It is the NCAA Lacrosse Finals Notre Dame and Duke meet in Philadelphia. It is time to continue our NCAA Lacrosse odds series with a Duke-Notre Dame prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.
Notre Dame did not give up in their semi-final match. Virginia led the game with under 3:30 to go, and UVA was set to score. A huge save by All-American goalie Liam Entenmann then a clear and a timeout put the Irish back on track. Chris Kavanagh scored, and then Will Lynch won the face-off leading to an Eric Dobson goal, making it two goals in 31 seconds and a tie game. Lynch lost the next faceoff, and Connor Shellenberger dropped nice assists to Thoma McCovney to get Virginia the lead with under a minute to play. Will Lynch did not back down though. He won the face-off, Notre Dame took the time out to set up and with 32 seconds left Jake Taylor put it in the back of the net. Overtime lasted just 29 seconds before Brian Tevlin scored to send Notre Dame to the finals.
For Duke, it was also an overtime win. It was an early back-and-forth with Penn State. Duke took the lead 1-0 and 2-1 before Penn State took a 3-2 and 4-3 lead. Duke tied the game at four late in the first and would take a 6-4 lead by the end of the quarter. From there, the story was Duke scoring and Penn State fighting back. Duke never had more than a three-goal lead, but was ahead until 9:35 left in the fourth quarter when Penn State tied the game. Duke took the lead again seconds later, but Penn State tied it again. Penn State tied it once again with 5:07 left to go, and Duke missed on a last-second shot.
In overtime, controversy reared its head. Duke scored at the 2:55 marker, but Garrett Leadmon was clearly in the crease. Still, the goal was called and there was no review, letting Duke move on.
Here are the Duke-Notre Dame NCAA Lacrosse odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NCAA Lacrosse Odds: Duke-Notre Dame Odds
Duke: -1.5 (+118)
Notre Dame: +1.5 (-148)
Over: 25.5 (-122)
Under: 25.5 (+100)
How To Watch Duke vs. Notre Dame
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+
Time: 1:00 PM ET/ 10:00 AM PT
*Watch NCAA Lacrosse games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Duke Could Cover The Spread
Duke survived Penn State. Penn State was missing their top defender and the game still went down to the wire. Once again, they scored in clusters. They are led by Tewaaraton Award finalist Brennan O'Neill. The junior attackman grabbed first-team All-American honors for his work this year at attack. O'Neill is second on the team with 54 goals, with three of those coming in the Penn State game to tie for the lead on the team. Normally, his work assisting gives defense nightmares, but Penn State held him to just one. On the season he now has 41 assists, giving him 95 points this year, the most in the nation, and the second-most points per game. The recipient of many of those assists was Dyson Williams, who scored 59 times this year and was named an honorable mention All-American.
Not only does Duke have a potent attack, but they also have the best face-off man in the nation. Jake Naso was named first-team All-American for his work in the faceoff circle this year. Naso was not perfect on the day against Penn State. Oftentimes, the Penn State face-off man was able to great a ground ball situation, and his wings were able to converge and take possession. Still, when he got it clean, it was an issue. Naso scored twice on the day and had an assist as well. He had 13 ground balls, and his work sending the face-off to himself was effective.
On the defensive end, Duke ranked 13th in the nation in goals per game. The defensive unit is great at limiting possessions and other teams' shots. Kenny Brower, who was named a first-team All-American this year, stands out for them. Brower caused 18 turnovers this year as teams regularly stayed away from his side of the field. Combined with Keith Boyer, they will provide a stellar defense to stop the Kavanagh brothers. Both of them are solid on-ball defenders and good against cutting attackman.
Why The Notre Dame Could Cover The Spread
Any conversation about Notre Dame winning has to start with Tewaaraton Award finalist Pat Kavanagh. The first-team All-American attackman is one of the best in the nation. Kavanagh had two goals and an assist in the win over Virginia while being a constant presence. Kavanagh has only 24 goals this year but with 51 assists on the season, he leads the team with 76 points. The senior has been named a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award Twice. He has been a second-team All-American and a third-team All-American before making the first team this year. He has also broken the Notre Dame record for assists in each of the last three seasons.
Ultimately, most of his assists are being sent to his little brother Chris. Chris Kavanagh has scored 44 times this year, many off of great passes from his brother. The one-two punch, combined with the All-American midfielders Eric Dobson and Brian Tevlin make this offense very hard to stop. Dobson was next to impossible to stop in his game against Virginia. He had four goals on just six shots, plus an assist in the win. Tevlin added a goal and assist in the game as well. The offense is tough to contain between the attack and the two stud midfielders.
This team is not all about offense though, they have a great defense led by first-team All-American goalie Liam Entenmann. Entenmann is fifth in the nation in save percentage this year at 56.7%. He is also fourth in the nation in goals against average at 9.41. He has done all of this while playing against some of the best offenses in the nation.
Final Duke-Notre Dame Prediction & Pick
Duke should not have won the way they did. Their player was clearly in the crease on the last goal of the game. Still, that does not say they would not have won regardless. Ultimately, they are here and have a big task ahead of them. Duke lost against Notre Dame earlier this year. In that game, they had no answer for either of the Kavanagh brothers. Pat scored three times with five assists, while Chris scored five. Even more, Eric Dobson scored three more. The Duke defense is solid at the top end, but not deep enough to stop the entire offense of Notre Dame. The Irish are looking for their first title, and they get it here.
Final Duke-Notre Dame Prediction & Pick: Notre Dame +1.5 (-148)
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