Powellfan
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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The Orange play their third ACC game of the year, and first of two matchups against Notre Dame this weekend. Both teams are coming off one goal losses to division rivals. The Orange play at home and have had two extra days to recover. If Syracuse really wants to distinguish itself as a top 5 team, and in the same conversation as Duke, UNC and Maryland, it has to win games like this.
Most of my comments about the Fighting Irish are centered around their recent matchup with Virginia, as the other four games were against less than stellar competition. The Irish are led on offense by Pat Kavanaugh, who leads the team in points and assists by a large margin, with 21 and 28 respectively. Against UVA however he didn't make much of an impact, with only two assists, on a man-up and later on a broken play. It sounds like a lot of teams early in the season used zone against the Golden Domers, which play right into Kavanaugh's hands. I imagine Mitch Wykoff will get this matchup, and he'll be looking for a bounce back game after a valiant effort against Michael Sowers last week. After Kavanaugh, there are not a lot of Notre Dame players that scare you offensively. To me, Eric Dobson is a matchup problem with his size (6'4, 220), but he seems to make a fair share of mistakes as he's only a freshmen (3 turnovers against UVA). But still, they went to him late in the game so they must trust him. Bucknell Transfer Will Yorke looks to be a very good shooter, but he doesn't start for ND and equaled his season total with five goals against UVA. He may supplant starter Mikey Drake with a performance like that. Yorke looks to be just a finisher, but can do so inside and out. The last worry I have is Wheaton Jackoboice, who has good speed from the midfield and will likely get the Brett Kennedy matchup (hoping Peter Dearth can handle Dobson). In short, ND has very competent and un-flashy players on offense, but they will struggle to beat their man in one on one situations. It is really important for Syracuse to not slide (they need to trust the SSDMs) and limit ND in transition and in broken plays. Do that and the defense should be in good shape.
The biggest worry I have for this game in the face-off x, especially after Syracuse's performance against Duke. Have to think this will be a big focus for the Orange this week. ND comes in with two good FOGOs in Kyle Gallagher and Charles Leonard. They were, however, limited last week against UVA and went just 12-25. It seemed like a good amount of the face-offs had the wings involved, so Syracuse will need a big improvement in this department. In goal, ND has Liam Entenmann, who came into the UVA game with an absurd 70% save percentage. However he was brought back down to earth a bit and posted just seven saves against the Cavs. He is tall and lanky, but hard to know how he'll play against the Orange, and in the Dome. He had a save percentage of 51% last year in a shortened season. The ND defense is good, they slide very aggressively and their SSDMs led by John Hollenbeck and Daniel Cassidy are big and play well in transition (Hallenbeck has seven points on the year). To me, this isn't a game where SU can expect to exploit certain weaknesses - but this is a defense that you can score on if you move the ball. UVA, who isn't known for their passing this season, had nine of their 12 goals assisted. And most were pretty simple passes. If SU goes into this game playing as a team, they can put up goals, but not if they expect their midfielders to dodge all day against the shorties and win one on one.
This is very much a game SU should win, but they've struggled against the Irish in the past. The only team to chase Drake Porter from a game was ND two years ago in South Bend. That ND team feels like a very different team (SU couldn't contain Bryan Costabilie that day who had five goals), and only two players who scored against the Orange for the Irish still play for them. SU did win, 10-6 the last time ND played in Syracuse, in 2018 (which seems like a very long time ago now). Bottom line (I guess I could have made this post a whole lot shorter) is the Orange on defense need to clear well and not let Notre Dame operate in chaotic situations, and on offense move the ball and find the open man. I think this is a big game for the attack, even though the ND close defense is very good. This should be a tough game but I think the Orange have an edge.
Most of my comments about the Fighting Irish are centered around their recent matchup with Virginia, as the other four games were against less than stellar competition. The Irish are led on offense by Pat Kavanaugh, who leads the team in points and assists by a large margin, with 21 and 28 respectively. Against UVA however he didn't make much of an impact, with only two assists, on a man-up and later on a broken play. It sounds like a lot of teams early in the season used zone against the Golden Domers, which play right into Kavanaugh's hands. I imagine Mitch Wykoff will get this matchup, and he'll be looking for a bounce back game after a valiant effort against Michael Sowers last week. After Kavanaugh, there are not a lot of Notre Dame players that scare you offensively. To me, Eric Dobson is a matchup problem with his size (6'4, 220), but he seems to make a fair share of mistakes as he's only a freshmen (3 turnovers against UVA). But still, they went to him late in the game so they must trust him. Bucknell Transfer Will Yorke looks to be a very good shooter, but he doesn't start for ND and equaled his season total with five goals against UVA. He may supplant starter Mikey Drake with a performance like that. Yorke looks to be just a finisher, but can do so inside and out. The last worry I have is Wheaton Jackoboice, who has good speed from the midfield and will likely get the Brett Kennedy matchup (hoping Peter Dearth can handle Dobson). In short, ND has very competent and un-flashy players on offense, but they will struggle to beat their man in one on one situations. It is really important for Syracuse to not slide (they need to trust the SSDMs) and limit ND in transition and in broken plays. Do that and the defense should be in good shape.
The biggest worry I have for this game in the face-off x, especially after Syracuse's performance against Duke. Have to think this will be a big focus for the Orange this week. ND comes in with two good FOGOs in Kyle Gallagher and Charles Leonard. They were, however, limited last week against UVA and went just 12-25. It seemed like a good amount of the face-offs had the wings involved, so Syracuse will need a big improvement in this department. In goal, ND has Liam Entenmann, who came into the UVA game with an absurd 70% save percentage. However he was brought back down to earth a bit and posted just seven saves against the Cavs. He is tall and lanky, but hard to know how he'll play against the Orange, and in the Dome. He had a save percentage of 51% last year in a shortened season. The ND defense is good, they slide very aggressively and their SSDMs led by John Hollenbeck and Daniel Cassidy are big and play well in transition (Hallenbeck has seven points on the year). To me, this isn't a game where SU can expect to exploit certain weaknesses - but this is a defense that you can score on if you move the ball. UVA, who isn't known for their passing this season, had nine of their 12 goals assisted. And most were pretty simple passes. If SU goes into this game playing as a team, they can put up goals, but not if they expect their midfielders to dodge all day against the shorties and win one on one.
This is very much a game SU should win, but they've struggled against the Irish in the past. The only team to chase Drake Porter from a game was ND two years ago in South Bend. That ND team feels like a very different team (SU couldn't contain Bryan Costabilie that day who had five goals), and only two players who scored against the Orange for the Irish still play for them. SU did win, 10-6 the last time ND played in Syracuse, in 2018 (which seems like a very long time ago now). Bottom line (I guess I could have made this post a whole lot shorter) is the Orange on defense need to clear well and not let Notre Dame operate in chaotic situations, and on offense move the ball and find the open man. I think this is a big game for the attack, even though the ND close defense is very good. This should be a tough game but I think the Orange have an edge.
