Duke vs. Notre Dame history: Blue Devils, Irish meet again for NCAA men’s lacrosse championship

2023-05-28
4 min read
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Duke and Notre Dame advanced to the NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse national championship with thrilling overtime victories in the semifinals Saturday. 

Will Monday's championship game produce one more overtime finish? 

Duke (16-2) is the top overall seed and looking for its first national championship since 2014. Notre Dame (13-2), the No. 3 seed, is trying to win the first lacrosse national title in school history. 

MORE: Watch the NCAA lacrosse championship live with Fubo (free trial) 

The Blue Devils have denied the Irish that first title in previous meetings. Here's a look at the championship game history between the schools: 

Duke vs. Notre Dame national championship history 

This is the third time the Blue Devils and Irish have met for the national championship. The first two games were a 6-5 overtime victory for Duke in 2010 and an 11-9 Blue Devils victory in 2014. 

Duke coach John Danowski took over the program in 2006. He also led Duke to a national championship in 2013 with a 16-10 victory against Syracuse. 

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Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan is in his 35th season with the Irish. He led Notre Dame to those national championship appearances in 2010 and 2014. 

Duke vs. Notre Dame championship game scores 

Year Result
2010 Duke, 6-5 (OT)
2014 Duke, 11-9

How Duke reached the NCAA championship game 

The Blue Devils were the top overall seed in the 2023 NCAA tournament. They survived a scare from Delaware in the first round before pulling out a 12-11 victory. Duke then beat Michigan 15-8 in the second round. 

The national semifinal against No. 5 Penn State was a back-and-forth matchup that went into overtime. Garrett Leadmon scored to give Duke a 16-15 victory. 

Brennan O’Neill leads the Blue Devils with 95 points (54 goals, 41 assists). Dyson Williams has 59 goals, and Jake Naso has a .630 percentage on faceoffs. 

How Notre Dame reached the NCAA championship game 

No. 3 Notre Dame routed Utah 20-7 in the first round. The Irish then beat No. 6 Johns Hopkins 12-9 in the quarterfinals. The national semifinal matchup against No. 2 Virginia went into overtime, with Brian Tevlin scoring the game-winner in a 13-12 victory. 

Pat Kavanagh, who battled a hamstring injury against Virginia, leads the Irish with 25 goals and 51 assists. His brother Chris Kavanagh has 44 goals and 15 assists. Goalkeeper Liam Entenmenn has a .528 save percentage. 

Duke vs. Notre Dame: Regular-season matchup 

The Irish beat the Blue Devils 17-12 on April 8 in South Bend, and that’s Duke’s last loss. Notre Dame led 9-4 at halftime and stayed in control through the second half. 

The Kavanagh brothers combined for eight goals in the game, and Jake Taylor added five points. Williams had three goals in the loss for Duke.