Max Busenkell, who scored a hat trick in the regular-season meeting, will be on the field when Notre Dame plays Syracuse at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday, May 23, at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia, in an NCAA Tournament Final Four semifinal airing on ESPN2; the winner advances to the national title game.
This is the 25th meeting all-time between the programs and the series is deadlocked at 12-12 entering the semifinal, but recent results point sharply one way: Notre Dame has won 11 of the last 15 matchups and eight of the last 10. The regular-season contest was a showcase for the Irish attack — Notre Dame beat Syracuse 16-11, outscoring the Orange 9-3 in the second half, and both Busenkell and Luke Miller recorded hat tricks. Since the start of the 2021 season Notre Dame has hit 15 or more goals in six of the last nine meetings with Syracuse, a run that highlights the offensive firepower both teams will need to counter on Saturday.
Seedings underline what that recent form means. Notre Dame arrives as the No. 2 seed, Syracuse as the No. 6, and the winner punches a ticket to the NCAA Championship game. For notre dame lacrosse, the stakes are not new: the program has won two of the last three NCAA championships (2023 and 2024) and has become a fixture late in the postseason. Notre Dame owns a 32-26 record across 29 trips to the NCAA Championship, has made eight trips to Championship Weekends (seven since 2010), and has reached the quarterfinals in 14 of the last 16 tournaments. The pedigree shows up in single-game results as well — Notre Dame is 11-1 over its last four NCAA Tournament appearances and 14-1 in its last 15 first-round games overall.
That record builds the case for Notre Dame as the favorite, but the matchup contains a stubborn contradiction. The all-time series sits even at 12-12 despite Notre Dame’s dominance in recent years. That balance suggests Syracuse can draw on historical parity even as the Irish bring superior seeding, recent championships and a habit of scoring in bunches. It also means Saturday’s game is more than a predictable step toward another title game; it’s a reset point between two programs whose recent paths have diverged and converged at different times.
The practical tension will be in adjustments and momentum. Notre Dame has proven it can flip a game with a big half — the nine-goal second-half swing from the regular-season meeting is the clearest example — and the Irish have repeatedly shown the capacity to produce high totals against Syracuse. Syracuse, meanwhile, arrives as a seeded semifinalist with every incentive to break the recent pattern. Whoever controls the middle of the field and limits second-half surges will decide which program advances.
Conclusion: Notre Dame enters this semifinal with the clearer path to the title game. The combination of a No. 2 seed, back-to-back recent championships, an 11-1 run in the most recent NCAA Tournament appearances and a head-to-head trend of high-scoring wins against Syracuse makes the Irish the team to beat on Saturday. If Busenkell and Miller recreate the scoring they showed in the regular season, Notre Dame’s attack should be able to carry it into the national championship game on Memorial Day.
