Notre Dame Men’s Lacrosse earn two strong victories to start 2025 season

The Irish defeat Cleveland State and Marquette over the course of four days to get the back to back title defense underway

“You’ll never know what you’re capable of until you take that first step and just go for it.”

-Natasha Hastings, American Track and Field Sprinter

As the 2025 Notre Dame Men’s Lacrosse season got underway last week on Wednesday night in the Loftus Center, it was clear that it was the “first step” and that this is a brand new team looking to make its mark on college lacrosse. While the 2023 and 2024 seasons ended in National Championships, if there was one thing that Head Coach Kevin Corrigan made clear as we got things underway this year….it was that this current iteration of the Fighting Irish had not accomplished anything and that this was a completely new season unto itself.

Well, the first two steps have been taken and across a four day stretch, the Fighting Irish picked up our first two victories of the season while we outscored our opponents by a score of 46-15. We won’t know what this team is fully capable of until this year continues on, but one thing is for sure…..this team has the opportunity to prove that they are the best version of Notre Dame lacrosse, and if they can do that week in and week out, then I think we will all be very happy with where this season can go.

Let’s take a look at these first two matchups and look ahead to what is coming up this weekend.

Additionally, catch up on the Exit 77 podcast – Episode 105 as David Brogan and I recapped the first two Irish wins.

Notre Dame versus Cleveland State

In front of almost 300 people on a cold Wednesday night, the Irish got the season started with a 24-6 victory over the Vikings of Cleveland State University. If that score sounds familiar, it was eerily similar to the win in 2024 as we started off with a midweek 25-3 win against CSU.

The Irish had a quick opening with three fast goals before the Vikings got two back to make it 3-2 with 6:17 left in the first quarter. That was all Notre Dame needed to see as we then reeled off the next twelve goals to go up 15-2 before the score got to 15-3 at halftime. The second half was much of the same with the Irish getting nine more goals while giving up only three more.

It was a complete performance on both ends of the field with the Irish taking it to the lesser talented foe. With such a huge lead throughout, it offered the opportunity for lots of our Irish players to see the field and for a lot of the squad to register not only their first playing minutes, but their first goals and assists.

Some Notes and Thoughts

Here’s a look at how the Irish started things out, much to our expectation and what we thought we would see:

Kavanagh-Taylor-Pokorny

Busenkell-Angrick-McLane-Lynch (FO)

Lyght-Gallagher-Schwitzenberg-Ricciardelli (G)

Joining this group was Ben Ramsey at SSDM and Will Donovan at LSM.

Similar to the dominating force that was the Notre Dame attack last year, across our 2025 starting group we saw 20 points with Jake getting seven goals (on nine total shots), Chris Kav with four goals and five assists and freshman Brady Pokorny with one goal and three assists. It was the start we were hoping to see from this group as I think everyone was looking forward to seeing how Brady would fit in and how he would complement his line mates. He did a great job and the Irish coaching staff also gave some good run to Jeffery Ricciardelli (four goals) and Brock Behrman (one goal and two assists) as they subbed in a bunch giving different looks while also setting up different combinations. Casey Doyle and Griffin Grant also accounted for three points so when all was said and done, the attack accounted for 30 points (17 goals / 13 assists). Whoa.

Our midfield lines were able to take a backseat on the scoresheet, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t active or a big part of what the Irish were looking to do. We once again went deep with our first two lines with Will Maheras, Fisher Finley and Jalen Seymour running the second line. Our depth is once again a massive strength for our Irish and our second group could easily start on the vast majority of college rosters.

Our defense was stout with Thomas Ricciardelli getting his first start / win as Goalie one. I am sure there were a few shots he would like to have back, but as he looks be our backstop for the season, it was a very good first outing for Thomas. Across our close defense, it was what have expected from our Irish with Shawn Lyght leading and Nate Schwitzenberg and Will Gallagher stepping into starting roles. It’s early, but the communication, footwork and slides looked good. Overall, any time you can hold another team to six goals across a game, you know you are doing something right.

Faceoffs, SSDM and LSM were excellent as we have some of the best in all of college lacrosse at these positions. Will Lynch went 7-9 at the faceoff dot, Colin Hagstrom won seven faceoffs and also scored two goals. Will Donovan was his lockdown self and Greg Campisi was next up providing strong play as well. Ben Ramsey led our rope unit and joining him were freshman Chris Reinhardt, Tyler Buchner and Christian Alacqua.

Lots of Irish saw meaningful time and we saw players like Jake Vasquez, Logan Gutzwiller and Drew Wynocker scoring their first ever career goals. Additionally we saw Michael Ridgway, Declan Cooke, Andrew Donovan, Ronan Doherty, George Guyton, Jake Sommer, Karter Williams, Christian Gallaher, Kyle Bergen, Ryan Sforzo, Ben Burmeister, Alex Zepf, Mason Wordelman, Pat Eilers, Thomas Porell, Luke Crowe and Gavin Burlace out there. So great to see so many getting run and having the chance to play. A ridiculous amount of time, energy and effort goes into being a part of this team starting in the fall. Getting rewarded in the spring is the best feeling there is.

Notre Dame versus Marquette University

It was a quick turnaround to face the Golden Eagles on Saturday, but with so many players seeing the turf on Wednesday night, we were able to make sure the boys were fresh. It showed as we once again were able to get 44 players out onto the Loftus Center field. With over 1,000 fans in attendance, the Irish were able to put together another complete performance in a 22-9 win over Marquette.

Similar to the first game, it was close early on with the Golden Eagles taking a 2-1 lead with 11:06 to go in the first quarter. That was all the Irish needed to see as we then took a 13-3 lead before we went into the half up 13-5.

The second half was much of the same with our Irish scoring nine more goals while limiting Marquette to four and coming away with a 22-9 victory.

Some Notes and Thoughts

If the first win of the season was dominated by the Irish attack, this game was a sign that the midfield could and would step up when they were called upon. I think it is fair to say that Will Angrick, Will Maheras and Fisher Finley all had their best games in Irish uniforms. Across the top six middies, we saw twelve goals and five assists. That is 17 points which is outstanding from a midfield perspective. Angrick had three goals in the first quarter, all from a variety of angles – left side, right side and twister. Maheras showed his firepower from the outside with two really nice goals and Fisher continues to beat his man up top and hit home with a super hard shot. Devon McLane scored his first two goals of the year, Max Busenkell continues to impress with two goals and an assist and Jalen Seymour and Ryan Sforzo each scored a goal.

The Irish attack had another strong outing with nine goals and five assists across Jake, Kav, Pokorny and Ricciardelli. They let the game come to them, they did not force play and with the middies playing so well, they were able to settle into the sets and pick their opportunities to make plays. Chris Kav had two laser goals to the top corners and it was great to see Pokorny get two goals and two assists. Naturally, Jake Taylor had another hat trick.

The close defense, while giving up a couple of early game goals, settled in and was able to hold Marquette to six goals over the final three quarters. Thomas Ricciardelli had an awesome post to post save that reminded us all of the guy who was there for the last few years. Across these early games we are looking for this group to communicate well, play as a team, demonstrate good footwork and have a strong sliding game. Shawn Lyght is stepping into one of the leadership roles on the team and I thought Nate Schwitzenberg really showed us what he is capable of during this game. His future is bright.

Faceoffs, SSDM and LSM did their jobs: they played well on the wings, they pushed transition when they needed to and they had really good man on ball defense. It’s not hyperbole to say that these are some of the best units in the country at these positions. We can go really deep across each of these groups and it truly is a great luxury to have. As we saw last year, our depth can prove to be a difference maker come the later parts of the season.

Final Thoughts and What’s Next

Two games and 46 goals. Not a bad start for our Irish and we tied the 46 goals we put up last year in starting off the season.

The attack will be really good and defenses will have to pick their poison when deciding who they will want to stop.

The midfield is starting to get a feel for how the top groups will shake out, with Jordan Faison and Matt Jeffery looking to make their marks here soon.

The SSDM unit is beyond solid led by Ben Ramsey with lots of young talent forcing their way onto the field. Tyler Buchner has taken that next step.

Best LSM unit in the country. Nothing more to say.

Best one two faceoff unit in the country which allows us to mix things up across 60 minutes.

The close defense is proving themselves and performed really well as a group across the main minutes they played in games one and two.

Thomas Ricciardelli is solidifying himself as the starter, with a step up in competition coming here soon.

Georgetown is next as the boys travel to DC for a Saturday afternoon matchup against the Hoyas. This game has been a fulcrum point for the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons (all for a variety of reasons) and no reason to think this year will be any different. Coming in at 2-1, Gtown will be looking to exact some revenge as the Irish ended their season last year on Long Island in the NCAA tournament.

A noticeable face in Fulton Bayman will be starting at attack for Georgetown and sure he would love to get a win against some of his close friends.

Keep an eye on the young parts of their defense: Ty Banks is developing into one of the best young defenders in college lacrosse and Anderson Moore is a talented young goalie.

It’s another opportunity for the Irish to get better as they look to forge their own identity here in 2025. After these early two games for ND….First steps taken, just going for it and finding out what our squad is capable of.

Let’s Go Irish!