CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Notre Dame claimed three season awards and led all schools with six all-conference honorees as the 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Lacrosse Season Awards and All-ACC Team were announced Tuesday.
 
The All-ACC Team and award winners were determined by a vote of the league’s five head coaches.
 
Notre Dame senior attackman Chris Kavanagh was tabbed ACC Offensive Player of the Year, while Fighting Irish midfielder Matt Jeffery was picked as ACC Freshman of the Year. Notre Dame sophomore defenseman Shawn Lyght shared ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors with Duke junior short-stick defensive midfielder Aidan Maguire. Syracuse sophomore Jimmy McCool was voted ACC Goalie of the Year, and North Carolina’s Joe Breschi notched Coach of the Year honors.
 
Led by Kavanagh and Lyght, six Fighting Irish players earned spots on the All-ACC Team, with Will Donovan, Thomas Ricciardelli, Ben Ramsey and Jake Taylor also making the team. Duke had five honorees, Syracuse had four, North Carolina had three and Virginia had one.
 
Kavanagh earned ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors a year after his brother, Chris, took home the award in 2024. He ranks second in the ACC in goals per game (2.82), assists per game (2.0) and points per game (4.82). Playing in 11 games this season, he is third in the ACC in goals (31), fifth in assists (22) and fifth in points (53).
 
One of the nation’s top defensemen as just a sophomore, Lyght spearheads a Notre Dame defense that leads the ACC and ranks sixth nationally in scoring defense at 8.55 goals allowed per game. Regarded as one of the best short-stick midfielders nationally, Maguire is second in the ACC in caused turnovers (1.60) and sixth in ground balls per game (3.2)
 
McCool has totaled a league-best 157 saves this season for the Orange and his 11.21 saves per game average also tops all league goalies. He is second in save percentage (.576) and was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week twice this season.
 
After coming to Notre Dame as one of the top-ranked recruits in the 2024 class, Jeffery has played in nine games, while starting each of the Fighting Irish’s last five contests. He owns six goals this season, with goals in five of the last six games. He scored a pair of goals on April 12 in Notre Dame’s 12-7 win over Virginia.
 
Breschi guided North Carolina to a 10-3 regular-season record, including a 3-1 mark in the ACC as UNC earned a share of its first regular-season title since 2021. Now in his 17^th season at the helm of his alma mater, Breschi was named ACC Coach of the Year for the third time (2013, 2021).

The 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Lacrosse Championship will be played Friday, May 2, and Sunday, May 4, at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the Friday semifinals, top-seeded Notre Dame plays No. 4 seed Syracuse at 5 p.m. ET, and No. 2 seed North Carolina faces No. 3 seed Duke at 8 p.m. ET. The championship game will be played at noon ET on Sunday. ACC Network has the broadcast of all three games.
 
Each of the four teams competing in the ACC Championship rank among the national leaders in the NCAA’s latest RPI, which was released Monday: North Carolina (5), Notre Dame (6), Duke (7) and Syracuse (11).
 
2025 ACC Men’s Lacrosse Season Awards
Offensive Player of the Year: Chris Kavanagh, Sr., A, Notre Dame
Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Aidan Maguire, Jr., SSDM, Duke; Shawn Lyght, So., D, Notre Dame
Goalie of the Year: Jimmy McCool, So., Syracuse
Freshman of the Year: Matt Jeffery, M, Notre Dame
Coach of the Year: Joe Breschi, North Carolina
 
2025 All-ACC Men’s Lacrosse Team
Patrick Jameison, So., G, Duke
Charlie Johnson, Jr., D, Duke
Benn Johnston, So., M, Duke
Aidan Maguire, Jr., SSDM, Duke
Andrew McAdorey, Sr., M, Duke
Owen Duffy, So., A, North Carolina
Dominic Pietramala, So., A, North Carolina
Brady Wambach, So., FO, North Carolina
Will Donovan, Jr., LSM, Notre Dame
Chris Kavanagh, Sr., A, Notre Dame
Shawn Lyght, So., D, Notre Dame
Ben Ramsey, Sr., SSDM, Notre Dame
Thomas Ricciardelli, Jr., G, Notre Dame
Jake Taylor, Gr., A, Notre Dame
Sam English, Gr., M, Syracuse
Owen Hiltz, R-Sr., A, Syracuse
Jimmy McCool, So., G, Syracuse
Joey Spallina, Jr., A, Syracuse
John Schroter, So., D, Virginia