'We let it get away from us': Notre Dame men's lacrosse processes season-ending collapse

Chris Kavanagh didn’t have much to say after Notre Dame men’s lacrosse fell to No. 5 Penn State on Sunday in the NCAA quarterfinal, ending his college career.

After a game like that, in which the Irish blew a 12-6 lead, allowed 8 unanswered goals and failed to score for the final 20 minutes and 56 seconds, there’s really nothing to say.

“They went into a zone, and we kind of just stayed stagnant on the outside and didn’t generate any offense,” Kavanagh said after the game. “Gave them life.”

ESPN play-by-play announcer Anish Shroff called it “one of the greatest comebacks in the history of this NCAA Tournament,” sending Penn State to the Final Four against No. 1 Cornell and halting Notre Dame’s bid for a third-straight national title. The Nittany Lions escaped Annapolis, Md. with a 14-12 win.

There was no way to spin it, and no word to call it but a collapse. During the six-minute postgame press conference, Kavanagh, fellow senior Ben Ramsey and head coach Kevin Corrigan could only acknowledge the disappointing end.

“We didn’t play well,” Corrigan said. “We didn’t do the things that we normally do well. And we let it get away from us.”

Kavanagh was right that the Irish couldn’t figure out Penn State’s zone, and with staples of the two championship like midfielder Eric Dobson gone, they couldn’t shoot their way out of it from the outside. Notre Dame had to rely on passing and dodging toward the net, and the Nittany Lions stifled it with their zone.

However, the Irish did create two point-blank opportunities late. Kavanagh set up junior midfielder Max Busenkell in front of the crease with no one around him, and his shot hit the side of net. Later, junior midfielder Will Maharas had the same situation off a pass from graduate student midfielder Devon McLane. He missed, too.

Notre Dame had a two-goal deficit with 6:04 to go, and it never generated so much as a shot on goal from that point on.

“Our zone offense was not good today, but I mean, shoot, the last two possessions, we had layups with nobody on the guy,” Corrigan said. “You can’t create anything better than that. … We had chances. We just didn’t shoot the ball well.”

Defensively, the Irish put sophomore Nate Schwitzenberg on Penn State’s best player, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Matt Traynor — as opposed to ACC Co-Defensive Player and first-team All-American Shawn Lyght. Traynor wound up with 13 goals on 6 shots.

Corrigan said Notre Dame thought about changing the matchup, but he ultimately felt like it wouldn’t have made a difference.

“Some of his [goals] were already off of picks and changes in matchups and stuff like that,” Corrigan said. “So it’s not like he was just dominating Schwitzenberg. … At the end of the day, it’s not like they were saying, ‘Hey, pull 27 [Schwitzenberg] out in space and we’re gonna take him to the rack.’ They just got ’em out of good offense.”

Notre Dame’s defense as a whole was nowhere near good enough, though, from the six-minute mark of the third quarter to the six-minute mark of the fourth. Traynor and the Nittany Lions were breaking into the crease and scoring with impunity.

The Irish didn’t get tired. But they did let their foot off the gas.

“I think we just relaxed,” Ramsey said. “We got too comfortable. Didn’t stay down on the things we do well, sliding well, like Coach said. They were going all-in, dodging well, and we just weren’t responding well or reading that well.”

Sunday was the last gasp for Kavanagh, Ramsey and the majority of the core that won back-to-back national titles for the Irish. Pat Kavanagh, Chris’ brother, Dobson and goalie Liam Entenmann left after 2024, while Taylor, Will Lynch and Devon McLane saw their eligibility expire in Annapolis.

“It’s been the greatest honor to be on this team,” Ramsey said. “It’s definitely been a special run, but it hurts to end this way.”