After getting back to the Final Four for the first time since 2017, Denver was looking to knock off the defending champions, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Irish have been the best team in college lacrosse all season, but Denver was looking to shock the world.
Denver’s recipe of defense and toughness gave Notre Dame a lot of issues in the first half, however, the Crimson and Gold found it difficult to keep up with the high-flying Irish attack.
Denver struck first thanks to a goal from senior attacker Richie Connell, who was excellent in the first half.
Despite the goal, there were discouraging signs early on, with senior attacker JJ Sillstrop forced out of the game to get his shoulder taped up. Sillstrop came back in the game but did not look like himself. He looked passive and hesitant in attacking Notre Dame defenders.
After the Connell goal, Notre Dame would go on a three-goal run, spearheaded by the Kavanaugh brothers, the Irish’s two best players. After one quarter, Notre Dame was leading 3-1, but there was no quit in the Denver team and they came out of the gates quickly in the second quarter.
Denver tied the game within the first five minutes of the quarter. First, speedy senior midfielder Michael Lampert used his quickness to find space and make it a 3-2 game. Just minutes later, senior midfielder Stephen Avery got in on the act to tie the game at three, which gave Denver a massive boost.
After a defensive struggle broke out in the middle of the second quarter, Notre Dame threw a salvo at Denver, scoring two quick goals to make it 5-3. The first one was scored by Denver native Jake Taylor, who was coached by DU coach Matt Brown growing up. The second one came from Jordan Faison, who is also a star receiver on Notre Dame’s football team.
However, DU grabbed the momentum heading into the half, with a massive goal from Connell who cut the lead to one, scoring with just eight seconds remaining in the half.
However, this goal would not give Denver the desired momentum in the third quarter. The Irish outscored DU 8-2 in the second half, dominating the Crimson and Gold like no other team had done all season.
A big part of this was the faceoffs. The Irish won 18 faceoffs while Denver only won five. This put DU on the backfoot all game, and while the defense and senior goalie Malcolm Kleban fought valiantly, the Notre Dame onslaught became too much to handle. Senior faceoff man Alec Stathakis was one of the best at winning draws in the country all season long, but he had a rare off-game at the wrong time.
Denver ended up falling 13-6, with the Irish blowing the floodgates open in the fourth quarter. However, this season was a major success for Denver and their first year with head coach Brown. They re-established themselves among the elite, going back to their first final four since 2017, and ended up running into a buzzsaw Notre Dame team that went on to win the national championship on Memorial Day.
