The NCAA men's lacrosse final four features the last three national champions.
No. 1 Notre Dame (14-1) faces No. 5 Denver (13-3) in the first semifinal at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday. The Irish are the defending national champions from 2023 and will be looking for their second national championship in school history.
The Irish advanced with a 16-11 victory against No. 8 Georgetown. The Pioneers beat No. 4 Syracuse 10-8. That game is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET on Saturday. It will be televised on ESPNU.
No. 6 Virginia (12-5) meets No. 7 Maryland (10-5) in the second semifinal in a matchup of blue-blooded programs that managed to pull second-round upsets at 2:30 p.m. ET. The Cavaliers knocked off No. 3 Johns Hopkins 11-10 in double overtime, and the Terrapins upset No. 2 Duke 14-11.
Maryland won the national championship in 2022. Virginia won the national title in 2021.
The winners advance to Monday’s national championship game. Which will win the men’s lacrosse national championship? A closer look at the semifinals.
MORE: Breaking down women's Final Four
NCAA Men's Final Four semifinal predictions
No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 5 Denver
The face-off matchups should be great between Notre Dame’s Will Lynch (62.5%) and Denver’s Alec Stathakis (60.6%), who has 45.2% in two tournament games. The Pioneers have to win more than half of those to slow down a balanced Notre Dame attack led by the Kavanagh brothers. Chris Kavanagh has six goals and seven assists in two tournament games, and Pat Kavanagh has six goals and three assists.
Denver attacker JJ Sillstrop has five goals on five shots on goal in two games, and he will be the key player for the Pioneers – who will need to take advantage of their opportunities against Notre Dame goalkeeper Liam Entenmann – who has a .551 save percentage this season. Can Denver goalkeeper Malcolm Kleban – who is at .513 in two tournament games – match that with an over-the-top performance? Even that might not be enough against the defending national champs.
Denver ranks second in the nation in scoring defense (9.2 ppg.). Notre Dame is fourth (9.4 ppg.). Don’t expect a shootout.
Prediction: Notre Dame 12, Denver 8
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No. 6 Virginia vs. No. 7 Maryland
Virginia beat Maryland 14-10 on March 16. Connor Schellenberger – who scored the game-winner against Johns Hopkins – had two goals and an assist in that game. Schellenberger facilitates the Cavaliers’ attack – and Peyton Cormier leads the nation with 3.94 goals per game. Yet it was Griffin Schultz and McCabe Milton who combined for seven goals in that game. Virginia has offensive balance that will test Maryland.
The Terps are hot at the right time. Eric Spanos and Braden Erksa combined for three goals in that first meeting, and they will need to have more of an impact here. Maryland spread the scoring around in its first two tournament games. Daniel Maltz has been hot in the tournament with six goals, and seven different players have at least two goals.
There is intrigue at goalie, too. Virginia started Matt Nunes, but Kyle Morris replaced him in the victory against Johns Hopkins. Logan McNaney, who has a .536 save percentage in the tournament, is capable of leading the Terps to an upset here. Maryland has won three of the last four meetings, and this feels like an instant classic one-goal game.
Prediction: Virginia 13, Maryland 12
NCAA men's lacrosse tournament final four schedule, TV channels
The NCAA men's lacrosse tournament semifinals will be on Saturday, May 25, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
| Date | Game | Time (ET) | Channel/Live stream |
| Sat., May 25 | No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 5 Denver | 12 p.m. | ESPN2, Fubo |
| Sat., May 25 | No. 7 Maryland vs. No. 6 Virginia | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN2, Fubo |
The national championship game, like the national semifinals, will be held at Lincoln Financial Field on Memorial Day.
| Date | Game | Time (ET) | Channel/Live stream |
| Mon., May 27 | Semifinal winners | TBD | ESPN, Fubo |
NCAA men's final four tournament tickets 2024
Tickets: StubHub
Tickets for both the men's and women's NCAA lacrosse tournaments are available for purchase on StubHub, using the link below.
NCAA lacrosse men's national titles by school
This is a loaded Final Four. Virginia and Maryland have combined for 11 national championships and 27 national championship appearances since the first NCAA men's lacrosse tournament in 1971.
Here is a look at the championship history for the four schools participating in the men's lacrosse national semifinals:
| School | Semis | Finals | Titles | Last |
| Virginia | 26 | 11 | 7 | 2021 |
| Maryland | 29 | 16 | 4 | 2022 |
| Notre Dame | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2023 |
| Denver | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2015 |