PHILADELPHIA — Chris Kavanagh scored five goals, his brother Pat had six assists and top-seeded Notre Dame captured its second straight NCAA men's lacrosse championship, defeating Maryland 15-5 on Monday.
Notre Dame (16-1), which won its second title in program history, became the first program to win back-to-back championships in back-to-back seasons since Duke repeated in 2014. Only nine teams in history have accomplished the feat. Virginia won in 2019 and again in 2021 after the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maryland (11-6) was playing in the championship game for the 17th time in program history, trailing only Johns Hopkins with 18.
Maryland scored the first two goals before the Irish responded with five of the final six of the first quarter. All five Irish goals came from five different players, with two assists from Pat Kavanagh.
The Irish scored the first five goals of the second quarter to take a 10-3 lead before Maryland scored an extra goal to make it 10-4 at the half. Chris Kavanagh, named Most Outstanding Player, scored three straight goals in the second quarter for a hat trick in a six-minute span.
Notre Dame scored six goals from midfielders in the first half to help reach double figures in every game this season.
The Irish continued their dominance in the second half, scoring the first four goals to bring the score to 14-4 as Fisher Finley became Notre Dame's 10th different goal scorer.
Graduate student Liam Entenmann finished with 16 saves, his 11th double-digit save tally of the season.
The five goals allowed tied a program record for fewest in an NCAA Tournament, while the 10-goal margin ranks second for Notre Dame.
