Notre Dame finally did it.
In its sixth appearance in the men's lacrosse Final Four and third appearance in the national championship game, Notre Dame won its first national title in program history.
Third-seeded Notre Dame completed its title run Monday with a 13-9 victory over top seed Duke at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
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The victory was a long time coming for Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan, the longest tenured men’s lacrosse coach in Division I. Corrigan, who took over the Irish program prior to the 1989 season, even suffered a loss in the 1980 national championship game as a player at Virginia.
That year the Cavaliers lost to Johns Hopkins in double overtime. So even though Corrigan has won 345 of his 519 games as a college head coach, he was all too familiar with the heartbreak of losing to end a season.
“I don't know how I'm supposed to feel right now,” Corrigan told reporters in the postgame press conference, “and I don't feel this crazy euphoria as much as just this contentment of being able to watch those guys celebrate on that field in this last game.”
The Irish dominated the first half with a 6-1 halftime lead. Duke scored on its first shot from Garrett Leadmon just 35 seconds into the game, but the Irish settled in nicely.
Notre Dame’s defensive effort limited the shots on goal to nine in the first half. Keeper Liam Entenmann saved eight of them on his way to saving a season-high 18 shots in the game.
But Duke responded with force in the third quarter to tie the game at 7 with 1:01 left in the quarter.
“We knew it was going to happen at some point, and it just happened to happen right when we came out of the tunnel at the second half,” Entenmann said of Duke’s rally. “But we were ready for it, and we knew we have to regroup as a unit and move forward and I thought we did a good job of that.”
Notre Dame regained control of the game with the next three goals, two of which came in the final minute of the third quarter from Brian Tevlin, the overtime hero in Saturday’s semifinal with the game-winning goal against No. 2 Virginia, and Chris Kavanagh, whose diving shot hit the net with less than a second remaining in the quarter.
Duke only pulled within two goals once more on an Owen Caputo goal with 8:51 left in the game. The Irish left no doubt with three more goals from Jack Simmons, Jake Taylor and Quinn McCahon.
McCahon, a Philadelphia-area product, was one of six Notre Dame players who scored two goals each to power the Irish attack. His first goal in the second quarter came from beyond midfield while Duke goalie William Helm was caught out of position. Tevlin, Kavanagh, Taylor, Eric Dobson and Jeffery Ricciardelli also scored two goals.
“To win a national championship, to be successful in that, you need secondary guys to step up, and that's exactly what happened,” said Pat Kavanagh, Notre Dame’s leading point-scorer (76) entering Monday.
Pat Kavanagh, a two-time finalist for the Tewaaraton Award given to the most outstanding Division I lacrosse player, fought through a leg injury in the final two games of the season. He was limited to just one assist in Monday’s championship game after tallying 25 goals and 51 assists in the first 15 games of the season.
“We have so much depth and so much confidence in everyone on our team,” Pat Kavanagh said. “Guys just making plays, guys just stepping up in big moments when we needed them. Yeah, was so happy for everyone for stepping up, and it was huge.”
The Kavanaghs have been impacting Notre Dame’s program since older brother Matt Kavanagh joined the Irish prior to the 2013 season. A national championship eluded Matt throughout his All-American career, but he was in Philadelphia to celebrate the feat accomplished by Pat and Chris on Monday.
“It started with Matt getting recruited by Coach Corrigan in like 2010 or 2011, making the trip to Long Island and Chaminade and our house a few times to watch him play,” said Pat Kavanagh. “It's been over a decade in the making.
"Me and Chris were this big when Matt was a freshman at Notre Dame. Making the trip out to South Bend every single weekend to watch him play, just so many memories. The best memories of my childhood were watching Matt play at Notre Dame.
“Winning it and then seeing my family is just so surreal. I don't think it's hit yet. I owe everything to them and for Coach Corrigan, as well, for taking a chance on me.”
The suffering of Notre Dame’s national championship drought, which began with the program's first season in 1981, included losses to Duke the previous five times the two teams met in the NCAA Tournament including the 2010 and 2014 national championship games. The Irish chased away their Blue Devil demons with a gritty performance that included a 14-10 advantage in faceoffs, a 37-36 advantage in groundballs and a 18-10 advantage on saves while being outshot 47-40 and outshot on goal 27-23.
“It's an incredible feeling,” said Entenmann, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. “I've been a Notre Dame fan my entire life. I'm not just saying that because I'm on Notre Dame now. I've truly been a Notre Dame fan my entire life.
“I remember seeing Coach before I committed here at some club tournaments and stuff, and I was star struck because that's the guy I always wanted to play for. And with being a Notre Dame fan came a lot of heartbreak in 2010, 2014, 2015. To be able to do it, to be the team to do it is incredible. It's an honor.
“Just looking up into the stands today and seeing Matt Kavanagh, seeing so many guys that helped build this program up to what it is and just shy of winning it all, and just to see them with tears in their eyes and huge smiles on their faces was — it's truly one of the best moments of my life to be honest with you.”
Notre Dame won’t return to campus to celebrate this week. The Irish team will be working a clinic in the Philadelphia suburbs Tuesday before leaving Wednesday for a 10-day trip to Germany.
“We're still in our hotel for the next two days and then flying to Germany,” Corrigan said. “Pretty great way to go out. Would have been a whole different experience had we lost today, but now I'm glad it all worked out well.”
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