COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A program record-tying seven goals from sophomore attackman Matt Kavanagh propelled seventh-ranked Notre Dame to a 13-7 victory against Ohio State on Tuesday afternoon at a blustery Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The contest was delayed for more than a half hour due to snow and Ohio State's Carter Brown scored the only goal of the opening quarter. It marked the first time all season the Fighting Irish were held scoreless for an entire quarter.
"We knew it was going to be an ugly game with the conditions and it was an ugly game. I think both teams had over 20 turnovers," Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan said.
Following the slow start, Notre Dame (4-2) responded with five consecutive goals in a span of 5:33 to claim a four-goal lead by the 2:20 mark of the second quarter. Kavanagh scored the opening three goals for the Irish with the first two coming 21 seconds apart. Conor Doyle and Jim Marlatt both registered scores in a 19-second span to make it 5-1.
Ohio State (2-6) received goals from Turner Evans and Reegan Comeault in the final 45 seconds of the first half to cut the Irish cushion to two (5-3) by the intermission. The Buckeyes' run spilled into the second half as Jesse King and David Planning scored to tie the game (5-5) with 8:38 remaining in the third quarter.
The series of spurts continued as the Fighting Irish scored three consecutive times beginning with a man-up goal from Doyle with just a minute left in the third period. Kavanagh found the back of the net less than a minute later to give Notre Dame a 7-5 lead heading into the final stanza.
"Matt Kavanagh was terrific today," Corrigan said. "He scored two or three goals in scramble situations, which he is so tough in."
The Fighting Irish advantage increased to three on a Sergio Perkovic tally, but scores from Evans and Planning sliced the Buckeye deficit back to one (8-7) with 12:20 remaining in the contest.
Kavanagh began Notre Dame's final surge to victory when he notched his fifth goal of the afternoon with just 11 minutes left. Following a Jack Near goal, Kavanagh scored again to make it 11-7 with 8:43 showing on the clock. Man-down goals from Kavanagh and Liam O'Connor, who went 15-for-24 in faceoff attempts, seven seconds apart put the finishing touches on the win.
