Our #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-1, 1-0 ACC) visit the #3 Duke Blue Devils (10-2, 0-1 ACC) this Sunday afternoon at noon (ACCN). The Irish look to continue their momentum on the road. 60 degrees, light breeze and sun are forecast for the event.

The Opponent

The will be the 31st meeting between this rivals.  The Irish have won the last 4 in this series, including the 2023 National Championship game (13-9). The last Duke win was an overtime heartbreaker in Durham in 2021 where the Blue Devils came back late from 5 goals down. These teams know each other very well having played each other 6 times in the past 3 years.

Duke’s scheduling philosophy is the opposite of that of Notre Dame.  They play a lot of games. After their shocking recent 4-10 loss at #4 Syracuse, the Blue Devils beat #10 Denver, 11-7, and Boston U, 11-10.

It’s not a big secret that the Duke’s Brennan O’Neill (#34, 36g, 21a), the reigning Tewaaraton Award recipient, is a special player. Containing him will be critical. This year his attack linemates are especially potent, with Michigan transfer Josh Zawada (#79, 21g, 31a) and finisher Dyson Williams (#51, 36g, 2a).  Andrew McAdorey (#2) is a midfielder to watch, having converted from attack.

Jake Naso continues his great form at faceoff (62%), and Kenny Brower (#29) will torment the Irish attack.

Freshman Patrick Jamieson has taken over goalkeeping duties and has saved at a very impressive 60%.

As calculated by lacrossereference.com, Duke is second in adjusted offensive efficiency (37.9%) behind the Irish (41.3%), and third in defensive efficiency (24.1%) ahead of the #12 Irish (26.1%). The Irish and Blue Devils are #1 and #2 in combined efficiency, with only a sliver separating them.

Our Three Questions

These teams know each other well and there shouldn’t be any surprises.  The keys are straight-forward:

1. Confronting their offense: Keeping a lid on the O’Neill/Zawada/Williams attack is always easier said than done. The good news is that the bulk of the Irish defense that controlled them last year returns. The challenge, however, is that this is a matchup where the absence of the graduated Fake, Tevlin and McCahon redefines the Notre Dame approach more than most games the Irish have played this year.  This being said, freshman Shawn Lyght has proven his All-American standard at this point in the season, and the rope unit is among the nation’s best if not the best.

2. Continued offensive success: The current Irish unit has shown they can score against anyone, and they showed they can consistently score against a similar Duke defense last year. What we will be looking for, and what we hope the Irish will avoid, are extended periods of inconsistency like we observed at the end of the Syracuse game.  The boys can’t take their foot off the gas.  As we remember from the 2021 game, no lead is safe.
3. Keep domination face-offs: Considering the lineup he has faced this season, Lynch is probably the best fogo in the country right now.  We stand by this assessment. He will need to keep dominating the faceoffs to keep the ball away from the high powered Duke offense. Other than the regular season game in 2023, Lynch & Hagstrom have a good record of success against Duke’s Jake Naso. The Irish will need another solid effort, combined with gaining additional possessions on the ride, to keep the possession totals skewed heavily towards Notre Dame.
We’ll add a forth factor as this has been a pet peeve of ours for many years. We are hopeful that the playing surface is up to standard. Koskinen Stadium is a great venue, and one where the Irish have enjoyed success, but it is a natural grass field that gets a lot of play. Footing is not always great as the grass transitions into the growing season.
Last note, the #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s lacrosse dominated Duke yesterday, 19-7.  Let’s hope the boys can follow their lead!
#GoIrish