Preview: Maryland Men’s Lacrosse Welcomes #2 Notre Dame in Top Five Clash

#4 Maryland 3-1 vs. #2 Notre Dame 3-0

Where: SECU Stadium

When: Saturday, March 4th at 1 PM

TV: BTN+

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The Terps will be facing their second top-three team in as many weeks when they welcome second-ranked Notre Dame. The Irish are undefeated through three games winning them by an average of 9.3 goals per game. While their opponents are not on the same level as the Terps, if this Irish team gets taken lightly they will punish you with a stellar offensive attack and a stingy defense.

On offense, the Irish are led by the Kavanagh brothers. Pat is a senior attackman and Chris is a sophomore attackman for the Irish this season. The brothers lead the team in points by a large margin. Chris has 18 points off of 12 goals and six assists while Pat has 17 points off of three goals and 14 assists. No other player on the Irish has more than nine points scored showing just how important the two are to their offensive production. One thing to watch is how often Chris is out there this week. Last week he took a big hit and was pulled for most of the rest of the game. While it’s been reported he should be good to go it is still something to watch out for.

On defense for the Irish, they are led by senior Goalie Liam Entenmann and senior defender Chris Fake. Entenmann was named the preseason first-team All-American goalie for many publications before this season. Entenmann since arriving at South Bend has been one of the best goalies in the country consistently. Last season, Entenmann finished with a save percentage of 57% and has a save percentage of 52% so far this season. Entenmann uses his length to his advantage and gets a longer reach than most goalies helping him get a lot of saves. Chris Fake is a grad transfer for the Irish from Yale. Last season, Fake had 20 caused turnovers and 34 ground balls earning him an All-American honorable mention for USA Lacrosse Magazine last season. Fake has six ground balls and three caused turnovers so far this season. While it has taken some time for Fake and their defense to adjust to the new personnel they have, they are still a defense not to mess around with.

For the Terps, the biggest question will be who will be starting in goal. After senior Logan McNaney went down, they originally had Teddy Dolan starting due to him having more experience. However, last week the Terps started freshman Brian Ruppel in net and he only gave up five goals to a very talented Princeton team. While it might be safe to expect Ruppel to start, you never know what head coach John Tillman might have up his sleeve. On offense, the Terps will need to keep leaning on the hot hands they have in Daniel Maltz and Daniel Kelly. Maltz and Kelly combined for six of their 11 goals last week and Kelly leads the team with 14 points on the season while Maltz is right behind him with 13.

The Terps will be looking to keep their impressive 17-game home winning streak alive and avoid their first home loss since 2019.

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