2024 NCAA Lacrosse Preview: No. 1 Notre Dame (Men)

NO. 1 NOTRE DAME 2023

Record: 14-2 (4-2, ACC)
Final Ranking (2023): No. 1
Head Coach: Kevin Corrigan
Assistants: Ryan Wellner, Chris Wojcik, Ryder Garnsey

The wait is over. After years of being good, but not good enough — including national runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2014 — Notre Dame won its first NCAA championship last season. Can the Irish do it again?

The roster is certainly built for another run at glory. As one coach put it, “Look at those rosters and tell me why it shouldn’t be Notre Dame and Duke in the championship game again?”

Notre Dame is indeed loaded with both experience — 14 graduate students and 11 seniors — and talent — five returning All-Americans.

“Individually, when you have guys like Liam Entenmann, the returning first-team All-American goalie, that always makes you sleep a little better,” head coach Kevin Corrigan said.

Entenmann, a starter since the moment he stepped on campus, already has 32 victories to his name. Entenmann was at his best under the bright lights, making a season-high 18 stops in the 13-9 championship game victory over Duke.

The biggest question for the Irish is how they deal with the loss of graduate students Chris Fake and Brian Tevlin. The Yale transfers played an integral role in the championship — Fake as a shutdown defender and Tevlin as a do-it-all middie. Those two will not easily be replaced.

TOP RETURNERS

Eric Dobson, M, Sr. (34G, 11A)
Liam Entenmann, G, Gr. (57.0 SV%, 9.55 GAA)
Pat Kavanagh, A, Gr. (25G, 52A)

Entenmann has one end of the field locked down, and the Irish attack can more than hold its own on the other end. Pat Kavanagh has the measurables — 221 points in his career and breaking the school’s single season assist record three times — and the immeasurables, like playing with an infectious swagger and toughness. His brother, Chris, led the Irish with 46 goals last year, and Jake Taylor’s story continued with a career-high 30 goals, including 12 in the NCAA tournament.

KEY ADDITIONS

Jake Bonomi, M, Gr. (13G, 2A at Michigan)
Jordan Faison, M, Fr. (Three-time All-American at Pine Crest, Fla.)
Devon McLane, A/M, Gr. (28G, 23A at Brown)

With so much returning talent, there aren’t a lot of openings for playing time, but Jake Bonomi brings valuable experience from Michigan. Breakout football star Jordan Faison (MVP of the Sun Bowl) will be one of the freshmen competing for playing time along with Brock Behrman, Andrew Greenspan and Shawn Lyght.

The “can’t-wait-to-see player” is Brown transfer Devon McLane. McLane was largely idle for two COVID seasons in Providence and then broke out with 71 points in 2022. Last year, he had 51 points in just 10 games. Ivy coaches feared him, and now he could easily light up the scoreboard at Arlotta.

NOTABLE DEPARTURES

Graduations: Jose Boyer, LSM; Chris Fake, D; Quinn McCahon, M; Jack Simmons, M; Brian Tevlin, M; Griffin Westlin, A/M

X-FACTOR

Ben Ramsey, SSDM, Jr.

Ramsey is hardly a breakout candidate. He earned third-team All-America honors last year and is a preseason first-team All-America pick by USA Lacrosse Magazine, and he’s key to the Irish defense. He had 22 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers last season, and as a third-year regular, he will give experience where Notre Dame needs it most.

He also emerged as an offensive threat in transition last year, scoring seven goals. Four of those came in the final six games of the season, including one in the semifinal victory over Virginia.

THE NARRATIVE

Goaltending and faceoffs — the key to any lacrosse championship. Entenmann took care of the first of equation, but what about the second part?

Heading into the tournament, the Irish were winning just 44.1 percent of their draws, by far the glaring weakness on a roster loaded with talent.

You wouldn’t have known that by the end of May. Despite facing some top-flight specialists in its four victories, Notre Dame won 60 of 107 faceoffs (56 percent) in the NCAA tournament. That upped its season winning percentage to 46.9, an improvement over 2022.

Corrigan is ready to be better.

“I’d feel better if for the third straight year you weren’t saying, ‘Hey, improved on faceoffs,’” Corrigan said. “I’d feel better if you said, ‘Well, you guys were really good facing off last year.’ That’s kind of the goal we’re trying to get to, but we haven’t gotten there yet.”

Colin Hagstrom and Will Lynch have shared the primary duties the last two years and will have the benefit of experience. Greenspan was one of the top-rated faceoff specialists in his class and was a three-year starter at national power Brunswick School (Conn.).

That trio could easily turn the faceoff unit into a strength.

ENEMY LINES

“Their defense turned when they let Chris Fake just do his thing. How do they replace him? I hear the world about Tevlin, they’re going to miss his leadership.”

BEYOND THE BASICS 
POWERED BY LACROSSE REFERENCE

Notre Dame’s defense finished as the top-ranked opponent-adjusted defense in the country on its way to the program’s first national championship. The numbers reveal a defensive strategy that thrived on pressure and disruption. In 11 games against comparable competition, there were 8 games in which Notre Dame’s opponents had an assist-to-turnover ratio below 0.71. They won all 8 games. Their record when the opposing assist-to-turnover ratio was above 0.71? 1-2.

Lacrosse Reference Glossary