PHILADELPHIA – Duke and Notre Dame will square off for the NCAA men’s lacrosse championship on Monday. But it will be difficult for that all-ACC final to surpass the high drama of Saturday’s semifinal contests – both of which required overtime – witnessed by 32,107 fans at Lincoln Financial Field.
Duke punched its ticket first as Garrett Leadmon scored 1:05 into the sudden death period to down Penn State 16-15, disappointing a largely pro-Nittany Lions crowd in their home state.
The top-seeded Blue Devils (15-3) will play for the program’s fourth national championship on Monday. The overtime game-winner denied No. 5 seed Penn State (11-5) its first appearance in the title game.
Leadmon’s goal, his third of the day, was not without controversy as he appeared to step in the goal crease as he shot, but the goal was ruled good as the ball crossed the goal line first.
After a back-and-forth first quarter, Duke used a four-goal run to build a 7-4 lead. The margin never grew larger, however, as the Nittany Lions were also able to execute their offense.
Penn State finally drew even at 14 on Kevin Winkoff’s goal with 6:26 remaining in the fourth quarter. Duke faceoff man Jake Naso put the Blue Devils back in front just 14 seconds later, but Penn State’s T.J. Malone tied it again with 5:05 left in regulation.
Tewaaraton Award finalist Brennan O’Neill’s first-half hat trick helped stake Duke to the early lead, but he was held in check in the second half. The Blue Devils’ scoring depth was on display, however, as five other players including Leadmon notched at least two goals. Malone paced the Nittany Lions’ attack with a game-high eight points on six goals and two assists, while Winkoff recorded five helpers in addition to his lone goal.
Notre Dame rallies past Virginia in OT
The day’s second game was equally dramatic as the third-seeded Fighting Irish erased a two-goal deficit against No. 2 Virginia in the final three minutes of regulation and won it 13-12 on Brian Tevlin’s lone goal of the game 29 seconds into OT.
Notre Dame (13-2) was led by Eric Dobson, who had four goals and an assist, including a key tally that knotted the game at 11 with 2:07 left in regulation. The Cavaliers (13-4) grabbed the lead back with just under a minute to go as Thomas McConvey scored from a scramble in front of the crease, but a Jake Taylor goal with just 32.2 seconds tied it again.
Connor Shellenberger had three goals and three assists for the Cavaliers, but the Tewaaraton Award finalist’s season comes to an end with a total of 30 goals and 54 assists.
This will be the third time Duke and Notre Dame will meet in the title game, with the Blue Devils taking both prior encounters. The Fighting Irish did, however, get the better of the Blue Devils 17-12 in their regular-season meeting this year back on April 8.
Former champs to face off in women’s final
In Sunday’s women’s final in Cary, N.C., Northwestern goes for its eighth national championship against 2021 champion Boston College. The top-seeded Wildcats (20-1) got by previously undefeated Denver 15-7 in Friday’s semifinal, while the Eagles (19-3) mounted a fourth-quarter comeback to get past ACC rival Syracuse 8-7.
