In the NCAA men’s lacrosse championship game on May 27, 2024, at 05:25 PM ET, Notre Dame won its second consecutive title by defeating Maryland. The top-seeded Irish scored 15 goals to Maryland’s five, with Chris Kavanagh leading the way with five goals and his brother Pat contributing with six assists. This victory was Notre Dame’s second in program history and made them the first team to win back-to-back titles in consecutive seasons since Duke achieved the feat in 2014.
Only nine teams in history have won consecutive titles, with Virginia being the most recent in 2019 and 2021 after the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this game, Maryland played in the championship for the 17th time but struggled to keep up with Notre Dame’s dominance.
The Kavanagh brothers played a key role in Notre Dame’s early momentum. In the first quarter, Pat recorded two assists as Notre Dame responded by scoring five of the last six goals. Chris Kavanagh then scored a hat trick during the second quarter as Notre Dame established a 10-3 lead. The Irish continued their dominance by scoring four more goals in the second half to lead 14-4 before finishing with a final score of 15-5.
Notre Dame’s midfielders were instrumental in their success throughout the game, contributing six goals to help reach double-digit scoring in every game of the season. Goalkeeper Liam Entenmann recorded an impressive 16 saves, marking his eleventh double-digit save performance of the season. Overall, Notre Dame allowed only five goals and tied a program record for fewest goals allowed in an NCAA tournament game while their margin of victory ranked as one of their largest ever.
