A Notre Dame team looking to make history – becoming the first team to win the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship in consecutive calendar years since Duke a decade ago – was looking down the barrel of the wrong side of history halfway through its opening round game against UAlbany.
No top-seeded team has ever lost in the first round of the NCAA men’s tournament, but UAlbany led No. 1 Notre Dame 5-4 at the half before the Irish rallied in the second half for a 14-9 victory.
The Irish jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, but UAlbany took advantage of a three-minute targeting penalty on Notre Dame’s Carter Parlette following a goal by UAlbany’s Parker Emmett midway through the second quarter.
The Great Danes were able to cash in twice during the extended penalty with Amos Whitcomb and Ryan Doherty scoring to tie the game 4-4.
UAlbany was entirely comfortable on the big stage as evidenced by Silas Richmond hitting Doherty on a behind-the-back pass that Doherty scored with just seven seconds left in the half to give the Great Danes a 5-4 lead.
The Irish almost tied it right back up, but Chris Kavanagh’s outside rip from the left wing came just after the halftime buzzer and was wiped off the scoreboard following a video review to keep the Great Danes in front.
“They’re a a great team,” said Notre Dame midfielder Devon McLane on a postgame interview on ESPNU. “They came out with a lot of energy, and we had some trouble matching that in the opening 30. [We] went into the locker room, went back to our fundamentals – consistency, and were able to have a strong second half and do what we do well.”
Notre Dame forced a shot clock violation on UAlbany to open the second half and then after an initial save by UAlbany freshman goalie Landon Whitney, the Great Danes were unable to clear the ball and Kavanagh took advantage of the extra possession to tie the game.
That was all the momentum the Irish needed. Max Busenkell wrapped around the crease and scored just 47 seconds later and McLane stretched the lead to 7-5 after taking the ball at midfield, running past the defense and then cutting to the middle of the field for the goal.
Pat Kavanagh closed the four-goal run with 6:57 left in the third quarter to give Notre Dame an 8-5 lead.
UAlbany’s Graydon Hogg stopped the run just 50 seconds later to keep the Great Danes close, but Notre Dame answered with three more and brought the victory home.
