The Notre Dame Fighting Irish beat the Maryland Terrapins 15-5 on Monday to win their second straight national championship. In Pat Kavanagh and Liam Entenmann’s final college game, the Irish dominated after Maryland took an early 2-0 lead.
The Irish defence was dominant, allowing 11 total goals in the final four. Amazingly, this was not a record. The 2012 Loyola Greyhounds allowed just 8 goals in the final four.
The offence finished the season as the best unit in the nation, and has to be one of the deepest we have ever seen.
There was not a whole lot to say about the game, but there was much to say about the season, these teams, and the experience of championship weekend.
1. Notre Dame Played Everybody
There are too many platitudes that can be used to describe the Notre Dame fighting Irish. My favourite one here is the strength of schedule.
Going by the most recent Inside Lacrosse poll to end the season, Notre Dame played ten games this season against the next seven highest ranked teams country. They won all those games except for one, with a combined scoring margin of 50 goals.
The third team in the poll was Virginia. The Irish beat them twice, by a combined 11 goals.
They beat Denver by 5 goals.
They beat Duke twice, by a combined 13 goals.
They beat Syracuse by 2 goals.
The Georgetown Hoyas got them in February, but the Irish responded with a 5 goal victory in the NCAA tournament that should have been a lot more.
They were the best team the whole year, there is no debate. They are worthy champions.
2. A Small Adjustment But Big Difference
I saw some folks asking about this on twitter, so wanted to point out a very smart adjustment by Notre Dame. They had Nick Harris (SSDM) play attack on faceoffs. Why? It was in order to limit the damage that Maryland could inflict on fastbreaks. Will Lynch would try to push Luke Wierman backwards, then Harris could quickly scramble back to the defensive side of the field.
Even on possessions where Maryland won the ball, Notre Dame played just well enough in the unsettled situation, and because they had already subbed Lynch at the midfield line, they had all their defensive personnel on the field.
This is an example. You can see Lynch stop at the midfield line and Harris runs in. They play good defence for a few seconds, then they’re all square and ready to play even strength.
By limiting the unsettled and early offence, the Irish controlled the tempo and avoided easy goals against. That pushed Maryland’s chances from slim to none.
3. A Note on Adaptability
Coaches Kevin Corrigan and John Tillman have won the last three national championships, and obviously met in the finals this year. By now, the lacrosse world knows how great they are as coaches and people, but there is an angle that I wanted to highlight.
I had the privilege to play for Coach Tillman in 2022. My prior experiences watching Maryland lacrosse suggested a team and coaching staff that wanted to slow down the ball, limit turnovers, and grind out games. In 2017, they played at a very slow pace on route to a national championship victory. Some of the readers of this will remember that era and probably have strong feelings about it. People didn’t love the style, but could not deny the effectiveness.
I think it’s fair to say that Notre Dame played a similar style in those years.
When I got to Maryland, I could not believe the willingness by the staff to let players take risks, particularly in transition. The college game had changed during my college career, and the shot clock changed the game. Depth was more important, risk assessment could be different early in possessions, and the pace of the game had changed. The transfer portal also changed how college sports work.
Despite the success that coach Tills and Maryland had playing the grind it out style, he adjusted when the rules changed. He adopted a positionless motion offence and emphasized early offence and sub-games. Every player on our team had the green light, including and especially the defensive personnel.
When I watched this Notre Dame team, I felt the same way. While the Irish formerly thrived on stifling teams and dominating the ball, this Irish team was full throttle all the time. They maximized the strengths (both skills and intangibles) of the brothers Kavanagh and Liam Entenmann. They ran past everyone, played three midfield lines, and were as creative and well coached as any.
Both of these coaches are examples in this regard. Despite all the success they’ve had, they had the humility to change, to adapt, and to learn new ways to do things. They recruited players who were designed for the modern game and unleashed them. If the rules changed tomorrow, I’m sure both staffs would get hard at work in figuring out their best chance to win.
History would suggest that they would be successful.
4. ROPE Units Get Paid
It’s hard to draw conclusions about trends in the game when teams like Notre Dame. They had the best attack line, the best goalie, the best first, second, and third midfield lines, and one of the best close defensive units.
But I wanted to focus on the ROPE unit, which for those unaware is the group made of short stick defensive midfielders and long-stick midfielders. My theory is that the team with the best ROPE unit has won the national championship an awful lot in recent years. Now, obviously these teams were all great for many reasons, but I think defensive midfield play is more important now than ever.
There are some obvious answers. The 2012 Loyola Greyhounds went 18-1 on the strength of their rope play. LSM Scott Ratliff and Josh Hawkins led the way for one of the most dominant teams of the decade.
Our 2022 Maryland team had 4 SSDM’s who were all graduate students, and all currently play in the PLL. LSM John Geppert was a mere Senior and also plays in the PLL. Backup LSM Owen Prybylski was a former all-conference team member at Villanova and also a graduate student.
Last year’s Notre Dame team included Brian Tevlin, plus all the beauties they still had this year. If it wasn’t the best unit in the nation, it was pretty close.
Virginia won their back to back titles on the back of Jared Conners, the midfielder of the year as an LSM. He was the linchpin of a ten-man ride and style of play that defined Virginia lacrosse and lacrosse nationally for many years.
The 2024 Irish were certainly in the conversation for the best unit in the nation. Junior Ben Ramsay is an absolute animal, and set the tone for the group. Carter Parlette was a PLL Training Camp invite by the Cannons and was continually referenced as a player whom was loved by teammates and coaches. Nick Harris played attack on faceoffs (a very smart strategy by the Irish) and sniped a goal in the semi finals.
Tyler Buchner played a lot in the final four. In case you weren’t already aware, he was the former Quarterback at both Notre Dame and Alabama.
Will Donovan was on a short list for best Long Stick Midfielders in the country.
If there was one storyline that really dominated this game, it was the dominance of the ND midfielders on both ends. Maryland had to slide to all three lines, and the Irish barely had to slide to anyone. At least for this year, it appears my theory held up.
5. Passing the Torch
Much has been made of the exodus of talent this year in college lacrosse, and I think much of the attention has fallen on the three ACC attackmen leaving the collegiate game in O’Neill, Shellenberger, and Kavangh. But there are players ready to take the throne, with names like Kirst, Spallina, and Mackesy.
But what is less discussed is the exodus of defensive players. Ajax Zappitello won the Enners award and has been in the conversation for defensemen in the country for years. Kenny Brower of Duke, AJ Pilate of Army, Jake Piseno of UAlbany, and Mason Woodward of Marquette have all been in the conversation.
This was obviously the end of the road for Zapitello, one of the very best I have ever seen play at the position. Pat Kavanagh had 5 assists which will spoil an otherwise otherworldly defensive run in the tournament. Obviously there is only so much one man can do in stopping assists.
So who will the next great one be? Well, he might have also played in this one.
Shawn Lyght is as good as I have seen in college lacrosse this year, and he was just a freshman. He is so big and strong, but has the ability to drop his hips and play against the shiftiest guys out there. It’s hard for a national champion to take a big step forward, and Lyght was a big part of it. By taking Chris Fake’s spot, he allowed the other defenders to thrive in their roles. The Irish rarely got beat but showed impressive communication and support when needed.
Lyght joins fellow ACC freshman John Schroter (Virginia) as perhaps the two best returning defenders in the country, and both have three years remaining. Their growth will be fun to watch.
6. A Minor Nit-Pick
I did have one nit-pick from the game, and from the whole of championship weekend. The NCAA is seemingly the only league in the world where the trophy is handed to someone on the team immediately as time is expiring. Then someone is just awkwardly holding the trophy while the team is still in pandemonium. Here it is for the men.
And the women.
I don’t understand this. I think they should gather after the handshake and after the opposing team leaves the field. Like all great trophies, it should be handed to the captains, who then should hand it to whoever they choose. I would love to see which Irish player the team picked first. Or which staffer, coach, or other team member.
But instead, it’s just part of the moshpit for some reason. I think it’s a missed opportunity to really capture the emotions of hoisting that trophy, and I think it would be much better on television if they slowed it down.
This is totally small, very unimportant, and maybe readers will disagree with me. If so, comment below. But that’s my two cents.
7. The Tip of the Spear
The 2024 Irish were a spear. Entenmann and the defensive group formed the shaft of the spear. Without the stability they provided, the whole operation wouldn’t have worked.
Will Lynch and the Rope unit provided the connective materials that joined the metal to the wood.
The ridiculous depth of the offensive midfield formed the head of the weapon. They were so deep, and had so many diverse skill sets. Faison was the lightning, Dobson was the thunder. McLane out-scored both. The second line was aggressive and efficient. The third line scored twice in the national championship game.
But the Kavanagh’s (and running mate Jake Taylor) were the tip of the spear. On Monday, they were sharp. Pat ended with 5 assists. Chris had 6 goals. Everything they did was decisive, aggressive, and precise.
Without this sharpness, the weapon wouldn’t have worked at peak efficiency. With it, the Irish were lethal.
Their play led to one of the great videos in lacrosse history.
And it ended another great season of college lacrosse. The Irish slogan is “Play Like a Champion Today.”
Yesterday, and all season, they did just that.
Great article. Thank u
Thanks for reading William!
Loved the article.
Thanks for reading Joseph!
This was a great article. I’m a Maryland boy through and through so watching the game was tough but good grief was it awesome. Notre Dame was a powerhouse. It was incredibe to watch.
Thanks for reading Aaron!
Great analysis. Didn’t notice the ND changes made at X during the Championship game but clearly a great move and a great show of respect to Weirman. ND just had all the answers all year.
Hopefully the Terps can win it next year
Thanks Pete!
Jon,
I’m a terp alum (and wish you still had eligibility) and despite the game result, that was an excellent read and great analysis. Keep pumping out more content, there is a plenty of room for thoughtful/descriptive writing in the lacrosse space (or any area actually)!
Thanks BC!
Others have already said it, but great job on this piece. Keep up the excellent journalism!
Thanks Fernando!