Here's Everything You Need To Know Heading Into Today's College Lacrosse National Championship
Who: #1 Notre Dame vs #3 Duke
What: 2023 NCAA Men's DI Lacrosse National Championship
When: 1pm EST
Where: Philadelphia, PA // ESPN
Why: Because Stone Cold said so.
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History has this knack of always wanting to repeat itself. It makes sense because humans are creatures of habit. We tend to see similar trends in societies that rise and fall throughout history. We see similar characteristics of those who come into power. And most importantly--we often see similar matchups in the college lacrosse national championship game.
History repeats itself for the 2nd time today at 1pm as we get the third matchup between Duke and Notre Dame in the men's DI title game. The first was in 2010, the second was in 2014. And while history loves to repeat itself, they also always say that the third time is the charm. And seeing some other events that already took place this Championship Weekend, it's hard to argue.
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Duke is looking to win their 4th national title as a program, with three of those titles coming against the Irish. Notre Dame is looking to win their first ever national title, with a little bit of revenge from 2010 and 2014 fueling the way.
There are 60 minutes left of the college lacrosse season, and only one team can end their season with a win. Regardless of which team that is, this game is going to be incredible.
Now the first time these two teams played against each other this year, it wasn't quite as close as you'd hope for a Duke vs Notre Dame battle to be. The Irish borderline shit pumped Duke 17-12 with the Kavanagh Brothers (Pat and Chris) combining for 8 goals and 13 points on the day. 3 goals and 5 assists from Pat, 5 goals from Chris. Those are the two All-Americans leading the way for Notre Dame, and that's why Pat Kavanagh is a finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy.
At the other end of the field there is another Tewaaraton finalist. And not just any Tewaaraton finalist, but a guy who has already been named the Lt. Raymond J. Enners Outstanding Player of the Year. Brennan O'Neill is a mutant. He's one of the most dominant lacrosse players on the planet currently. He scored 54 goals and has 95 points so far this season. But only 1 goal and 0 assists came against Notre Dame on April 8th. That was the difference in the first matchup between these two teams. The Kavanaghs had 8 goals and 13 assists, Brennan O'Neill had a single goal. That's thanks to 3rd team All-American defenseman Chris Fake winning his matchup against the mutant O'Neill, and the best goalie in college lacrosse Liam Entenmann stuffing the door with 15 saves on the day.
If Notre Dame wants to win their first ever National Championship, they need to cook up that exact same recipe this afternoon. If you want to have a chance at beating duke, you need to slow down Brennan O'Neill. But that's obviously easier said than done.
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If you let him get hot, then the rest of the Duke offense follows. Because the more you need to worry about O'Neill just running through your entire team, the more space that leaves for a guy like Dyson Williams to get his hands free in the crease. The more you have to worry about touching in to Williams, the more space that opens up for Andrew McAdorey operate. There are All-Americans all over the field for both teams today, and it's only a matter of time before a couple of them really take over this game.
The biggest concern going into the game is just going to be the health of Pat Kavanagh. At this point of the season, everybody is banged up. But Pat Kav is clearly being held together by duct tape and bubble gum right now. Not that it's stopping him from doing incredible shit like this or anything.
But that Virginia defense on Saturday were massive and physical. They took a toll on both Pat and Chris Kavanagh all day. And the Duke defense? Well they're just as big and just as physical. Kenny Brower is one of the best 3 defensemen in the entire country. Wilson Stephenson is an absolute monster. There's not a doubt in my mind that both Kavanagh's will be leaving the field today looking like Big Ben.
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But that's just because they're both tough as nails and just keep going for 60 minutes straight.
The brain says Duke pulls this thing out in the end. The heart wants Notre Dame. And the only lock I can actually give you is that the real winner of the day? It's going to be us, the fans. What's better than this?
1pm. ESPN. Make it happen. See you there.