🏆 NOTRE DAME WINS FIRST NATTY

For the first time in school history, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are Division I National Champions in men’s lacrosse.

Powered by a pair of Kavanaghs in brothers Pat and Chris, the Irish felt like a team of destiny this season. They were left out of the NCAA Tournament last year, and that snub still motivated them a year later. Notre Dame only lost two games all season, both at the hands of ACC rival Virginia.

Notre Dame ultimately avenged those losses with an overtime win against the Cavaliers in the NCAA semifinal on Saturday. Notre Dame trailed by two goals late in that game, but Jake Taylor hit a ridiculous twister to tie the game with 32 seconds left and Brian Tevlin buried the game-winner in overtime.

The story of the National Championship game against Duke was two-fold. Pat Kavanagh’s grit while playing through a hamstring injury was a major storyline, but so was the performance of Liam Entenmann in net. Entenmann was dialed in from start to finish, recording 18 saves and holding Duke scoreless for over 30 minutes of game time at one point.

Notre Dame’s scoring was balanced in the title game. Chris Kavanagh, Jake Taylor, Eric Dobson, Quinn McCahon, Jeffery Ricciardelli and Brian Tevlin each scored two goals. Meanwhile, Duke’s Tewaaraton Finalist Brennan O’Neill was held to just one goal and one assist on nine shots.

Entenmann was an easy pick for Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament, after the 13-9 victory over Duke. Now, did Pat Kavanagh do enough to lock up the Tewaaraton Award? He finished the season with 77 points (25 goals, 52 assists), but the injury limited his statistical production down the stretch.

The 2023 Tewaaraton Award ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 1. Kavanagh’s competition includes O’Neill, Connor Shellenberger (Virginia), Tucker Dordevic (Georgetown) and CJ Kirst (Cornell).

💥 Salisbury Spoils Tufts’ Perfect Run

Tufts was on the cusp of a perfect season. Then, Salisbury happened.

The Jumbos brought a 22-0 record into the Division III NCAA Championship, but Salisbury brought a loaded roster of their own. Brice Bromwell (team-high 4 goals) helped the Seagulls jump out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter, and they never looked back en route to a 17-12 victory.

Kurt Bruun did what he could to keep Tufts in the game, even scoring one of his five goals with only one hand. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough to slow the Salisbury onslaught.

The win marked Salisbury’s 13th National Championship under legendary head coach Jim Berkman — and the program’s first since 2017.

Salisbury is now tied with Hobart (currently D1) for most Division III titles.

💪 Lenoir-Rhyne Takes D2 Title

The Division II National Championship was a blowout, with Lenoir-Rhyne running up a 20-5 score on Mercyhurst. The win marked the program’s first ever National Championship.

This game was 6-0 at the end of the first quarter and 14-1 at halftime. Nine different players scored for Lenoir-Rhyne in the route, with Evan Voss and Riley Seay leading the way with four goals each.

Lenoir-Rhyne entered the NCAA Tournament as a 5-seed, but looked dominant along the way. They took down the defending champs Tampa in the first round, then beat 2-seed Rollins by six goals in the quarterfinal round. They crushed Limestone by seven goals in the semifinal, then finally stomped Mercyhurst by 15 goals in the final.

That’s an impressive roll to end the season.

😼 Northwestern Women Win 8th Title

The Division I Women’s Lacrosse landscape once again belongs to Northwestern, after the Wildcats trounced Boston College, 18-6, in the National Championship on Sunday. This win marked the program’s eighth title under head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller — and the first since 2012.

The Izzy Scane train kept rolling in the title game, as the Tewaaraton Award favorite finished with a game-high six points (4 goals, 2 assists). Fellow finalist Erin Coykendall had five points (three goals, two assists), including a fake-out goal that was No. 2 on SportsCenter Top 10 Plays.

After scoring 99 goals and racking up 35 assists this season, Scane now has 374 career points…and another year of eligibility.

🔜  The 2023 PLL Season

The Premier Lacrosse League opened training camp in Albany over the weekend, and regular-season games begin this weekend. Here’s the television/streaming lineup for Saturday and Sunday:

Saturday, June 3:
1 p.m. ET — Redwoods vs. Atlas (ABC)
3:30 p.m. ET — Cannons vs. Archers (ESPN+)

Sunday, June 4:
1 p.m. ET — Chaos vs. Waterdogs (ABC)
3:30 p.m. ET — Whipsnakes vs. Chrome (ESPN+)

Many of the rookies who just starred at the collegiate level will be on the field with their new PLL teams this weekend. That’s great news for the lacrosse diehards who can’t get enough of the sport.