Faceoff Excellence, Last Year's Snub Fuel Notre Dame in 20-7 Rout of Utah

It was sweet retribution for Notre Dame — and with no ill will directed toward its opponent, Utah, which was making its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.

Instead, the Irish were out to prove a point, a year-long revenge tour after last year’s NCAA tournament snub. It was all Irish from the jump, as Notre Dame handed Utah its worst loss of the campaign, 20-7.

It’s the ninth time this season that Notre Dame handed an opponent its worst loss of the spring. Notre Dame plays either Bryant or (6) Johns Hopkins in the NCAA quarterfinals next Sunday in Annapolis at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Jake Taylor scored five goals, Pat Kavanagh had three goals and three assists, and Reilly Gray had three goals. Liam Entenmann stopped 13 shots.

The Irish led 8-0 at the end of the first quarter. Pundits theorized that Utah would have a fighting chance against the Irish, ranked at or near the top nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense, because of what appeared to be an advantage at the faceoff dot.

Cole Brams entered the game 254-for-430 (59.1 percent) for Utah, whereas the combination of Colin Hagstrom and Will Lynch had combined to go 157-for-352 (44.6 percent). That statistical mismatch proved wholly irrelevant. Hagstrom (7-for-12) and Lynch (15-for-19) completed dominated the middle of the field, giving Notre Dame a 22-9 faceoff advantage that prevented Utah from getting on any prolonged runs.

The dominance was evident early. Notre Dame got the first faceoff, and Kavanagh’s shot was saved by Colin Lenskold. After Utah went down the other way and had its own shot saved by Entenmann, turnovers by both teams saw Notre Dame once again with possession. Gray buried the game’s first goal after a long possession, and then it became a track meet. Notre Dame won the next four faceoffs and capitalized on each win, taking a 5-0 lead.

The Notre Dame lead increased to 8-0, but the Irish surrendered the first three goals of the second quarter to the Utes. Just as Utah looked like it might be figuring things out, Notre Dame scored another eight straight for a 16-3 lead with 10:51 left in the third quarter.

JAKE TAYLOR
UTAH

Everything going right for @NDlacrosse, as it leads 12-3 at halftime. The Irish are leaving no doubt. pic.twitter.com/tg18PXTIPy

— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) May 13, 2023

That was 21:14 without a goal for Utah, which got back on the board when Jared Andreala scored with 5:33 left in the third quarter. It was far too late for Utah to make a comeback, though.

Notre Dame continued adding on, scoring 20 goals — the most for the program in an NCAA tournament game.