PHILADELPHIA — Notre Dame topped Duke in the national title game one Memorial Day ago for its first NCAA championship in program history. At the same location against Maryland a year later, the Fighting Irish were once again victorious.

The Terps scored the first two goals of the game but Notre Dame grew a seven-score lead late in the second quarter, and never led by less than six goals in the second half.

No. 1 seed Notre Dame throttled No. 7 seed Maryland men’s lacrosse at Lincoln Financial Field on Monday in the 2024 NCAA championship game, 15-5. The Terps fell to 2-6 in the championship game in coach John Tillman’s tenure.

“Notre Dame played a great game, but it should not take away from what this group was able to accomplish this year,” Jack McDonald said.

Tillman said ahead of the game that Notre Dame has been borderline dominant, and that if Maryland didn’t play well, the Fighting Irish could “pour it on and pull away.”

That’s exactly what happened on Monday. Notre Dame (16-1) scored 12 of the final 14 goals.

Five of the Irish’s goals came from Chris Kavanagh, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. First team All-American Pat Kavanagh assisted two of his scores. The older brother tallied three more assists in the stretch and another early in the first quarter for a season-high six assists.

[Maryland men’s lacrosse dominates Virginia, 12-6, advances to NCAA championship]

Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan credited his offense’s ability to get leverage on short-stick midfielders to open up space for shooters.

Maryland’s (11-6) offense shot under seven percent over the final 51 minutes.

“Hats off to Liam [Entenmann],” Daniel Kelly said. “I don’t think we shot particularly well, but he doesn’t have any weaknesses.”

Ryan Siracusa gave the Terps an electric start after a two-hour weather delay. He struck just 34 seconds in on a stick-side rocket past the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association’s Outstanding Goalie Liam Entenmann, and fed Kelly shortly after for an early 2-0 lead.

That advantage lasted less than two minutes.

Will Angrick scored the Fighting Irish’s first goal at the 10:32 mark. Pat Kavanagh spotted Jake Taylor open in front of the cage on Notre Dame’s next possession, who capitalized on the easy look to tie the game. Taylor opened free as the result of a poor slide from Maryland’s defense.

The Terps allowed five goals in the opening frame, just like their quarterfinal win over No. 2 seed Duke.

Devon McLane fired a shot past goalkeeper Logan McNaney into the top of the net less than a minute into the second quarter for Notre Dame’s second three-goal run over the first 16 minutes. Chris Kavanagh’s first three goals extended the Irish’s lead to 9-3.

[Maryland men’s lacrosse advances to Final Four with 14-11 comeback win over Duke]

Notre Dame scored on all 10 of its on-cage shots in the first half. McNaney didn’t record a save, though most of the problems lied in the unit in front of him — a majority of the Irish’s shots came from easy looks.

Maryland’s offense slugged after its quick start. Their miscues held the unit back, suffering six first-quarter turnovers as the Irish’s physicality caused fits.

Eric Malever finally broke a nearly 20-minute drought with a man-up goal near the crease for the final score of the first half. Maryland still entered halftime down, 10-4.

“When we started getting tired, we made some mistakes and they made us pay,” Tillman said.

The Terps couldn’t carry over the positive from Malever’s goal into the third quarter. Notre Dame scored the first four goals of the second half, including two more from the younger Kavanagh.

Maryland failed to score after halftime until a Daniel Kelly goal with 30 seconds left in the third period. It was the Terps’ lone goal of the second half.

Entenmann excelled protecting the cage throughout the game. He recorded multiple saves in every quarter, including 11 in the second half to thwart any possible chance for a Terps comeback.

Maryland couldn’t avenge its regular season defeat to Notre Dame with the loss, instead falling to the now back-to-back champions for the third straight time — with this one coming on the biggest possible stage.

“Notre Dame cleary was the best team,” Tillman said. “They proved it today.”