With No. 3 Duke and No. 1 Notre Dame cruising into their highly anticipated matchup with minimal losses on their schedule, the sold-out stage at Koskinen Stadium was set for a clash of giants. The game marked the first meeting between the two teams since they met in the 2023 national championship game, and a sour taste still lingered in the Blue Devils’ mouths from a title that slipped away. In many ways, the meeting represented much more than just a top-three ranked conference matchup.
But on that sunny Sunday at Koskinen, Duke dropped its second-straight conference matchup to Notre Dame in a crushing 15-12 finish, leaving those demons from last May alive and well.
“These are like playoff games now. There's no guaranteed postseason,” said head coach John Danowski. “I think we need to be a little angrier that we lost at home. I think the coaches need to figure out if there's some personal things to be figured out.”
Notre Dame landed the first punch to open the first quarter from an unassisted goal by graduate attacker Pat Kavanagh. When Duke (10-3, 0-2 in the ACC) won the next faceoff and Max Sloat sank in a quick one to equalize the score at 1-1, it seemed that the nerves finally settled and there was a game in Durham.
The meeting between these two programs was only the sixth ever with both teams ranked in the top five nationally, and the stakes were as high as they’ve ever been. It was only a matter of time before the game got physical; the sideline erupted when Kavanagh took a stick to the head from junior defensive midfielder Jack Gray, and the Fighting Irish (7-1, 2-0) made the most of the penalty to take the 3-2 first-quarter lead.
Duke and Notre Dame continued to trade the goals throughout the first, but eventually, five unanswered goals put the Blue Devils down 8-4 at the halftime break. The eight goals the Fighting Irish scored were the most by any team in a first half against Duke this season.
“[Notre Dame] made plays, and we didn’t,” Danowski said. “We're very disappointed. I think there were times we didn't play with a lot of poise. And we turned the ball over three times in the first quarter. Two of them resulted in second-chance opportunities, and we gave up goals.”
The Kavanagh brothers, Pat and Chris, served as the source of much of Duke’s troubles in the first half. Seven of the eight first-half goals were either scored or assisted by one of the two.
“The Kavanaghs were great, and the goalie was great. They’re tough,” Danowski said.
The Blue Devils were able to gain the first goal of the second half and bring some hope to the home team and its sold-out crowd. The comeback effort from the Blue Devils put the Fighting Irish into a bit of a panic, as what seemed to be a mild shoulder injury from Pat Kavanagh turned into an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for Chris Kavanagh, and Duke earned itself a man-up opportunity. Danowski’s squad wasn’t able to capitalize on its chances and Notre Dame stayed in front. But between back-and-forth goals, Duke was able to finally get the game’s momentum to swing back its way, tying the matchup at 11-11 in the fourth quarter.
“You can say our guys did a nice job of battling back,” Danowski said. “You spend a lot of emotional energy to get to 11-11.”
This effort was led by the trio of Dyson Williams, Brennan O’Neill and Andrew McAdorey, who combined for eight goals across the game and three in succession to level things up. Ultimately, however, the Blue Devils lost their grip, as the Fighting Irish scored three unanswered to put themselves up 14-11 and out of reach. Duke used all of its stamina to climb out of the hole it dug for itself in the first two quarters, and there was nothing left in the tank to finish off the game.
The Blue Devils get a week of rest before hosting No. 2 Virginia at Koskinen this coming Sunday.
“We need to get better in a hurry,” Danowski said.
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