LI's Liam Entenmann makes 16 saves to lead Notre Dame to another men's lacrosse crown
Liam Entenmann of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish makes a save against the Maryland Terrapins in the second half of the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship at Lincoln Financial Field on Monday in Philadelphia. Credit: Getty Images/Mitchell Leff
PHILADELPHIA — While his teammates celebrated with hugs and smiles and trophy hoists in the moments after Monday’s 15-5 victory over Maryland gave Notre Dame its second straight national title in men’s lacrosse, Liam Entenmann trotted slowly toward his crease.
Once there, the goalie from Chaminade High School went through a process he had completed after every game of his Notre Dame career, taking a few moments by himself and touching several parts of the goal in an almost sacred, religious manner.
“I got dogpiled at the end of the game, so I didn’t get to do my whole pipe-tapping ritual,” Entenmann said. “I had to do that to feel good about myself.”
Apparently the 16 saves throughout the game and only one goal allowed in the second half weren’t enough to accomplish that, though they certainly should have been.
Entenmann capped a weekend in which all men’s lacrosse national champions were led by goalies from Nassau. Adelphi won the Division II crown on Sunday with Dylan Renner making 15 stops and Tufts won the Division III title behind 11 stops by Conner Garzone. All three actually went to high school in the same Long Island town about a mile apart; Entenmann and Garzone played for Chaminade while Renner was at Mineola.
“It was a day filled with emotions before the game even started,” Entenmann said. “As happy as I am, there is still a level of bittersweet involved in this, knowing that I am not able to come back next year.”
At least it ended for him the way he wanted it to, with a few loving, solitary pats against the pipes and a championship celebration he has helped develop into its own ritual. — tom rock
