‘Through hell and back and across the world’: The Pat Kavanagh-Liam Entenmann friendship

Liam Entenmann first met Pat Kavanagh on an ice rink in Freeport, N.Y., as a member of the Freeport Arrows. Even though they were only in elementary school, Entenmann said it was a “very involved thing” as the team had two practices a week and two games per weekend throughout both the fall and the winter.

Kavanagh, a center, was ultra-competitive and someone who would do whatever it took to win. If he felt like he didn’t play well or gave 100%, he’d be frustrated with himself.

Entenmann, a defenseman, was nice, funny and outgoing. The two made a quick connection, and Kavanagh would go over Entenmann’s house all the time, along with future Hofstra lacrosse attackman Sam Lutfi, and play street hockey for hours.

This Sunday, the lifelong friends will take their competitions against each other in the streets of Long Island about an hour west to Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, N.J. Though Kavanagh and Entenmann have won several titles together, they’ll go head-to-head – Kavanagh with the Denver Outlaws and Entenmann with the New York Atlas – in the 2025 U.S. Bank Championship.

“Little did we know someone that we would win a gold medal with, win two titles with, was on our same hockey team,” Entenmann said. “That piece of it is pretty cool to look back on. We’ve said a few times, what if we could go back and tell the younger versions of ourselves what we would end up doing? It would be a pretty cool thing.”

From the Arrows mite hockey team to the Raiders travel lacrosse team, Entenmann and Kavanagh were always around each other. That continued until high school; Entenmann repeated eighth grade, leaving the two in different grade levels and hanging out with a different crowd of people.

Though they were friendly, both said they weren’t as close as they were during their elementary school days. They only played together on the varsity lacrosse team at Chaminade High School for one year. Even though he was a grade above Entenmann, there was one day Kavanagh, a self-described late bloomer and under-recruited player, was envious of Entenmann.

“The morning Liam committed to Notre Dame [as a sophomore] … I was sitting eating lunch at the Chaminade cafeteria. There used to be a courtyard connected to the cafeteria. I remember Liam walking in,” Kavanagh said. “He was this goofy, lanky kid. I just remember thinking, ‘Damn.’ I was a little bit jealous of Liam committing to Notre Dame when they weren’t showing me that love. Not that I was rooting for his downfall or anything. I loved Notre Dame. My brother was still there at the time. I just wanted to play there so bad.”

Things have a way of working out, however, and after a post-graduate year at Taft, Kavanagh also committed to playing for the Fighting Irish.

“I had heard a lot about the both of them,” said Ryder Garnsey, who was a senior at Notre Dame the year Kavanagh committed. “I remember Pat coming because I had that relationship with the Kavs and with him, and then Liam as this goalie coming that they had talked so much about how good he was for years. I was excited to see them play more than anything.”

With the two reconnected at South Bend, their friendship strengthened and trended upward again. It was through some of the highest of highs and lowest of lows at Notre Dame that they would bond and become best friends.

The first major life moment came five games into their freshman season, when the COVID-19 pandemic cut their first year short. Back on Long Island, the two held each other accountable to continue to find ways to get better. Kavanagh would shoot on Entenmann, and the two played in pickup games together to stay sharp.

Two years later, the two were tested again when, despite winning the final six games of the regular season and earning a share of the ACC championship with Virginia, Notre Dame was not selected to play in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005.

The two reconvened on Long Island and talked every day that summer.

“How can we make the team better?” Entenmann said. “How can we make ourselves better? What changes need to be made culturally? What changes need to be made on the field and off the field?”

Before they could fix things at Notre Dame, they traveled to Limerick, Ireland, for the World Lacrosse Men’s U-21 Championship. By the end of the trip, the two were roommates and won a gold medal.

With one championship victory under their belts, Entenmann said they couldn’t help but wonder how winning another at Notre Dame would feel. Both players were captains that season.

That year, Brian Tevlin transferred from Yale to Notre Dame. He called Kavanagh and Entenmann great leaders and teammates, and recalled them relying on each other. He said their relationship set clear expectations for the rest of the team.

“Seeing that dynamic, seeing that relationship, the way two star players could play together and function incredibly well on a team, it goes a long way,” he said. “Neither one was itching for more limelight or trying to be the guy. They both just appreciated being on a team with other superstar talents, and they used each other to feed off of that and keep growing.”

Garnsey, who had rejoined the team as an assistant coach, echoed the sentiment of Kavanagh and Entenmann leading through example.

“They come in together. They’re sharing this passion for our program, and they were just not going to let anything get in the way of elevating it,” he said. “They were both so bought into that. That’s what I most remember. These two kids are here, and they mean business.”

Not only did the two excel on the field, they also both firmly believed in being “servant leaders” and backing up what they said about setting a good example. They would stay in the locker room after practice to push in chairs, clean up the towels off the ground, and put things away and clean the kitchen area.

A defining moment from that season was right before the start of the 2023 NCAA tournament. Head coach Kevin Corrigan said a few words to the team about the journey they took to get back to the tournament.

“I’m gonna get up and say something to the team when Coach Corrigan wraps up,” Entenmann told Kavanagh.

What followed was one of the best speeches Kavanagh had ever heard, as Entenmann shared how proud he was of everyone in the program, top to bottom, and praised all the players on the scout team to let them know how appreciated they were.

“He told everyone we got to this point and the seed we had because of the complete buy-in from everyone in the program, not just the guys who were playing on gameday,” Kavanagh said. “It really showed the type of teammate and leader and rock-solid person Liam was.”

“A lot of guys gained a whole new level of respect for Liam after that,” he added. “It takes guts to stand up in front of your whole team and follow up after Coach Corrigan gives a speech of his own. It was definitely something that stuck with me and resonated with a lot of the guys.”

Entenmann continued to inspire Kavanagh that season. Going into the national championship against Duke, Kavanagh had a torn hamstring. Entenmann texted Kavanagh the night before the game and told him the story of Mike Day, a U.S. Navy SEAL who, during a raid in Iraq, survived being shot 27 times and hit with shrapnel from a grenade but still finished the mission and rescued six women and children.

“If this guy can do this, you can play through a little hamstring injury,” the text read.

It was all the motivation Kavanagh needed. He scored two goals, tallied an assist, picked up four ground balls and caused a turnover in Notre Dame’s 13-9 victory over Duke.

Entenmann was so proud of Kavanagh after that game.

“That takes a lot of courage to play in a game that is primarily a sprinting and running game with a torn hamstring,” he said.

Days after winning the national championship, the team got to celebrate in style with a team trip to Europe. Though the trip was already planned before the outcome of the game – the program travels to Europe every four years – Entenmann said it was a great way for the players to “let their hair down” and take in what they had accomplished.

For Kavanagh, it was another opportunity to get even closer to Entenmann and their teammates that would propel them to even more success in the future.

“When you have those sorts of bonds where you’ve been through hell and back and across the world in Europe and the fun that we had, it made that second run we had a lot smoother,” he said.

When they returned to South Bend that summer, Kavanagh and Entenmann trained together – running, lifting and working out. It paid off as the co-captains led the way to another NCAA championship.

Both Kavanagh and Entenmann were first-round picks in the 2024 College Draft, nicknamed “The Greatest Draft,” and massive 2025 seasons helped bring their teams to the championship game. Entenmann was a Goalie of the Year finalist for the Atlas, while Kavanagh was a finalist for both Attackman of the Year and MVP after his offseason trade to the Outlaws.

When they square off in the U.S. Bank Championship, neither will be thinking about all the victories they’ve shared together, though; they both said they will be focused on doing whatever it takes to help their own team win a championship.

The friendship will be on hold for three hours on gameday, but when you’ve been through as much together as they have, it won’t take long for them to get back on track after one of them hoists the trophy.

“It’s pretty crazy the journey we’ve been on together,” Kavanagh said. “Through high school and then college and having success together in college and now playing against each other in the pros, it’s pretty surreal.”

“We’ll both look back on it and say that was pretty cool,” Entenmann said.