan O’Neill of Duke, and two others when the winner is announced on May 30.

“My dad was a midfielder [at Fordham], and he kind of wanted me to follow in his footsteps, I think,” Entenmann said. “When I told him I wanted to be a goalie, at first he was pretty reluctant. But he eventually supported it, and I’m really happy he was able to be supportive of it.

“It’s been a great ride, hopefully more. More memories to come.”

The next opportunity for a special one will come in Entenmann’s final game at Arlotta, when the Irish face Wednesday play-in winner Albany (10-7) Sunday at 5 p.m. EDT (ESPNU) in an NCAA first-round game.

The winner advances to a May 18 quarterfinal matchup in Hempstead, N.Y., a 20-minute drive from Entenmann’s Long Island hometown of Lookout Point. The semis and finals are May 25 and 27 in Philadelphia.

“I’ve played probably in Hempstead a handful of times in club tournaments, but never a crowd that we would have if we do advance out of the first round,” Entenmann said. “It’s a very exciting thing to think about. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it.

“I’m also very aware of the fact that in order to get there, in order to achieve that dream of playing in the quarterfinals at Hofstra — which is something every Long Island kid dreams of — we’ve got to get past a very good Albany team, and a conference champion, first. So, we’re still very focused on them.”

Focus is one of the reasons why the 2023 NCAA Championships Most Outstanding Player ascended to be such a force.

“Let’s not kid ourselves,” ND coach Kevin Corrigan said. “He came to us as a very talented kid. We thought clearly he was the best goalie in the class when we recruited him and expected him to be a very good college goalie. He’s become more than that.

“And that’s just a testament to his hard work and [assistant coach] Chris Wojcik has been working with him for four years. It’s consistency of the coaching. It’s not overcoaching. He’s so talented. He knows the position better than anybody, so keep it simple for him and keep trying to slowly layer on the little nuances that he can improve at.

“But it’s his pride in his craft. It’s his drive and his kind of loyalty and commitment to his teammates. He feels a huge responsibility, because that position can be that way. And I think those things drive him every day, so that even now, he’s still trying to get better every day.”

Getting better was a challenge, though, early in Entenmann’s college career. He started the first five games of that season in goal, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and wiped out the rest of the season for every college team.

Back in Long Island, staying sharp — let alone developing — took some creativity.

“The [COVID] rules were very strict in New York,” he said. “I didn’t really have access to the gym, didn’t go to the park too much. So, honestly, my daily routine was just doing jump rope on my back porch, doing some hand-eye drills, some ladder drills and some wall ball.

“It was very simple, but I kind of learned that you don’t really need too much equipment as a goalie. You just kind of need a few things, a few square feet of space, and you’re able to get some work done. That’s kind of what my daily routine looked like. Go outside and get some work in.”

And when he wasn’t working outside, he was working inside — at two local restaurants.

“I was a busboy and a delivery boy,” he said. “And that was good for lacrosse too, because it keeps reiterating work ethic and things like that.”

The next jarring step along the way came at the end of the 2022 season, when the Irish got left out of the NCAA Tournament field, despite winning their last six games of that season and being ranked No. 4 nationally in the final regular-season poll.

“That was a pretty tough thing to deal with,” Entenmann said, “but it taught us not to take these opportunities for granted, to make the most of the opportunity and try to come out on top.”

The Irish did just that in 2023, ripping through the NCAA field as the No. 3 seed and beating top-seeded Duke in the finals, 13-9, with Entenmann amassing 18 saves.

He’s ninth in the nation in save percentage this season (.563) and fourth in goals-against average (9.34) while facing a disproportionate number of the nation’s top scoring offenses and each of the nation’s top three individual goal scorers — including No. 1 Payton Cormier of Virginia ... twice.

Entenmann is coming off a 12-save performance against Duke, this year’s No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tourney, in a 16-6 Irish romp over the Blue Devils in Sunday ACC Tournament Championship Game in Charlotte, N.C.

“I think developing the mental game is really important,” Entenmann said. “I mean, it’s just as important as the physical game, as a goalie. Just being very mentally sound and not getting flustered when things don’t go your way.

“Being able to hit the reset button after every shot — either that you save or it goes in or anything in between. And I think those two things have helped get me to where I’m at. Obviously, I’m not a finished product and still have a lot of improving to do.”

The allure that brought former Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner back to Notre Dame this semester was the pursuit of an ND degree.

With the collateral hope of reawakening a dream of playing lacrosse at a high level that Buchner abandoned in high school as his football prowess blossomed.

Suddenly the junior, who spent last summer and this past football season as a backup QB at Alabama, might just have a future in lacrosse.

And a bright present as well.

“He’s been playing a lot for the last three or four games,” Corrigan said, “and it couldn’t be more timely. But he earned it. It wasn’t just something where we decided, ‘Hey, let’s just give him a run.’ We’ve kind of been watching him come on and get more comfortable.”

Buchner’s impact has been on defense, though he does have one assist to his credit while playing in seven of ND’s 13 games this season.

Notre Dame’s current Notre Dame football crossover, freshman Jordan Faison, has been an outright force since day one, scoring the first goal of the Irish season and heading into the NCAA Tourney fifth in the team in both points (26) and goals scored (18).

That’s after focusing purely on football as a wide receiver during the ND men’s lacrosse team’s fall workouts.

“Unlike Jordan, Tyler Buchner wasn’t nine months removed from the sport. It was five years since he played any serious lacrosse,” Corrigan said. “So, he had a much bigger runway than Jordan in terms of what he needed to get caught up on.

“And I couldn’t be more pleased with how hard he’s worked and how good a teammate he’s been when he was not playing at all. And now that he’s playing, he’s just a guy you want on your team, in your locker room and on the field for you.”

Faison, recruited to ND primarily for lacrosse, was converted to a football scholarship once he played in his first college game, Oct. 7 at Louisville. His younger brother, Dylan, plans to double up too at ND when he arrives in 2026, though he’ll be a football scholarship player from the start.

Corrigan wasn’t surprised at how impactful Jordan Faison has been, but he was taken aback and how quickly that impact came.

“Obviously, we knew athletically where he was, having watched him the last few years in high school,” he said. “So, we saw what he could do. But there wasn’t any special tutoring needed. There wasn’t any special catch-up work that he had to do. He came in kind of whistle-ready in the first week.”

And now?

“He’s got a really good shot, really fast shot,” Entenmann offered, having faced Faison in practice daily. “He’s an incredible athlete. He’s been a great addition to the team — great guy on the field, certainly a great guy off the field, great guy to have in the locker room. Nothing bad to say about Jordan. He’s been great.”

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