Third Time's The Charm: Notre Dame Finally Breaks Through, Are Your 2023 College Lacrosse National Champions
This is the play. The play that defined the game for Notre Dame. The play that defined their entire program. It wasn't a goal. It wasn't a highlight reel one-hand behind-the-back. It was a pair of brothers going to work, doing all the little things it takes to win a championship. A simple man-ball. First man throws the body, second man makes sure to pick up a tough ground ball to save a possession.
That's what the Kavanagh family does. And because of that, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are 2023 National Champions. Pat Kavanagh seemingly played the last month of the season on one leg. But as he mentioned after the game, "it was just a little hamstring injury"
I'd be surprised if Chris Kavanagh even knows what year it is with some of the hits that he took over the past few games. They're tough. They play the game the right way. But they're also really fucking nasty at the sport of lacrosse.
2 goals and an assist on the day for Chris Kavanagh. Just a single assist for Pat Kav, but that's just because his left leg is about as useful as a VCR right now. Two brothers getting the job done in the City of Brotherly Love. What's there to not love about that?
And even though the Kavanagh brothers are the story of the season, Liam Entenmann was the story of the day. Because holy shit was this freak dialed in the cage for Notre Dame all day.
18 saves on the day. Massive stop after massive stop. And he made a Duke offense that had been killing teams all season long look pedestrian. Duke played arguably their worst half of lacrosse this season in the first half of this game. But most of that is because Chris Fake dominated his matchup against Brennan O'Neill in the first half, and Liam Entenmann read every single shot he saw like it was a Harry Potter.
Tough ground balls and timely scoring on the offensive side of the field. Big time stops and massive saves on the other. You don't need to know a single thing about lacrosse to know that's a decent recipe to win a ball game.
We'll have more to wrap up the season with another episode of The Crease Dive coming up later tonight. But what a way to close out another incredible year of college lax. You'd have to be a buffoon to not love moments like this.