Notre Dame wins first men’s lacrosse national title in program history

PHILADELPHIA (WNDU/AP) - In 2010, the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team faced Duke in the national championship game and lost.

In 2014, the Irish again met the Blue Devils in the national title game.... and again, they came up short.

Now, nearly a decade after their last meeting on the grand stage, Notre Dame and Duke once again battled to be named top team in the land on Monday.

Call it “the luck of the Irish.” Say “third time’s the charm.” Whatever sounds most poetic to you… because the Fighting Irish are national champions.

Liam Entenmann made a season-high 18 saves and Brian Tevlin scored a go-ahead goal with 27 seconds left in the third quarter to help Notre Dame claim its first men’s lacrosse national title with a 13-9 victory over Duke.

Entenmann made eight saves on nine shots on goal in the first half as Notre Dame cruised to a 6-1 lead after scoring six unanswered goals — from six different players. After scoring 35 seconds into the game, Duke was held scoreless for the final 29:25 of the first half.

But Duke didn’t roll over. The Blue Devils scored four unanswered goals coming out of halftime to trim the lead to just one. They later knotted it at 7-all with 1:01 left in the third.

But the Fighting Irish would eventually respond, maintaining their lead into the late stages and holding on until time expired.

“I’m not sure I want to watch the film of this one, other than maybe the defense from the first half,” Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan said. “You wait your whole career to see this right now.”

The championship is not only the first in program history for Notre Dame — it’s also the first for Corrigan, who has led the Irish since 1989.