2024 NCAA MEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP

May 26, 2024

Kevin Corrigan

Lincoln Financial Field

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Media Conference

KEVIN CORRIGAN: Thrilled to be here. Thrilled to have a chance to play tomorrow and excited to get going, honestly. Not much more to say than that.

Q. You kind of had to deal with this a little bit last year, but you go through a season, especially postseason you never know when the last game is going to be. And you get here and you kind of are faced with the finality of some careers and things like that. How do you deal with that with your group of seniors who, you know, some of them have been around for five, six years. Some of them -- I'm looking at Kavanagh, he's probably been around that program for a decade or more. How do you deal with that? How do you approach that aspect?

KEVIN CORRIGAN: Honestly, right now, everything is related to us being prepared to play. So you are conscious of that, but you can't let that become a distraction in any way. Obviously you remind the guys that this is their last chances together, but you don't want to get too sentimental about the whole thing because it's about staying focused on what we need to do as a team. So that's the focus. We'll worry about everything else tomorrow night.

Q. Couple questions on Devon McLane. What made him such a good match in the portal for you? How did that match-up kind of come about? And the second thing was, what was working for him when he had six points in the first Maryland match-up?

KEVIN CORRIGAN: Well, the biggest thing, honestly, with guys from the portal that we try to start with is how much do they want to be at Notre Dame. How much do they want to be part of our program? We feel like there's something of a delicate balance there when you're bringing in guys for one year, and you don't want your team to think that you're just bringing in these kind of mercenaries, if you will, to come in and kind of replace someone or anything else.

You're bringing in somebody who really wants to be part of the program, even if it's for a shorter duration. So, it starts with that. And Devon showed that interest right from the beginning.

In terms of him fitting in with our team, he's a very selfless player. He's a very selfless guy. He's always focused on, you know, just trying to make his plays within the team concept to help us win. And so it's an easy kind of transition.

The games where he's most successful are games where he's able to kind of find spots and get to spots where he can finish the ball. But he knows and we know he's reliant on other guys for a lot of the points that he scores. Very few of his points this year have come off of him dodging -- I would say of anybody on our team, him and Jake know that their goals are going to be largely assisted goals.

They rely on everybody else to do their job, and then both of them are exceedingly good at their job, which is moving without the ball, getting to spots and finishing the ball.

He's been a great match in every way. He loves Notre Dame. He's loving the experience he's having with our team. He's a selfless and very good teammate. So just couldn't say enough good things about Devon and having him on our team this year.

Q. Two-part question on Shawn Lyght. First, did you think he would be this good this early on in his career at Notre Dame? And the second part, as the season has moved along how has his emergence affected what you're able to do either from a scheme or match-up standpoint?

KEVIN CORRIGAN: Did I think he would be this good? I don't think I've ever had a freshman be this good in 40 years of coaching. I don't know that I've ever been around a freshman who has had a better freshman year than what Shawn has had for us. So, no, I didn't expect that. You kind of never do.

In terms of what he does, probably the biggest thing is that the anxiety level in our office has gone way down because we're not worried about what it's going to look like with a freshman defenseman in there. He hasn't played like that, hasn't acted like that. He has a great maturity and poise about him.

And again he's not looking to stand out. He's just looking to do what he does for our team exceedingly well, and he's fit in in every way. He's a terrific kid and obviously a great, great lacrosse player.

Q. You have the best record in the country right now. You haven't lost since February 25th. A lot of people outside the program are saying this is kind of a team of destiny. Have you gotten a sense that the players have sort of embraced the identity?

KEVIN CORRIGAN: I think our players have embraced the idea that we are doing a good job of showing up and competing and trying to put our best foot forward. I hope they're not sitting around thinking about the totality of the season and everything else. There's enough to do with what's in front of us every day.

So, yeah, all that other stuff is for another time and for other people. Our guys and our staff and everybody, we're just focused on what do we need to do today so that we're ready tomorrow. Not to sound too cliché for you there, but that's kind of the way it is.

Q. Obviously this team has a chance to cement its legacy. Can that be a motivation for the guys?

KEVIN CORRIGAN: Again, we're not playing for that. We're not talking about that. We're not thinking about that. We simply -- this team has this opportunity now, this one opportunity to win a national championship, and everything else is secondary. No, I hope nobody else is thinking about it. I know sure as heck that I'm not.

Q. Right before the tournament I asked you about Tyler Buchner, and you had mentioned how he had really surged towards the end of the season. I'm wondering, given the long gap between when he played in high school and when he played for you, does he have a future in the sport beyond this year?

KEVIN CORRIGAN: That's going to be up to him. We'll see. He's got a long way to go, I think, to be the player ultimately that he could be in this sport.

But, again, I don't know that he surged as much as he just consistently keeps kind of chopping away at getting back to really recognizing the plays within our game that he can make and that he should make and that we need him to make.

So right now I think that's enough to occupy all of us and what he becomes after this will depend on what he does with his time in the offseason. You know, he didn't even have a fall to acclimate himself and get back to playing lacrosse. So, he's been playing lacrosse since January 10th and that's the first time in probably five years that he's played any serious lacrosse.

He's got a big gap to cover there, but he's doing a great job at keeping it manageable just by working every day towards what he needs to be capable to do to help our team right now.