Notre Dame Gameday...

[swish7]

Native American pipeline has dried up.

Been awful since ... whatever happened with the Thompsons.

 

[wvlax]

Bracket Announced for 2026 Allstate ACC Men’s Lacrosse Championship

Notre Dame has clinched the No. 1 seed in the 2026 Allstate Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Lacrosse Championship, which will be played Friday, May 1, and Sunday, May 3, at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. With their win over Syracuse on Saturday, the Fighting Irish...

theacc.com

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[cuseguy]

yes, they are saying SU-ND...what gives?

The ACC tourney is a meaningless event in a conference with only 5 teams when the schools play each other late in the season. It’s a nice achievement for the winner, but it’s secondary to the Final 4. It’d possible that SU may need to beat ND and Carolina each twice to win the ACC and national titles.

 

[JeremyCuse]

ND is the better team. I’ll be surprised if we can beat them. They completely dominated us in the second half. We’d be in better shape if we could play the tourney in the Dome.

I think almost any top 5/7 team would be the favorite if they could play at home. They are a a veteran team, they need to turn it on starting Friday. I have significant concerns but lets see what happens.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Been awful since ... whatever happened with the Thompsons.

To be fair the NA pipeline overall has dried up. Its not like there's multiple NA players SU missed out on whose killing it out there. Deere might be the best and hes been out all year

 

[nocohalo]

To be fair the NA pipeline overall has dried up. Its not like there's multiple NA players SU missed out on whose killing it out there. Deere might be the best and hes been out all year

Prep schools have severely watered down the NA hotbeds. There could be talent but they're not sharpening their skills in the public school leagues because a lot of the talent is no longer there or moved on to prep. Even Deere ended up at prep, but that was just from sheer natural born talent. The late bloomer native kid is just not a thing anymore.

 

[GrowTheGame]

Prep schools have severely watered down the NA hotbeds. There could be talent but they're not sharpening their skills in the public school leagues because a lot of the talent is no longer there or moved on to prep. Even Deere ended up at prep, but that was just from sheer natural born talent. The late bloomer native kid is just not a thing anymore.

Chace Cogan & Jameson Bucktooth are both good enough to be on a D1 rosters and just came up in Section 3 tbf

 

[cuseguy]

I think almost any top 5/7 team would be the favorite if they could play at home. They are a a veteran team, they need to turn it on starting Friday. I have significant concerns but lets see what happens.

I really have no interest in the ACC tourney. I don’t see them winning it, but if they did, it’s highly unlikely they beat Carolina and ND or Princeton in the Final 4. With this senior group, it’s national title or bust.

 

[FloridaCuse]

They're leaning towards best record against #1 seed.

ND
UVA
UNC
SU

Not official

Dan Arestia's article this week this week was not correct.

 

[LAcuse]

I really have no interest in the ACC tourney. I don’t see them winning it, but if they did, it’s highly unlikely they beat Carolina and ND or Princeton in the Final 4. With this senior group, it’s national title or bust.

I really have no interest in the ACC tourney. I don’t see them winning it, but if they did, it’s highly unlikely they beat Carolina and ND or Princeton in the Final 4. With this senior group, it’s national title or bust.

I really have no interest in the ACC tourney. I don’t see them winning it, but if they did, it’s highly unlikely they beat Carolina and ND or Princeton in the Final 4. With this senior group, it’s national title or bust.

Nostradamus, Jr. is predicting a national title!
Don't give up on us, baby

 

[swish7]

To be fair the NA pipeline overall has dried up. Its not like there's multiple NA players SU missed out on whose killing it out there. Deere might be the best and hes been out all year

Right, but my point is our recovery from our downturn wasn't helped when they went elsewhere. They could have been a spark here, instead of at Albany & that could have been sustainable here.

 

[MD Cuse Fan]

I hope the best thing to come out of today was the unleashing of the Bear! If he can consistently become that much a threat the rest of the way that would be awesome.

And with that said in the other side they cannot afford anymore games out of Leo or any of the Seniors like that again, not only was he pretty awful whenever he had the ball, the shot he took on the ND keeper at the end of the game seemed totally unnecessary and I expect better of the seniors, but part of me does question the leadership on this team.

 

[cuselaxss26]

Watch the unc duke game as missed it watching cuse. The hustle of these teams by every player is amusing. Then when i watch us n how we don’t take it seriously every second of the game. There def are some things blame on gait n coaches. But the players gotta want it n play like it. All the talent in world is only gonna get ya so far. Still have to play game with heart n hustle. This team lacks both.

Most teams improve over the course of season getting better each week. For us seems we haven’t improved much at all but in fact gotten worse. That colgate game n how they played that game for majority of it really concerned me. I fully understand it’s not playoffs yet or win or go home situation yet. But not playing like it is every game n waiting till it’s actually that time isn’t gonna go well. But other teams seem be playing better n we are still stuck where we started he season n worst in some areas. I simply don’t get it how such talented team n senior team can continue to play this bad n be this way. When they have all stated they want a chip after getting embarrassed by maryland in final four. Yet still playing like it’s all ok n no big deal. Where the hell is your heart or the fire to take what you want?


There is no urgency to this team n mostly on seniors. Down in game n need to make a comeback n seniors throwing one handed passes into a crowded covered player like it’s no big deal. Which i’ll blame gait on that not ripper players specially ur seniors for lazy ill advised plays. Sometimes ya need to get in their face n tell them what it is. No team is just gonna give it to you ya have to EARN it. When a gb goes into corner n it’s 2 v 1 yet the 1 guy gets ball it’s bad. Thomson n spallina ever hear of man/ball? Clearly not , so let me explain it. One guy takes the man boxes him out or pushes or whatever to impede his way, while your other guy grabs the ball. It’s very simple n we’re taught it prob in your first few years of ever playing.

ID really like to see them throw leo baxk at midfield for his terrible play lately. For one he holds onto way to long while not beating his man n stopping his feet way to much letting d guy to devour him. Put bear down there n let him work from x. Which will turn the heads of d n their gonna have to slide which should open someone up to or (thru quick passing) the backside. Can we also please invert our middies. Can anyone get their hands free with pressure ? Ya don’t need a wide open hands free to score (tho be best) but if in front of net n defender on ur back shoot thru the check.

This team just seems way way way too soft. The D is off guys way too much which makes it a lot easier to set picks. Which real quick why can’t we set picks like the ones we are having trouble with? But D has to get on their guys n stop giving them so much space. When O guys has 3-5 steps before he reaches you makes it a lot easier for him to beat ya cause he has a running start. If ya give him less room it makes less of chance to get beat cleanly n not able to recover. Last but not least STOP SLIDING so much. If do slide call it out n make sure the 2nd slide guy knows. Ehhhhh this team ahjhjjh .

sry i’m done ranting.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Yes the O had a couple bad turnovers at crucial times, but the defense overall was the major let down today compared to the offense. Guys were getting cooked off the dodge 1v1 and that lead to us sliding all over the place at times too. They had so many guys who were able to get a step on their matchup, especially on our short sticks. Similar to the UNC and Princeton games and somewhat similar to Duke as well. Between that and the faceoff losses we needed perfection from the O and did not get it in the second half.

Not a good time in the year for lack of confidence in the defense. The drop off after Figueras Dwan and Chuck K is starting to look pretty severe against elite competition. And we certainly cannot have the collapses off ball once people start sliding. Maybe we had some false confidence on that end after some early year performances. Would LOVE to see us use more offensive guys on the wing so spallina and McCarthy are not gassed out of their mind towards the end of the game.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Right, but my point is our recovery from our downturn wasn't helped when they went elsewhere. They could have been a spark here, instead of at Albany & that could have been sustainable here.

The Thomsons are a complicated issue. Goes back to their brothers and other issues with Native players.

 

[Laxfanshutt]

Syracuse vs Notre Dame | 2026 Lacrosse Highlights

 

[RoofBeam]

Is it fair to say at this point that Gary's teams just don't improve very much during the course of the season and that 1) this is what differentiates them from the best teams in the country and 2) this is likely more about coaching than personnel?

 

[SUlax88-09]

To be fair the NA pipeline overall has dried up. Its not like there's multiple NA players SU missed out on whose killing it out there. Deere might be the best and hes been out all year

So true, but the trajectory of SU lax forever changed when the Thompson twins picked Albany over Syracuse, when Syracuse couldn’t get Austin Staats to transfer in from OCC, and when Lars Tiffany wasn’t hired as the SU coach (I realize that Lars is not Native American, but he grew up with the Onondaga people). Those were the notable most recent Native American misses that SU had.

Another deflating game (although really just the 2nd half), but fortunately the season is not over, we’ll be in the playoffs, and there is no dominant team this year, so any team who gets hot can win it all (including us!)

The bad news:
-Our SSDMs, other than Kittelberg (who is awesome!, a future all-American and also one of the best SSDMs that SU has ever had) were atrocious. J Spallina, Bowen, and McCarthy all got killed today
-Our pick defense was horrible. The ND entire offense was just attacking our SSDMs and doing pick plays
-Beck got exposed today, in terms of being too slow to stay with a player 1v1 and also losing his man
-Rhoa was awful. 8 outside shots, only 3 were on cage, and 0 goals
-Mullen was again under 50%. I’ve literally never seen a college lacrosse player get worse during their career. To go from 63% face off win percentage last year to 53% this year is just weird. I’ve seen a lot of things, but not that…
-Figueiras even got beat multiple times. If our best 1v1 long pole is getting, then we’re in big trouble
-Our 2nd line Middies contributed nothing today, literally nothing
-We didn’t lose the game cuz of the refs, but they were Horrible today!
-We slip a lot on grass fields (not as much today as against UNC), but our coaches and equipment managers better figure things out if we make it to Final Four (which will be played on a grass field at UVA)

The good news:
-Anderson and Hottle are both studs, and they’re the only 2 players we have who can win a 1v1 matchup and score or draw a slide (if teams put poles on them, then we’re in Big trouble)
-McCool was really good (18 saves!)
-Kuczynski played well
-Leo looked good

Let’s just stay healthy in the ACC tournament. I don’t really care if we win the tournament like last year or lose in the 1st round, and let’s just get ready for this playoff run!! Go SU lax!!

 

[Willy75]

The Thomsons are a complicated issue. Goes back to their brothers and other issues with Native players.

NA players used to be one of the edge factors SU had. We're never going to consistently out recruit the Ivys and Duke for top prep school kids

 

[JeremyCuse]

So true, but the trajectory of SU lax forever changed when the Thompson twins picked Albany over Syracuse, when Syracuse couldn’t get Austin Staats to transfer in from OCC, and when Lars Tiffany wasn’t hired as the SU coach (I realize that Lars is not Native American, but he grew up with the Onondaga people). Those were the notable most recent Native American misses that SU had.

Another deflating game (although really just the 2nd half), but fortunately the season is not over, we’ll be in the playoffs, and there is no dominant team this year, so any team who gets hot can win it all (including us!)

The bad news:
-Our SSDMs, other than Kittelberg (who is awesome!, a future all-American and also one of the best SSDMs that SU has ever had) were atrocious. J Spallina, Bowen, and McCarthy all got killed today
-Our pick defense was horrible. The ND entire offense was just attacking our SSDMs and doing pick plays
-Beck got exposed today, in terms of being too slow to stay with a player 1v1 and also losing his man
-Rhoa was awful. 8 outside shots, only 3 were on cage, and 0 goals
-Mullen was again under 50%. I’ve literally never seen a college lacrosse player get worse during their career. To go from 63% face off win percentage last year to 53% this year is just weird. I’ve seen a lot of things, but not that…
-Figueiras even got beat multiple times. If our best 1v1 long pole is getting, then we’re in big trouble
-Our 2nd line Middies contributed nothing today, literally nothing
-We didn’t lose the game cuz of the refs, but they were Horrible today!
-We slip a lot on grass fields (not as much today as against UNC), but our coaches and equipment managers better figure things out if we make it to Final Four (which will be played on a grass field at UVA)

The good news:
-Anderson and Hottle are both studs, and they’re the only 2 players we have who can win a 1v1 matchup and score or draw a slide (if teams put poles on them, then we’re in Big trouble)
-McCool was really good (18 saves!)
-Kuczynski played well
-Leo looked good

Let’s just stay healthy in the ACC tournament. I don’t really care if we win the tournament like last year or lose in the 1st round, and let’s just get ready for this playoff run!! Go SU lax!!

Starts hurts but it appears he didnt have the grades to transfer D1. The Thompsons are a whole other issue but to be fair SU had great teams while they were at Albany, not winning a title is on the staff during that time we had the talent.

For this year we need a big rebound on Friday. Today was a classic Gait lost, just sloppy undisciplined play all over the field.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

So true, but the trajectory of SU lax forever changed when the Thompson twins picked Albany over Syracuse, when Syracuse couldn’t get Austin Staats to transfer in from OCC, and when Lars Tiffany wasn’t hired as the SU coach (I realize that Lars is not Native American, but he grew up with the Onondaga people). Those were the notable most recent Native American misses that SU had.

I don't believe Staats ever qualified to play D1 ball. Went right from OCC to the NLL Draft.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I don't believe Staats ever qualified to play D1 ball. Went right from OCC to the NLL Draft.

100% correct

 

[JeremyCuse]

So true, but the trajectory of SU lax forever changed when the Thompson twins picked Albany over Syracuse, when Syracuse couldn’t get Austin Staats to transfer in from OCC, and when Lars Tiffany wasn’t hired as the SU coach (I realize that Lars is not Native American, but he grew up with the Onondaga people). Those were the notable most recent Native American misses that SU had.

Another deflating game (although really just the 2nd half), but fortunately the season is not over, we’ll be in the playoffs, and there is no dominant team this year, so any team who gets hot can win it all (including us!)

The bad news:
-Our SSDMs, other than Kittelberg (who is awesome!, a future all-American and also one of the best SSDMs that SU has ever had) were atrocious. J Spallina, Bowen, and McCarthy all got killed today
-Our pick defense was horrible. The ND entire offense was just attacking our SSDMs and doing pick plays
-Beck got exposed today, in terms of being too slow to stay with a player 1v1 and also losing his man
-Rhoa was awful. 8 outside shots, only 3 were on cage, and 0 goals
-Mullen was again under 50%. I’ve literally never seen a college lacrosse player get worse during their career. To go from 63% face off win percentage last year to 53% this year is just weird. I’ve seen a lot of things, but not that…
-Figueiras even got beat multiple times. If our best 1v1 long pole is getting, then we’re in big trouble
-Our 2nd line Middies contributed nothing today, literally nothing
-We didn’t lose the game cuz of the refs, but they were Horrible today!
-We slip a lot on grass fields (not as much today as against UNC), but our coaches and equipment managers better figure things out if we make it to Final Four (which will be played on a grass field at UVA)

The good news:
-Anderson and Hottle are both studs, and they’re the only 2 players we have who can win a 1v1 matchup and score or draw a slide (if teams put poles on them, then we’re in Big trouble)
-McCool was really good (18 saves!)
-Kuczynski played well
-Leo looked good

Let’s just stay healthy in the ACC tournament. I don’t really care if we win the tournament like last year or lose in the 1st round, and let’s just get ready for this playoff run!! Go SU lax!!

Mullen works worn out, simply has taken to many draws. Looks like Ben Williams in his Sr year. Need to give Angelo more looks.

 

[Hawknate144]

Considering how we have had multiple players on recent memory with DV issues, it's probably for the better we didn't get Austin Staats.