The No. 9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse team returned to Arlotta Stadium on Saturday afternoon to host the Virginia Cavaliers. Following last week’s disappointing 14-9 defeat to Syracuse at the packed JMA Wireless Dome, the Irish (5-3, 1-1 ACC) were in desperate need of a crucial ACC win as they travel to league-best North Carolina next weekend.
After qualifying for three Final Fours in the last four seasons, which included a national championship in 2021, the Cavaliers are experiencing a down year following the departures of the program’s all-time leading goal scorer Payton Cormier and Connor Shellenberger, the 2021 Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Entering play at just 5-6 overall and winless in ACC play, Virginia was also in dire need of an ACC win with the four-team conference tournament just a few weeks away.
While still ranked in the top 10 nationally, 40th-year head coach Kevin Corrigan’s Irish have also been a bit down from the prior two season’s consecutive national championships. With eight preseason top-50 players, Notre Dame entered the year ranked No. 1, but lost back-to-back one-goal games to No. 6 Maryland and No. 2 Ohio State in early March. A win against the Hoos would all but lock up a spot in the postseason for the Irish, keeping the hope for a three-peat alive.
With beautiful sunny skies and a large crowd on campus following the annual Blue-Gold spring football game, Arlotta Stadium was sold out and buzzing as senior midfielder Ben Ramsey led the Irish out with bagpipes for the nationally televised game. Over 5,000 fans were treated to an ugly first half, with just six first-half goals and a tied 3-3 game heading into the intermission.
Graduate attacker Jake Taylor and senior midfielder Jalen Seymour scored for the Irish in the first three minutes of the game, but Virginia answered strongly with a 3-0 run to claim its first advantage. Senior attacker Chris Kavanagh added a man-up goal late in the first half to level matters for Notre Dame before the break.
Momentum wouldn’t swing either direction until roughly 10 minutes into the third frame, with the game now sitting at a 4-4 tie. Junior netminder Thomas Ricciardelli made a nice save in the crease before delivering a well-timed outlet pass to Ramsey, who carried up the field and slotted home his first goal of the season to ignite the Irish faithful.
Notre Dame didn’t look back from there, as Kavanagh and Taylor both added impressive individual goals within the next two minutes to seize momentum and make the score 7-4. Taylor’s second goal of the match, which came off an over-the-shoulder shot from his knees, was ranked No. 7 on ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10 plays of the day.
To cap off the push, Seymour tallied his second of the day with just 10 seconds remaining in the period. Notre Dame would continue to dominate throughout the majority of the fourth, with goals from midfielders freshman Matt Jeffery, junior Christian Alacqua and graduate Devon McLane to capitalize the 7-0 run and make it 11-4 with three minutes to play.
All told, the Irish would walk away with a crucial 12-7 victory to move to 6-3 and 2-1 on the season. Ricciardelli stopped 13 shots and recorded his 100th save of the season, while Kavanagh led the group with three points in the win.
Following their third consecutive loss, the Cavaliers will return to Charlottesville to host Lafayette before closing out the season with No. 12 Duke in a game that will determine the final spot in the ACC Tournament.
The Irish will now make the trip to Chapel Hill to do battle with the No. 7 North Carolina Tar Heels, with the top two seeds in the conference tournament still up for grabs. Notre Dame will then return home the following weekend for Senior Day against the Penn Quakers. Saturday’s showdown with North Carolina is set for a noon faceoff, with coverage on ESPNU.
