Powellfan
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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I have to say Ivorytower has already written some really good posts regarding Notre Dame recently, so please check those out.
The Orange and Irish faceoff this weekend as the race to the tournament begins. Both these teams have four losses on their schedule and are in dire need of wins. Syracuse is riding a two game winning streak and Notre Dame comes in off a loss to highly ranked Virginia. Syracuse does not have a very good recent history with Notre Dame, they were beaten by a combined score of 40-19 last year in two games. Their last win against the Irish was back in 2018 (though they didn't play in 2020). That said Notre Dame looks vulnerable this year and the Orange are riding some momentum going into this game.
The Notre Dame offense seem to be struggling this season. They average 12 goals a game, but if you takeaway the Detroit Mercy game (24 goals) they are only averaging 10 per game. That is well below the 14 they were averaging last year. Pat Kavanaugh is still the party starter, but he's averaging one less point per game than he did last year (5.3 vs 4). Eric Dobson and his brother Chris are his main supporting cast as both average around 2.5 points per game, but they aren't getting much help after the top three. Wheaton Jackoboice is struggling this year with just eight points on the season and is coming off a 1-9 shooting performance against UVA. Last year he had 31 points, good for second on the team. But no one is doing any better than Jackoboice this year as he's the fourth leading scorer. Last year they were getting two points per game from their 4-6 leading scorers. I'm sure what the exact issues are for the Irish as they brought back everyone on offense minus Will Yorke (a finisher) and brought in a top recruit in Chris Kavanaugh. Brett Kennedy will surely get Pat Kavanaugh on assignment. Kavanaugh was a huge thorn in the side of the Orange last year as he scored 19 points in the two games. The Orange have to do much better against the stud Junior from Long Island. Kennedy has had a number of good games this year but Kavanaugh is a very different player from Brennan O'Neil or some of his other matchups. Nick Caccamo who has done a great job as the number two will most likely take the younger Kavanaugh. Caccamo has done a great job of picking off passes this year - he leads the team in Caused Turnovers with 14 in just seven games. Grant Murphy lead the team last year with 16 in 13 games. Murphy will likely guard the third attackman but I'm unsure who that will be. For most of the year it has been Griffin Westlin but he was replaced by Bryce Walker in the UVA game. The midfield has a lot of potential but they aren't getting much production outside of Dobson. I have to imagine he will get the poll. Olexo and Clary will have a very different assignment in front of them than they did last week as Dobson is a physical freak. Aviles, Rice and the other short sticks played really well last week, they'll have to continue that this weekend.
The big X factor in this game will be the face-off X. Jakob Phaup has had a very good year this year and ND has really been struggling. Unlike last year when they had two All American quality players at X, ND has seen about a 20% dip in their winning percentage (62% vs 43%). That said freshman Will Lynch is coming off his best performance of the year against Petey LaSalla (who Phaup struggled against), winning 15-20 draws. But he's still only at 47%. The face-off can just be weird sometimes so the Orange can't assume they'll have a huge possession advantage. Notre Dame also rides like crazy and clears the ball really well (90%, their opponents only do so at 76%).
Offensively the Orange will presumably let Tucker Dordevic and Brendan Curry shoot till their arms fall off. I'm sure Dordevic will draw Arden Cohen, who held Matt Moore of UVA to just 2 assists a week ago. Syracuse has been really good about Dordevic getting looks so I don't think their strategy will change just because of the defender he draws. The other storyline is that Notre Dame could be down a close defender and a starting LSM. If so, can Curry and Owen Seebold take advantage? Syracuse is also down two starting midfielders (and still without Owen HIltz of course) so they have plenty of injury issues of their own. In one of the threads I think a poster said Buttermore would move up to the first line, but he has only one assist on the season, I didn't hear Gait address it in the press conference, and Matteo Corsi replaced Griffin Cook in the Duke game. Corsi should do well on the 1's, he has speed and should be able to take advantage of short sticks. Buttermore still looks rusty but he caused a nice turnover on the ride against Duke. But I have no idea who takes the third spot on the second line, as both Tenaglia and Birtwiste seem to be struggling with injuries. Liam Entemman's save percentage is down from 58% to 53% this year but he's still a strong goalie. Notre Dame still has a very good defense, they have the #1 adjusted defensive efficiency ranking in the country. Syracuse will need to be smart with the ball and take good shots. They seemed to overwhelm their last two opponants with timely face-off wins and lots of possession, that should be the strategy here.
The bottom line is that ND has a lot of skill regardless of their results this season. They've lost to #1, #2, #3 and #12. There is no shame in that. But they have looked vulnerable is certain areas and Syracuse will need to exploit that. Like we've discussed in other threads, this game has huge implications for the tournament. Winning it certainly doesn't mean an automatic invite to the tournament, but losing it puts you way down the guest list.
The Orange and Irish faceoff this weekend as the race to the tournament begins. Both these teams have four losses on their schedule and are in dire need of wins. Syracuse is riding a two game winning streak and Notre Dame comes in off a loss to highly ranked Virginia. Syracuse does not have a very good recent history with Notre Dame, they were beaten by a combined score of 40-19 last year in two games. Their last win against the Irish was back in 2018 (though they didn't play in 2020). That said Notre Dame looks vulnerable this year and the Orange are riding some momentum going into this game.
The Notre Dame offense seem to be struggling this season. They average 12 goals a game, but if you takeaway the Detroit Mercy game (24 goals) they are only averaging 10 per game. That is well below the 14 they were averaging last year. Pat Kavanaugh is still the party starter, but he's averaging one less point per game than he did last year (5.3 vs 4). Eric Dobson and his brother Chris are his main supporting cast as both average around 2.5 points per game, but they aren't getting much help after the top three. Wheaton Jackoboice is struggling this year with just eight points on the season and is coming off a 1-9 shooting performance against UVA. Last year he had 31 points, good for second on the team. But no one is doing any better than Jackoboice this year as he's the fourth leading scorer. Last year they were getting two points per game from their 4-6 leading scorers. I'm sure what the exact issues are for the Irish as they brought back everyone on offense minus Will Yorke (a finisher) and brought in a top recruit in Chris Kavanaugh. Brett Kennedy will surely get Pat Kavanaugh on assignment. Kavanaugh was a huge thorn in the side of the Orange last year as he scored 19 points in the two games. The Orange have to do much better against the stud Junior from Long Island. Kennedy has had a number of good games this year but Kavanaugh is a very different player from Brennan O'Neil or some of his other matchups. Nick Caccamo who has done a great job as the number two will most likely take the younger Kavanaugh. Caccamo has done a great job of picking off passes this year - he leads the team in Caused Turnovers with 14 in just seven games. Grant Murphy lead the team last year with 16 in 13 games. Murphy will likely guard the third attackman but I'm unsure who that will be. For most of the year it has been Griffin Westlin but he was replaced by Bryce Walker in the UVA game. The midfield has a lot of potential but they aren't getting much production outside of Dobson. I have to imagine he will get the poll. Olexo and Clary will have a very different assignment in front of them than they did last week as Dobson is a physical freak. Aviles, Rice and the other short sticks played really well last week, they'll have to continue that this weekend.
The big X factor in this game will be the face-off X. Jakob Phaup has had a very good year this year and ND has really been struggling. Unlike last year when they had two All American quality players at X, ND has seen about a 20% dip in their winning percentage (62% vs 43%). That said freshman Will Lynch is coming off his best performance of the year against Petey LaSalla (who Phaup struggled against), winning 15-20 draws. But he's still only at 47%. The face-off can just be weird sometimes so the Orange can't assume they'll have a huge possession advantage. Notre Dame also rides like crazy and clears the ball really well (90%, their opponents only do so at 76%).
Offensively the Orange will presumably let Tucker Dordevic and Brendan Curry shoot till their arms fall off. I'm sure Dordevic will draw Arden Cohen, who held Matt Moore of UVA to just 2 assists a week ago. Syracuse has been really good about Dordevic getting looks so I don't think their strategy will change just because of the defender he draws. The other storyline is that Notre Dame could be down a close defender and a starting LSM. If so, can Curry and Owen Seebold take advantage? Syracuse is also down two starting midfielders (and still without Owen HIltz of course) so they have plenty of injury issues of their own. In one of the threads I think a poster said Buttermore would move up to the first line, but he has only one assist on the season, I didn't hear Gait address it in the press conference, and Matteo Corsi replaced Griffin Cook in the Duke game. Corsi should do well on the 1's, he has speed and should be able to take advantage of short sticks. Buttermore still looks rusty but he caused a nice turnover on the ride against Duke. But I have no idea who takes the third spot on the second line, as both Tenaglia and Birtwiste seem to be struggling with injuries. Liam Entemman's save percentage is down from 58% to 53% this year but he's still a strong goalie. Notre Dame still has a very good defense, they have the #1 adjusted defensive efficiency ranking in the country. Syracuse will need to be smart with the ball and take good shots. They seemed to overwhelm their last two opponants with timely face-off wins and lots of possession, that should be the strategy here.
The bottom line is that ND has a lot of skill regardless of their results this season. They've lost to #1, #2, #3 and #12. There is no shame in that. But they have looked vulnerable is certain areas and Syracuse will need to exploit that. Like we've discussed in other threads, this game has huge implications for the tournament. Winning it certainly doesn't mean an automatic invite to the tournament, but losing it puts you way down the guest list.
