There will be a lot of discussion tonight about the last team selected for the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship tournament field.
There will be no discussion about the top team in the field.
Reigning national champion Notre Dame completed an emphatic run through the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament with a 16-6 victory over last year’s national runner-up, and perhaps this year’s No. 2 seed, Duke.
Notre Dame, which dominated Virginia 18-9 in Friday’s semifinal round, scored the first five goals of the game and Duke never got closer than four the rest of the way. The Irish finished the way they started, scoring the final five goals of the game to put an exclamation point on a season sweep of the ACC regular and tournament championships.
Much as it did in its semifinal win over Virginia when 14 players scored goals, Notre Dame put on a display of offensive depth. Nine different players scored goals, led by Chris Kavanagh and Jake Taylor with hat tricks. Kavanagh added a pair of assists for a team-high five points.
JAKE TAYLOR. THE CRAFTIEST FINISHER IN LACROSSE. 🤙@NDlacrosse leading 9-4 thanks to this BTB. pic.twitter.com/cqbstltco0
— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) May 5, 2024
With Duke resting All-American faceoff specialist Jake Naso, Notre Dame’s Will Lynch controlled the dot, winning 15 of 21 in the game. Senior goalie Liam Entenmann was dominant with 12 saves.
Notre Dame (12-1) will enter the NCAA tournament having won 10 straight games.
Duke, which seemed to right the ship with a big 18-13 victory over Syracuse in the semifinals on Friday night, will enter the NCAA tournament having lost three of its last five games and going 4-4 in its final eight games.
Dyson Wlliams and Benn Johnston led the Blue Devils with two goals each. Williams now has 201 career goals, becoming just the ninth player in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse history to top 200 career goals. Brennan O’Neill had one goal and has 202 for his career, moving into a tie with Jared Bernhardt for seventh all-time.