Notre Dame men’s lacrosse begins quest for three-peat: ‘This team hasn’t won anything’

Since the 21st century began, three Division I men’s lacrosse programs have won two consecutive national championships. None have won three.

Notre Dame has a chance to change that in 2025. But the Irish aren’t thinking about that.

“We kind of — not throw it out the door — but we just kind of realize this team hasn’t won anything,” sophomore defenseman Shawn Lyght said.

Lyght, whom Notre Dame believes might have been the nation’s best defenseman last season as a true freshman, is one of several reasons the Irish are the near-unanimous No. 1 team in the country. They received 21 of 23 first-place votes on Inside Lacrosse, despite losing Tewaaraton-winning attackman Pat Kavanagh and legendary goalie Liam Entenmann to graduation.

Last year’s team, on the heels of the program’s first title, lost an early-season overtime game to Georgetown but shredded everyone in their path after that. Notre Dame beat Maryland 15-5 for its second-straight championship.

As far as Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan and company are concerned, though, that’s in the past.

“We’re not trying to win three championships; we’re trying to win one,” Corrigan. “We’re proud of what last year’s team did, but that was last year’s team. This team’s done nothing.”

This year’s team begins its campaign Wednesday night, when Notre Dame takes on Cleveland State at 6 p.m. ET at Loftus Sports Center in South Bend.

The Irish won’t have returning midfield starter Jordan Faison quite yet. According to WSBT’s Bennett Wise, Faison has started practicing but will not play until March as he recovers from Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff run. They will, however, have four preseason first-team All-Americans: Lyght, junior long-stick midfielder Will Donovan, senior short-stick defensive midfielder Ben Ramsey and senior attackman Chris Kavanagh.

Ramsey and Kavanagh will be Notre Dame’s captains this season, and the latter is the last of three Kavanagh brothers — including Pat, whose illustrious career ended in 2024 — to come through South Bend.

“The first couple months were definitely an adjustment, not only on the field but off the field,” Kavanagh said. “It’s just weird. But every team, you gotta adapt and try new things, which we’ve been doing and guys have been stepping up.”

Kavanagh and graduate student Jake Taylor (granted a sixth year due to the COVID-19 exception and a medical redshirt in 2021) will once again lead the way on the attack; they combined for 85 goals last season and the former added 37 assists. Third-leading goal-scorer Devon McLane, a second-year graduate transfer from Brown, is back as well.

Freshmen to know include attackman Ben Pokorny and midfielder Matt Jeffery, both five-star recruits. Jeffery was a backup on special teams for the football team this season.

One of Notre Dame’s biggest challenges this season will be replacing Entenmann in goal. Junior Thomas Ricciardelli and senior Alex Zepf are competing for the starting job.

“We’ve got a great competition there,” Corrigan said. “We’re not asking anybody to replace Liam. It took us 37 years to have one Liam, and we don’t expect to have another one in the next year. But we have two excellent goaltenders, and I think we’re gonna be in great shape there.”

Corrigan also pointed to the midfield as an area where new faces can step up. The Irish famously rolled three groups of midfielders last season, which helped them stay fresher than their competition throughout the run to the national championship.

“We have so many studs,” Ramsey said. “Guys that don’t get a lot of attention or aren’t even making the field could be starting midfielders elsewhere.”

Ramsey, Kavanagh and the rest of the returners know better than anyone that Notre Dame will play the entire season with a target on its back. The Irish learned that the hard way early last year in their loss to Georgetown.

With more turnover from 2024-25 than 2023-24, it becomes imperative that the new contributors know what that’s like, too.

“I think the best thing for nerves like that is preparation,” Ramsey said. “So I think hopefully what we’re pushing right now is everyone doing everything they can to be prepared.”