Our #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-0) prepare to head into ACC conference play to end out the regular season, with the inclusion of a bonus #1 v #2 matchup against Richmond on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Here is what we expect to see for the rest of the season.

Virginia

The Cavaliers are having a somewhat disappointing season (by ACC standards). The Cavs sit at an even 4-4 with losses to Richmond, Johns Hopkins, Towson, and Maryland in triple overtime and are currently unranked.

Despite the lackluster season for them so far, we must remember that they are still an ACC team, and ACC teams are never truly bad.

Offensively, the Virginia offense runs through the Million brothers, with older brother McCabe tallying 19g 31a and younger brother Brendan tallying 20g 24a. Alongside them are Truitt Sunderland with 26g 8a and Ryan Colsey with 22g 6a. 

As the assist would suggest, with no classic alpha player, they rely on team offense and sharing the ball. As the boys have encountered this season, the way to stop that is through team defense. 

This is not a game where the defense will be beaten constantly in their one on one match-ups, but rather a game where they will need to trust each other and play together.

Between the pipes Virginia has started two goalies, Jake Marek and Kyle Morris, with Marek being the more frequent and most recent starter. Marek is by far the stronger player and the likely starter sitting at 50% on the season compared to Morris’ 38%.

A Surprise From Richmond

The mid-major team was expected to be very good this year. We’re not sure many though they’d be this good, but they are crushing their opposition.

This might be the game of the season (at least so far), a #1 vs #2 matchup between undefeated. After some concern that fans wouldn’t have a broadcast to watch, it finally found a streaming home on ACCN+. The game itself will be played at the Northwestern lacrosse stadium on the shores of Lake Michigan. It’s a fantastic venue.

Aidan O’Neil is their guy this season, with 18g22a leading the team in points. This will likely be Lyght’s matchup.

However their offensive production comes from everywhere on the field. This won’t be a one dimensional offense, and the boys will need to not only play together, but win difficult one on one match-ups.

The Spiders only big test this season has come against #8 Cornell, being a very low scoring game. In a battle between two great defenses, we expect this matchup to go a very similar way and be a defensive masterclass.

In the pipes for the Spiders is Connor Knight. Knight is sitting at almost 60% on the season and has proven himself as one of the best goalies in the nation. The battle between him and Ricciardelli will prove to add on to the low scoring matchup we predict.

This game outside of Chicago is a great opportunity to remind everyone to consider supporting the good work at Owls Lacrosse.

North Carolina

The Tar heels are back after a few down seasons. Sitting at #4, this will be no break after playing the #2 team. We hope that a big win over Richmond will carry over momentum into this game. But, we also have to be weary of a loss and how that can have the same effect.

Owen Duffy and Dominic Pietramala are once again the leaders of this Tar Heel offense with 14g 24a and 25g 5a respectively.

Similar to Richmond, this team has production from everywhere, with almost all of the team recording points, albeit in low numbers each.

With Duffy leading the team in assists by far, shutting down his passing ability will be the key to a victory in this game.

In the pipes for North Carolina is Josh Marcus, sitting at just below 50%. After the difficulty that will come in the shooting against Richmond, this game will prove a much easier time for the boys. If they continue the shot section from that Richmond game, they shouldn’t have too hard of a time burying some points.

Duke

While we have had the Blue Devil’s number for the past few seasons, this is not a game to treat lightly.

Undefeated Duke currently sits at #5 in the nation, but has not had a true test so far this season (in typical Duke fashion) but has not yet had their typical random loss to a not so good team. This is very confusing. The weeks leading up to our game with them will be a good representation of how this team will handle a strong opponent.

Benn Johnson and Kyle Colsey have led this Duke team so far with 27g 5a and 20g 7a respectively. However, like we mention this is before they have been tested, so while unlikely their leaders could change in the weeks leading up to our game.

What won’t change is their reliance on winning match-ups to score. This Duke team has noticeably few assists. This one on one beat your man style of offense will play right into the hands of our defense.

Despite the very high ranking, we expect this matchup to be one of the easiest in this last stretch because of that.

In the cage for the Blue Devils is Patrick Jameison who sits at 57% for so far this season. If there is one saving grace for this Duke team to throw a curveball at us, it will be him.

Syracuse

The boys wrap up the regular season with the Orange. This game follows in suit with Duke in the sense that it pulls back slightly with the Orange sitting at #9 with losses to Harvard and Princeton.

The Orange have had an almost polar opposite season so far to the Irish. Cuse started at #2 and have had many many close games (albeit close wins), compared to the #7 the Irish started at before rising up with lots of convincing wins.

Plain and simple, this team runs off Spallina who sits at 21g 28a. While Lyght has dominated this matchup in the past, the Orange have consistently tried to throw both on ball and off ball picks to try and switch that matchup. As we have always said, Spallina looks great until he plays a challenging team. We hope to keep up this trend. 

Outside of him this Cuse team has Michael Leo with 20g 13a and Finn Thomson with 21g 7a, but they both pose far less of a threat than Spallina. If Lyght wins that matchup again, the boys will have a very good chance at winning. And the key to winning the matchup is not allowing Syracuse to force Lyght to switch.

Jimmy McCool not only has a great name, but will be another challenge in the pipes sitting at 57% on the season. However with the stretch of games and goalies the boys will be coming off at this point, we hope this is something they will be used to and won’t change the game too much.

 

This is where the season gets very serious! We are excited to watch this team as they progress closer and closer to the playoff season!

 

#GoIrish

Luke Burgar

ND-ATL 2.0