Powellfan
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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The Syracuse Orange face off against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish this Saturday in a battle of top 3 teams. The Irish have had the Orange's number recently (and that's probably an understatement). I think I saw a stat the Irish have beaten the Orange by a combined 50 goals over their last five games. I'm not exactly sure what it is about this matchup that Syracuse struggles with so much, but here's hoping it gets turned around this weekend.
The Orange have been playing exceptional defense recently, but they will have a steep test as they go against a very good Notre Dame offense. The Kavanagh brothers get the headlines, but they have probably the best top six in the country, from top to bottom. I imagine Riley Figuerias will get marked with Pat Kavanagh, who has 29 points and leads the team in assists. Where Dwan plays should be interesting, as the ND attack is not very big. I imagine he'll get the hard dodging Chris Kavanagh who leads the team in points with 30 (16,14). One has to hope he can man-handle him a bit. That leaves the difficult to stick to Jake Taylor who leads the team in goals with 22. The Orange defense did a great job against the last pure finisher they faced in Dyson Williams, though Taylor has really given the Orange a hard time. Caden Kol seems to have regained his starting spot, so I imagine he'll get this matchup.
The Irish midfield posses more matchup problems. Eric Dobson was a preseason All American, though with the emergence of Jordan Faison, he's drawing a short stick. He hasn't fully taken advantage this year (6,5), but he's a huge threat from outside. I think this is a matchup for Nate LaVine given his size, but this will be a tough draw for the SU shorties. And of course there is Faison, who is lightening quick and has a super quick release. Saam Olexo and Matt Wright will most likely get this matchup. And of course the fun doesn't end, as on top of those two matchup problems, there is Devon McLane, the Brown transfer who leads the unit with 17 points. The one thing that is at least a little bit comforting is that the ND second line doesn't seem to be firing on all cylinders, as none have more than 6 points on the year.
The Orange cannot foul the Irish, who are some how converting an insane 78% of their chances (14-18). I know this isn't sustainable, but it's not a risk worth taking either. The one hole that Notre Dame seemed to have last year became a strength in the tournament, as Will Lynch became a very good FOGO for them. He is winning 62% of his draws this year, so the Orange will have their hands full there. And it's not like he's been boosting his numbers against poor teams, the Irish won the face-off battle against good teams with good FOGOs including Georgetown, Maryland, Michigan and Ohio State. Needless to say Kohn and Mullen will have to have exceptional games on Saturday.
The Orange offense has not quite looked itself the last few games, but it sounds like there may be some injury issues going on, speficially to Spallina and Hiltz. Hopefully both have been given time to rest and are ready for another round of tough matchups. The Irish lose an impactful defender in Chris Fake, and replace him with a super frosh in Shawn Lyght. I assume he will draw Spallina and Chris Conlin will get Hiltz. It should be intersting to see how the Orange attack the Irish. Liam Entemann is perhaps the best goalie in the country (55% on the year), but he was sub 50% against the Orange last year in a game that was decided by face-offs. He's had some very impressive games against SU, but let's not focus on those! Notre Dame does have good short sticks, but I think SU has the midfielders to expose them. Georgetown's key to victory seemed to be slowing the game down to snails pace on offense. I don't see the Orange doing that, but I think they need to be patient on offense and work for good shots. Also, probably goes unsaid but SU needs to watch out for the ride - they haven't had to deal with one for a while but Irish ride like maniacs. Cannot afford to be giving up possessions in the middle of the field.
Anyway, lots of storylines for this one. A win against ND would be huge for the Orange and would certainly earn them #1 votes and all but lock up a spot in the ACC tourney. A loss would not be devastating, but given the recent history it would be huge for the Orange to take one here. Notre Dame has been off for two weeks, so it should be interesting to see if they are rusty at all. SU has played almost twice as many games as Notre Dame, so the balance of wear and tear vs experience should also be interesting to see unfold. As always, go Orange.
The Orange have been playing exceptional defense recently, but they will have a steep test as they go against a very good Notre Dame offense. The Kavanagh brothers get the headlines, but they have probably the best top six in the country, from top to bottom. I imagine Riley Figuerias will get marked with Pat Kavanagh, who has 29 points and leads the team in assists. Where Dwan plays should be interesting, as the ND attack is not very big. I imagine he'll get the hard dodging Chris Kavanagh who leads the team in points with 30 (16,14). One has to hope he can man-handle him a bit. That leaves the difficult to stick to Jake Taylor who leads the team in goals with 22. The Orange defense did a great job against the last pure finisher they faced in Dyson Williams, though Taylor has really given the Orange a hard time. Caden Kol seems to have regained his starting spot, so I imagine he'll get this matchup.
The Irish midfield posses more matchup problems. Eric Dobson was a preseason All American, though with the emergence of Jordan Faison, he's drawing a short stick. He hasn't fully taken advantage this year (6,5), but he's a huge threat from outside. I think this is a matchup for Nate LaVine given his size, but this will be a tough draw for the SU shorties. And of course there is Faison, who is lightening quick and has a super quick release. Saam Olexo and Matt Wright will most likely get this matchup. And of course the fun doesn't end, as on top of those two matchup problems, there is Devon McLane, the Brown transfer who leads the unit with 17 points. The one thing that is at least a little bit comforting is that the ND second line doesn't seem to be firing on all cylinders, as none have more than 6 points on the year.
The Orange cannot foul the Irish, who are some how converting an insane 78% of their chances (14-18). I know this isn't sustainable, but it's not a risk worth taking either. The one hole that Notre Dame seemed to have last year became a strength in the tournament, as Will Lynch became a very good FOGO for them. He is winning 62% of his draws this year, so the Orange will have their hands full there. And it's not like he's been boosting his numbers against poor teams, the Irish won the face-off battle against good teams with good FOGOs including Georgetown, Maryland, Michigan and Ohio State. Needless to say Kohn and Mullen will have to have exceptional games on Saturday.
The Orange offense has not quite looked itself the last few games, but it sounds like there may be some injury issues going on, speficially to Spallina and Hiltz. Hopefully both have been given time to rest and are ready for another round of tough matchups. The Irish lose an impactful defender in Chris Fake, and replace him with a super frosh in Shawn Lyght. I assume he will draw Spallina and Chris Conlin will get Hiltz. It should be intersting to see how the Orange attack the Irish. Liam Entemann is perhaps the best goalie in the country (55% on the year), but he was sub 50% against the Orange last year in a game that was decided by face-offs. He's had some very impressive games against SU, but let's not focus on those! Notre Dame does have good short sticks, but I think SU has the midfielders to expose them. Georgetown's key to victory seemed to be slowing the game down to snails pace on offense. I don't see the Orange doing that, but I think they need to be patient on offense and work for good shots. Also, probably goes unsaid but SU needs to watch out for the ride - they haven't had to deal with one for a while but Irish ride like maniacs. Cannot afford to be giving up possessions in the middle of the field.
Anyway, lots of storylines for this one. A win against ND would be huge for the Orange and would certainly earn them #1 votes and all but lock up a spot in the ACC tourney. A loss would not be devastating, but given the recent history it would be huge for the Orange to take one here. Notre Dame has been off for two weeks, so it should be interesting to see if they are rusty at all. SU has played almost twice as many games as Notre Dame, so the balance of wear and tear vs experience should also be interesting to see unfold. As always, go Orange.
