2023 NCAA Lacrosse Rankings: No. 6 Notre Dame (Men)

The 2023 college lacrosse season is almost here. As is our annual tradition, we’re featuring every team ranked in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Preseason Top 20.

Check back to USALaxMagazine.com each weekday this month for new previews, scouting reports and rival analysis.

TOP RETURNERS

Pat Kavanagh, A, Sr.

Kavanagh comes into 2023 as a Tewaaraton Award favorite and one of the most talented players to step foot in Arlotta. He dropped 64 points last year, including a program-record 39 assists. He’s the anchor to the Notre Dame offense and arguably the best player in college lacrosse.

Chris Kavanagh, A, So.

We heard plenty about the next in the line of Kavanagh brothers poised to make an impact in South Bend. As a freshman, Chris Kavanagh flashed his star quality while scoring 22 goals and adding 11 assists to complement his brother. Look for his numbers to rise with more opportunity this spring.

Liam Entenmann, G, Sr.

Entenmann is one of the leaders on this Notre Dame squad, stepping between the pipes to lead an Irish defense that finished 10th in the country in goals allowed per game. Entenmann is the top returning goalie in NCAA Division I lacrosse, fresh off winning gold in the U21 world championship this summer.

KEY ADDITIONS

Chris Fake, D, Gr. (Yale)

Notre Dame has been built around its defense for years, and that will be no different in 2023 thanks to Fake. The former Yale All-American was one of the most coveted names in the transfer portal after chipping in 20 caused turnovers and 34 ground balls last season. He helped Yale win the national title as a freshman, and he’ll be looking to bookend his career with another.

Brian Tevlin, M, Gr. (Yale)

Just like his teammate, Tevlin made the trip from New Haven to South Bend this offseason. A leader in the locker room, Tevlin brings a two-way presence and can connect two loaded units for the Fighting Irish. He had 30 goals, 48 assists, 39 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers in his Yale career.

Chris Conlin, D, Gr. (Holy Cross)

Conlin is one of the nation’s leaders in terms of caused turnovers over the last four years, becoming a stalwart at Holy Cross. He tallied 60 ground balls and 40 caused turnovers to lead the Crusaders’ defense in 2022.

KEY DEPARTURES

Graduations: Wheaton Jackoboice, M; Ryan Hallenbeck, SSDM; Arden Cohen, D; Jason Reynolds, D

STORYLINES TO WATCH

How will the transfers complement what the Irish have in place?

Notre Dame has boasted one of the strongest defenses in college lacrosse each year for the past decade, trotting out names like Garrett Epple, Arden Cohen, Jack Kielty, John Sexton, Matt Landis and Arden Cohen. Each developed under coach Kevin Corrigan and his staff and left as one of the nation’s best at his position.

Entering 2023, Notre Dame will have to rely on a stacked roster of transfers if it will succeed on defense. It helps that the fighting Irish added names like Chris Fake, Chris Conlin, Jack Simmons and Brian Tevlin to the fold — each of whom has contributed on the back end for NCAA championship teams.

There’s plenty of talent to go around in that group, but how will they mesh with those that have developed in the Notre Dame system, like Ross Burgmaster, Marco Napolitano and Jose Boyer.

Who other than Kavanagh(s)?

Last year, Pat and Chris Kavanagh tallied 36 percent of Notre Dame’s points en route to an NCAA tournament snub. For as strong a duo as Pat-Chris might be, the Irish need more consistent production from its complimentary pieces.

Jake Taylor provided a major boost early in 2022, but suffered another season-ending knee injury that will leave him out for part of this spring. The additions of Tevlin and Simmons could help on the offensive end, but names like Eric Dobson, Bryce Walker and Griffin Westlin will need to continue their progress for Notre Dame.

Jeffery Ricciardelli, who played in 11 games as a freshman last season and scored five times, could see his role increase as the Fighting Irish continue looking for contributors on the offensive end.

How much will the NCAA tournament snub influence this team?

The message was clear following the NCAA tournament selection show in which Notre Dame did not hear its named called — the Fighting Irish must leave no doubt in 2023 if they want to be successful.

The lacrosse community reacted swiftly once Notre Dame, one of the hottest teams entering the NCAA tournament, was left out of the field. Inside the locker room, the Fighting Irish were extremely disappointed, but prepared to write a new script in 2023.

Corrigan doesn’t think he’ll need to motivate his team using what happened in 2022 — some of Notre Dame’s projected contributors this spring weren’t even on the roster that went 8-4 and 5-1 in the ACC last year. However, he knows his team won’t take May lacrosse for granted anytime soon.

ENEMY LINES
WHAT RIVALS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE IRISH

“On paper, they could be the best team in the country. They could win it all. It’s a team that lost some games early on last year, didn’t get in the tournament and they’ve added some pieces in the portal. They still have one of the best goalkeepers. They still have one of the best players. They got better as the season went on. They just, for whatever reason, were not allowed to play. Those guys and that program has a chip on their shoulder.  They’re loaded. Their recruiting is excellent. They’re really good.”

BEYOND THE BASICS
POWERED BY LACROSSE REFERENCE

9th

Notre Dame finished the 2022 season with a 3-4 record against RPI Top 20 teams. They were 2-3 against the RPI Top 10. Compare that to Virginia, which was 1-3 against the RPI Top 10, but 5-4 against the RPI Top 20. Or Brown, which was 3-3 against the Top 10, but 3-5 against the Top 20. And what about Duke’s three losses to teams outside the RPI Top 20? The point that I’m trying to get across is that using the bucketing system in place now makes it very difficult to compare the impressiveness of different teams’ records.

Another technique uses a point system to credit teams for the quality of their wins and losses by adding up the value of the RPI ratings of their victories (inverted of course) and subtracting the RPI ratings of their losses to come up with an RPI Strength-of-Record that doesn’t rely on buckets. By this metric, Notre Dame had the ninth-best RPI SOR (on a per-game basis). Of course, all of this is complicated by the fact that different teams played different numbers of games. If you use this same method, but use the total points (instead of dividing by games played), the Irish fall to 15th.

Lacrosse Reference Glossary