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Notre Dame

At it again: Notre Dame men's lacrosse dominates Ohio State in NCAA Tournament

IMG_9992by: Tyler Horka05/11/25tbhorka
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Notre Dame attackman Jake Taylor. (Photo courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics)

Notre Dame found itself in unusual territory Sunday. Geographically — Columbus, Ohio, instead of South Bend, Ind. Optically — a seeding number next to the Buckeyes’ name but none next to the Fighting Irish’s.

Didn’t matter.

It’s May. The usual result for back-to-back defending national champion Notre Dame at this time of year came to be no matter the geography, no matter the optics. And it came rather easily at that.

Unseeded Notre Dame beat No. 4 seed Ohio State, 15-6, in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament. The Irish (9-4) are moving on to face No. 5 seed Penn State next week. The Big Ten Champion Buckeyes (14-3) are staying home.

In the first meeting between Ohio State and Notre Dame this season, a 10-9 win for the Buckeyes in early March, the Irish lost the face off battle. The center dot is always where it all starts. Irish senior Will Lynch took that to heart Sunday. He won 17 of 23 face offs to give his team more opportunities than the home side, and the visitors made good on a good chunk of them.

With assists that don’t show up on the stat sheet to Lynch, Notre Dame’s top dogs showed up for him. Senior Tewaaraton Award finalist Chris Kavanagh had 2 goals and 2 assists in the first half to set the tone. He added another goal late in the fourth quarter. Graduate student net-front marksman Jake Taylor netted a hat trick plus an assist. Notre Dame spread goals around amongst eight other players, including dual-sport star Jordan Faison, in a well-balanced effort that echoed offensive onslaughts of old during recent runs through tournament time.

The Irish trailed 3-1 early but scored six straight goals in the second quarter and went into halftime with a 7-4 lead. Ohio State got the last goal of the first half and the first goal of the second half, trimming the Irish lead to two and giving local fans a lot to be optimistic about. It was all Notre Dame from there. The Irish scored the game’s next five goals in a spur similar to that of the second quarter to put it out of reach.

Dueling with one of the best goalies in the nation, Ohio State’s Caleb “Big Tasty” Fyock, Notre Dame’s own net minder, junior Thomas Ricciardelli, was outstanding. He made 15 saves and finished with a save percentage of .714. Fyock made 15 saves with a save percentage of .536.

When the national title teams of 2023 and 2024 rolled, they really rolled. And they were able to lean on phenomenal goaltending from Liam Entenmann. That’s exactly what this team did in enemy territory to begin another promising postseason — throttled Ohio State offensively and demoralized the Bucketes defensively.

With that, Notre Dame is moving on — again.

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