Mickey the Mouth
The Syndicate News Wire
- May 21, 2026
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Notre Dame’s special teams were too much for Syracuse lacrosse to handle.
The second-seeded Irish rolled to a 15-7 win over the sixth-seeded Orange on Saturday, May 23, in a national semifinal behind five extra-man goals in four opportunities.
Looking for its third national title in four seasons, Notre Dame (13-2) will face top-seeded Princeton (16-2) on Memorial Day Monday at 1 p.m. ET in Charlottesville, VA. The Irish won a first-round game at Princeton in 2010 in the schools’ only previous lacrosse meeting.
Three of Saturday’s man-up goals came during a backbreaking two-minute stretch at the start of the final period after Syracuse had closed within two at 9-7. Sophomore midfielder Matt Jeffery’s desperation dodge drew the non-releasable penalty with two seconds left on the shot clock.
Brady Pokorny, whose father, Jason, played at Syracuse with current coach Gary Gait, netted a no-look, over-the-shoulder shot to shift the momentum back toward the Irish.
“For us to do what we did on man-up and man-down today is huge,” Irish coach Kevin Corrigan said. “It’s probably the difference in the game.”
The Orange were blanked over the final 16:39 as senior goalie Thomas Ricciardelli put the finishing touches on a 14-save performance.
Aside from quick hiccups at the end of the first and third periods, when Syracuse bunched six of its goals in spans totaling 4:14, Ricciardelli was dazzling.
So was senior attackman Josh Yago, the Air Force graduate transfer who completed the only Irish hat trick with 5:14 remaining. Yago added four assists, giving him back-to-back seven-point days with nary a turnover against either Syracuse (13-6) or Johns Hopkins.
Will Maheras and Brock Behrman added four-point showings for the Irish, winners of their last 57 games in which they held opponents to single figures in scoring. Ten different Notre Dame shooters found the net.
“We play such an unselfish brand of lacrosse,” Yago said. “This late in May, it works. Guys are tired. Longer games. Possessions matter. When we get deeper into possessions and share the ball the way we do … it’s going to be hard to stop just because of how well we move the ball.”
Matt Jeffery: 'Ridiculous athlete' excels in two sports for Notre Dame
For senior-laden Syracuse, making its second straight Final Four trip after a 12-year wait, Finn Thomson led the way with four goals on just five shots. Fellow seniors Joey Spallina, Michael Leo and Luke Rhoa, however, struggled to a combined 2-of-26 shooting day.
Spallina, voted the nation’s outstanding attackman by the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, was marked for much of the afternoon by fellow Tewaaraton Award finalist Shawn Lyght.
Lyght, at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, manhandled the smaller Spallina (5-11, 192) into a 0-for-6 shooting day that was offset by just two assists and three groundballs.
“Shawn’s never going to say he absolutely shut him down, but he did,” Ricciardelli said. “Shawn’s just an absurdly humble guy, and the way he plays out there makes me so confident and comfortable in the net.”
Notre Dame’s low-rated penalty-kill unit wiped out a two-minute man-up chance for Syracuse early in the second quarter. Freshman Teddy Lally scored a short-handed goal with two seconds left in the penalty to make it 5-3.
Syracuse went 0-for-5 with the man advantage against a unit Notre Dame tweaked ahead of its tournament run.
“Since we changed our man-down, we’ve been really good,” Lyght said. “We’re all connected. When we’re able to get that stop, it’s giving us all the confidence and takes confidence away from them, sucks the energy out of them. … You’re not necessarily supposed to make that stop every time.”
The Irish never trailed, racing out to a 4-0 lead less than 12 minutes into the contest as Ricciardelli saved the first five shots on goal he faced.
“He stood on his head today,” Lyght said. “You see him get his stick up and make a save. You take a second and you’re like, ‘Wow, he just saved that.’ He’s been unreal for us all year.”
Notre Dame has now won 12 of 13 NCAA Tournament games since missing the postseason in 2022. The Irish are trying to become the first team with three men’s lacrosse titles in any four-year period since Princeton took three straight from 1996-98.
The Tigers, playing out of the Ivy League, won five times in a seven-year span from 1992-98 as the unquestioned team of the ‘90s. If Notre Dame prevails on Memorial Day, the Irish would own the same distinction for the current decade with three seasons left to play.
Notre Dame’s only NCAA Tournament losses in the 2020s came in the quarterfinals: 2021 at home against Maryland in overtime and 2025 at Penn State after blowing a six-goal lead in the second half.
“At this point of the year, I’m not sure who’s going to show up, what area of the game is going to show up for us,” Corrigan said. “Fifteen games in now, we know somebody’s going to show up. Our guys keep showing up: Different guys, different games, different units.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame lacrosse whips Syracuse, returns to title game
Read the full recap...
The second-seeded Irish rolled to a 15-7 win over the sixth-seeded Orange on Saturday, May 23, in a national semifinal behind five extra-man goals in four opportunities.
Looking for its third national title in four seasons, Notre Dame (13-2) will face top-seeded Princeton (16-2) on Memorial Day Monday at 1 p.m. ET in Charlottesville, VA. The Irish won a first-round game at Princeton in 2010 in the schools’ only previous lacrosse meeting.
Three of Saturday’s man-up goals came during a backbreaking two-minute stretch at the start of the final period after Syracuse had closed within two at 9-7. Sophomore midfielder Matt Jeffery’s desperation dodge drew the non-releasable penalty with two seconds left on the shot clock.
Brady Pokorny, whose father, Jason, played at Syracuse with current coach Gary Gait, netted a no-look, over-the-shoulder shot to shift the momentum back toward the Irish.
“For us to do what we did on man-up and man-down today is huge,” Irish coach Kevin Corrigan said. “It’s probably the difference in the game.”
The Orange were blanked over the final 16:39 as senior goalie Thomas Ricciardelli put the finishing touches on a 14-save performance.
Aside from quick hiccups at the end of the first and third periods, when Syracuse bunched six of its goals in spans totaling 4:14, Ricciardelli was dazzling.
So was senior attackman Josh Yago, the Air Force graduate transfer who completed the only Irish hat trick with 5:14 remaining. Yago added four assists, giving him back-to-back seven-point days with nary a turnover against either Syracuse (13-6) or Johns Hopkins.
Will Maheras and Brock Behrman added four-point showings for the Irish, winners of their last 57 games in which they held opponents to single figures in scoring. Ten different Notre Dame shooters found the net.
“We play such an unselfish brand of lacrosse,” Yago said. “This late in May, it works. Guys are tired. Longer games. Possessions matter. When we get deeper into possessions and share the ball the way we do … it’s going to be hard to stop just because of how well we move the ball.”
Matt Jeffery: 'Ridiculous athlete' excels in two sports for Notre Dame
Lights out for Syracuse star Joey Spallina
For senior-laden Syracuse, making its second straight Final Four trip after a 12-year wait, Finn Thomson led the way with four goals on just five shots. Fellow seniors Joey Spallina, Michael Leo and Luke Rhoa, however, struggled to a combined 2-of-26 shooting day.
Spallina, voted the nation’s outstanding attackman by the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, was marked for much of the afternoon by fellow Tewaaraton Award finalist Shawn Lyght.
Lyght, at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, manhandled the smaller Spallina (5-11, 192) into a 0-for-6 shooting day that was offset by just two assists and three groundballs.
“Shawn’s never going to say he absolutely shut him down, but he did,” Ricciardelli said. “Shawn’s just an absurdly humble guy, and the way he plays out there makes me so confident and comfortable in the net.”
Notre Dame’s low-rated penalty-kill unit wiped out a two-minute man-up chance for Syracuse early in the second quarter. Freshman Teddy Lally scored a short-handed goal with two seconds left in the penalty to make it 5-3.
Syracuse went 0-for-5 with the man advantage against a unit Notre Dame tweaked ahead of its tournament run.
“Since we changed our man-down, we’ve been really good,” Lyght said. “We’re all connected. When we’re able to get that stop, it’s giving us all the confidence and takes confidence away from them, sucks the energy out of them. … You’re not necessarily supposed to make that stop every time.”
The Irish never trailed, racing out to a 4-0 lead less than 12 minutes into the contest as Ricciardelli saved the first five shots on goal he faced.
“He stood on his head today,” Lyght said. “You see him get his stick up and make a save. You take a second and you’re like, ‘Wow, he just saved that.’ He’s been unreal for us all year.”
Notre Dame has now won 12 of 13 NCAA Tournament games since missing the postseason in 2022. The Irish are trying to become the first team with three men’s lacrosse titles in any four-year period since Princeton took three straight from 1996-98.
The Tigers, playing out of the Ivy League, won five times in a seven-year span from 1992-98 as the unquestioned team of the ‘90s. If Notre Dame prevails on Memorial Day, the Irish would own the same distinction for the current decade with three seasons left to play.
Notre Dame’s only NCAA Tournament losses in the 2020s came in the quarterfinals: 2021 at home against Maryland in overtime and 2025 at Penn State after blowing a six-goal lead in the second half.
“At this point of the year, I’m not sure who’s going to show up, what area of the game is going to show up for us,” Corrigan said. “Fifteen games in now, we know somebody’s going to show up. Our guys keep showing up: Different guys, different games, different units.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame lacrosse whips Syracuse, returns to title game
Read the full recap...