Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/29/23 – From Press Release
The NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship will feature an all-ACC title game as Duke and Notre Dame earned dramatic semifinal victories Saturday afternoon in front of 32,107 spectators at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The top-seeded Blue Devils outlasted No. 5 Penn State in overtime, 16-15, while the No. 3 Fighting Irish topped No. 2 Virginia, 13-12, in overtime.
The Blue Devils and Fighting Irish will square off in the national championship game at 1 p.m. today on ESPN. This marks the fourth national championship game pitting ACC teams (1986 – UNC 10, UVa 9 (OT); 2011 – UVa 9, Maryland 7; 2014 – Duke 11, Notre Dame 9).
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Not counting the 2023 championship, current ACC membership collectively owns 25 NCAA championships, including nine of the last 14 as well as 14 titles since 2000. ACC programs (at the time of the event) have won 17 NCAA titles.
In the first game Saturday, Garrett Leadmon scored just over a minute into overtime as Duke downed Penn State, 16-15. Leadmon and Brennan O’Neill each recorded hat tricks for Duke. Jake Naso won 22-of-34 faceoffs and also scored a pair of goals for the Blue Devils (16-2). Leadmon’s goal created much controversy as it appeared his foot may have been in the crease; but NCAA rules do not allow for replay on possible crease violations.
Brian Tevlin scored 29 seconds into overtime to lift Notre Dame (13-2) to a 13-12 victory over Virginia (13-4). The back-and-forth nailbiter featured nine ties, and neither team led by more than two goals. Notre Dame’s Eric Dobson scored four goals and assisted on another, while Liam Entenmann made 11 saves. Connor Shellenberger recorded a hat trick and added three assists for Virginia, while Matthew Nunes was tremendous in goal with 17 saves.
The ACC had three teams competing in the NCAA’s Championship Weekend for the fifth time in league history (2005, 2011, 2014, 2021). At least one current ACC member has advanced to the national semifinals in 41 of the last 43 seasons, and the league has at least one representative in the national championship game for the 19th time in the last 22 tournaments.
Notre Dame features starting midfielder Quinn McCahon (Malvern Prep) while Duke’s local connection is freshman reserve defenseman Henry Bard (Lower Merion).
