Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse (7-4, ACC 4-1) hammered the Syracuse Orangemen at the Carrier Dome, 18-11 (attendance: 3176). This sets up an end of regular season showdown on Saturday with arch-rival Duke.  Both teams will enter the game needing to win to secure a NCAA playoff berth.

The Scoring

Pat Kavanagh continued his dominance over Syracuse with a 4 goal, 6 assist performance. This earned him ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors.  His brother Chris also had a strong game (2g/2a), and Eric Dobson had another hat trick to go along with an assist.  Reilly Gray led the second midfield with 2 goals, and Quinn McCahon’s re-introduction to the first line continues to pay dividends with 2 assists.

Taylor, Jackoboice, Mirer, Hallenbeck, Angrick, Westlin and Lipka each had a goal in the win.

On the defensive side, Liam Entenmann’s amazing 22 save performance was something to behold.

The extra man unit went 2 of 3 (and scoring a goal with flag down in their statistical missed opportunity), and held Syracuse to zero of 5.  The faceoff unit was 14 of 32, which was pretty good considering some early game stick issues and procedure penalties tempered their ability to be aggressive.

Our friends at lacrossereference.com note that the boys had an excellent 42.9% offensive efficiency and held Syracuse to a modest 28.2% on their home field.

The Plot

The game got off to a slow-ish start with the Irish not able to score on some promising possessions.  Reilly Gray scored about 4 minutes in to get the team started.  Of note, it was clear early on that the Gray and the second midfield line were going to get a lot of time on the field, and they did not squander this opportunity.

Syracuse tied it up a minute later, but Lipka and Jackoboice goals shortly thereafter put the Irish ahead for good.  Angrick and Mirer scored late in the quarter to close the session up 5-2.  4 of the Notre Dame goals were accounted for by players working on the second midfield line.

PKav, Dobson and CKav scored in the early part of the second quarter to give the game the feel of a rout, even if Syracuse kept the Irish lead theoretically in range. The teams exchanged goals for a while with the Irish comfortably holding a 5 goal lead.  A quick sequence of goals by Westlin, Hallenbeck and PKav late in the third and early fourth opened the gap and made the remainder of the fourth quarter a formality.

Throughout, Entenmann was  brick wall, comfortably saving most of what the Orange sent his way, and sprinkled in some spectacular close-range saves that really motivated the team.

Thoughts

It was simply a great road win.  We could quibble that the defense let Syracuse players shoot hands-free a few more times that we would like, or that they didn’t have the clear ground ball dominance that we have grown accustomed to, but we have to be mindful that they were playing on the road against a talented team motivated to play their best on their senior day.

A few observations to give confidence moving into the last regular season weekend:

  1. Dialed-in netminder: It would be really hard to overstate the greatness of Entenmann’s 22 save performance, particularly considering that the venue is notoriously unfriendly to goalies.  Knowing Liam is in tune at this point in the season is supremely reassuring.
  2. Second-line midfield: This late in the season there is no room for wasted possessions on offense. Notre Dame enters this phase very confident that their second midfield line can be as productive and efficient as their first.  Lipka/Mirer/Angrick/Gray have allowed the coaching staff to rest starters for extended periods without worry. As we get into these warmer weeks, having the starting unit fresh for the fourth quarter is a substantial advantage.
  3. 25+ guys playing at a high level: Even with injury attrition, Notre Dame is still comfortable playing deep in to their roster.  25+ players may not seem like a lot, but for several years the comfort level tightened at 18-19 players. 7 more players sharing the load will help the Irish close out games, and we think the Irish could push participation much higher if they needed to.

The Landscape

The Irish schedule, both in-conference and out, has long benefited the team’s standing in the key playoff RPI metric.  This year, the metric has strongly favored the Ivy League over the ACC on their relative early season out of conference performances. The net result is that a #6 Notre Dame team has a very narrow path into the NCAA postseason.

While it is really hard to reconcile what we see on the field with post-season selection projections, there is no sense complaining.  The Irish will take chance out of the equation by beating their rival Duke this weekend at home. Duke is in the same predicament and will be thinking the same thing.  We’re certainly not accustomed to being this late in the season with the issue in doubt, but the Irish control their own destiny, and that is a good thing.

#GoIrish