After Notre Dame men’s lacrosse won its second of two consecutive national championships in 2024, the team made a significant change of the guard in goal. Liam Entenmann, the greatest goalie in program history, moved on as a four-time All-American and the 2024 National Goalie of the Year.
His replacement for 2025? Junior Thomas Ricciardelli, who had gotten just six total minutes of game action before taking the reins.
“Having such a good rock for four years before I was able to start, it was definitely, from an outside perspective, a little bit of a shock, I guess,” Ricciardelli said. “For me, managing those expectations and a sense of consistency and what I can prove on the field was certainly hard.”
To ease his transition, Ricciardelli had two national title rings to lean on. He had backed up Entenmann, who encouraged Ricciardelli to be himself in the cage, in both 2023 and 2024.
In winning the first two championships in program history, Ricciardelli learned all about the makeup of a winning player and a winning team.
“Knowing what it normally takes to be a successful team, knowing that it's culture first and the work you put in is exactly what you get out of it,” he listed. “There’s no shortcuts to winning.”
Although Ricciardelli’s figure was a new one in goal when the 2025 campaign began, his name was certainly familiar to Irish lacrosse fans. His older brother, attackman Jeffery Ricciardelli, had already posted 36 points in his three seasons at Notre Dame.
Long before the Ricciardellis first shared the field in South Bend last February, they shared mini-sticks in New Canaan, Conn. Whether indoors or in the yard, on the lacrosse field or the hockey rink, the brothers built their love of the game together.
“Our parents didn't really force sports on us, but it was something that we kind of bonded over,” Thomas described.
Somewhere along the line, Thomas took up goaltending. The preference didn’t necessarily come from stopping his brother’s shots, but more from a colorful stick available online.
“I was infatuated with the goalie stick,” Thomas recalled. “I remember my dad telling me the story of me going into lax.com or something and asking for this goalie stick with green mesh and rainbow strings.”
“I was just so in love with it, and it kind of put me in net.”
For the historic 2023 season, the Ricciardelli brothers joined forces in a new kind of yard: Arlotta Stadium. Thomas still only needs one word to describe the experience of calling Jeffery a Notre Dame teammate.
“Unbelievable.”
As a bonus for Thomas, Jeffery’s final season overlapped with the new goalie’s first as the Fighting Irish starter. With all the expectations of inheriting the crease, Thomas couldn’t have asked for a better time to have a sibling around.
“He made my life so much easier in the sense that everything that I was going through, whether it was tough or just the highs and the lows, he was able to keep me steady and composed,” Thomas said of his brother.
The season still brought challenges to both the goalie and an Irish team facing the pressure of back-to-back titles. Notre Dame went 8-4 through the ACC Tournament, meaning it would have to open the NCAA Tournament on the road.
In that road game, the Irish put on perhaps their best performance of the season, winning 15-6 at Ohio State with 15 saves from Ricciardelli. They looked to be Final Fourbound in their next game against Penn State, leading 12-6 with 16 minutes left. However, it all came undone as the Nittany Lions scored eight consecutive goals to stun the Irish.
“Last year was certainly tough, especially coming down the stretch with me just having nerves and being a little bit uncomfortable,” Ricciardelli shared. “Going back to that Penn State game, I think I put too much pressure on myself to play up to a certain standard that maybe just wasn't even possible.”
Ricciardelli uses that game — and his first season as a starter — as a learning experience. He’s much better now at maintaining a neutral composure, not getting caught up in the highs and lows of a college lacrosse season’s roller coaster ride.
Still, his desire for a national championship is at an all-time high. He doesn’t take the first two rings for granted, but he’d love to get it done as a starter, both for himself and the teammates around him.
“I try to play as much for others as I do myself,” Ricciardelli said. “If [my teammates] want to win, I want to win just as much as they do, if not a little bit more.”
This year, the Irish have put themselves in position to strongly contend for their third trophy in four seasons, spending two different stints at No. 1. They raced out to a 6-0 start, beating ranked opponents in Georgetown, Maryland and Ohio State.
It was an unranked foe that bested the Irish on Mar. 28, though. Holding Notre Dame scoreless in the final quarter, Virginia dethroned the top team in the land by an 11-9 score just over a month ago.
“That Virginia game definitely woke us up,” Ricciardelli said. “We have a lot of confidence in who we are and how we play, and maybe we kind of stepped over that line and were giving ourselves too much of a pat on the back.”
Since that final Saturday of March, the energy has shifted around Notre Dame men’s lacrosse. The Irish have dialed in a renewed sense of urgency and pride, understanding that nothing is guaranteed in their game.
“We've been starting to practice with enthusiasm in the sense that you can't really take anything for granted, especially with the schedule that we have,” Ricciardelli added.
That imposing schedule set Notre Dame up to play back-to-back No. 1 teams in the wake of the Virginia loss. The Irish handled both tests with alarming ease, first burying Richmond early for a 12-8 win in Chicagoland, then closing out North Carolina at home for a 10-5 victory.
For Ricciardelli and Notre Dame, there’s no doubt that the pieces are in place for another deep postseason run. The only question? How the Irish play their best lacrosse in May.
“We just need to keep executing,” Ricciardelli said. “Just being able to go out on game day with the utmost confidence that the work we've been putting in is enough, and that we can win the national championship, because I think we have the culture and the people and the belief.”
Still, his desire for a national championship is at an all-time high. He doesn’t take the first two rings for granted, but he’d love to get it done as a starter, both for himself and the teammates around him.
“I try to play as much for others as I do myself,” Ricciardelli said. “If [my teammates] want to win, I want to win just as much as they do, if not a little bit more.”
This year, the Irish have put themselves in position to strongly contend for their third trophy in four seasons, spending two different stints at No. 1. They raced out to a 6-0 start, beating ranked opponents in Georgetown, Maryland and Ohio State.
It was an unranked foe that bested the Irish on Mar. 28, though. Holding Notre Dame scoreless in the final quarter, Virginia dethroned the top team in the land by an 11-9 score just over a month ago.
“That Virginia game definitely woke us up,” Ricciardelli said. “We have a lot of confidence in who we are and how we play, and maybe we kind of stepped over that line and were giving ourselves too much of a pat on the back.”
Since that final Saturday of March, the energy has shifted around Notre Dame men’s lacrosse. The Irish have dialed in a renewed sense of urgency and pride, understanding that nothing is guaranteed in their game.
“We've been starting to practice with enthusiasm in the sense that you can't really take anything for granted, especially with the schedule that we have,” Ricciardelli added.
That imposing schedule set Notre Dame up to play back-to-back No. 1 teams in the wake of the Virginia loss. The Irish handled both tests with alarming ease, first burying Richmond early for a 12-8 win in Chicagoland, then closing out North Carolina at home for a 10-5 victory.
For Ricciardelli and Notre Dame, there’s no doubt that the pieces are in place for another deep postseason run. The only question? How the Irish play their best lacrosse in May.
“We just need to keep executing,” Ricciardelli said. “Just being able to go out on game day with the utmost confidence that the work we've been putting in is enough, and that we can win the national championship, because I think we have the culture and the people and the belief.”
