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Notre Dame takes down Duke to win first men's lacrosse title

eddie timanus, usa today
·2 min read
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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish pose with the national championship trophy after beating Duke in the NCAA men's lacrosse final.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish pose with the national championship trophy after beating Duke in the NCAA men's lacrosse final.

PHILADELPHIA – Notre Dame finally did it. The Fighting Irish won their first national championship in men’s lacrosse, defeating Duke 13-9 before a Memorial Day crowd of 30,461 at Lincoln Financial Field.

Notre Dame (14-2) entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed, but the Irish earned their title by upending No. 2 Virginia in overtime in Saturday’s semifinal before running past the top-seeded Blue Devils (16-3).

Duke got on the board first just 35 seconds into the game courtesy of Garrett Leadmon, Saturday’s overtime hero for the Blue Devils against Penn State. But Brian Tevlin, who coincidentally notched Notre Dame’s game winner on Saturday, answered less than three minutes later. Little went right for Duke for the remainder of the first half. The Blue Devils wouldn’t score again until the third quarter as the Irish built a 6-1 halftime lead.

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Notre Dame's Reilly Gray (17) controls the ball against Duke's Jack Gray (20) during the first quarter of the NCAA men's lacrosse championship game at Lincoln Financial.
Notre Dame's Reilly Gray (17) controls the ball against Duke's Jack Gray (20) during the first quarter of the NCAA men's lacrosse championship game at Lincoln Financial.

Duke rallied with six of the first seven goals after intermission to tie the game at 7-7 with 1:01 left in the third. But Tevlin and Chris Kavanagh each scored with under 30 seconds left in the period to put Notre Dame back in front, and the Fighting Irish led the rest of the way.

Goalie Liam Entenmann was named the game’s most outstanding player, recording 18 saves while holding Duke to its lowest scoring output of the season. The Irish again showed their offensive balance as six players scored two goals. The second tally for Quinn McCahon closed out the scoring for the Irish as he essentially ran through the entire Duke defense to ice the game with 3:24 remaining. Leadmon, with a pair of tallies, was the only multiple goal scorer for Duke. The Blue Devils’ Tewaaraton Award candidate Brennan O’Neill was limited to just a goal and an assist, thanks primarily to the efforts of Notre Dame defenseman Cris Fake.

Notre Dame broke through for its first championship in its 26th NCAA tournament appearance, all under 35th-year head coach Kevin Corrigan. It was the third championship game appearance for the Irish, whose two prior bids for the title in 2010 and 2014 were thwarted by Duke.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Notre Dame wins first men's lacrosse title with defeat of Duke