Our #2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-2) beat the Jacksonville Dolphins (11-6) 18-5 this past weekend. It was a great bounce back game that sends the Irish to the quarterfinals

The Dolphins gave the boys their best shot. Watching the first six minutes of the game, there was no doubt Jacksonville had a good plan should they have caught the boys underestimating them.

The Good

7 first quarter saves shut down any hope the Dolphins might have had. The defense was a bit shaky to start the game, but Ricciardelli saved the day while the boys got settled in. After the start, it was lights out from the defense and Ricciardelli continued to play on his head, totaling 17 saves.

The man-down unit had probably their best game of the season, stopping 3 of the 4 Jacksonville man-up chances. After a well below average season, this is great to see and we hope it stays this way.

While not things we normally point to, the boys won the ground ball battle 34 to 26 and the shot battle 54 to 36. These are both good signs showing that the boys not only out schemed the Dolphins, but out worked them. If this level of production in the effort fields can continue, nothing will stand in these guys’ way.

This time, 14 of the 18 goals were assisted. A lot better than last week’s four. Like we said and will continue to say: this is a team-based, everyone eats, style of offense. Play it like that and they will succeed. Their otherworldly 50% offensive efficiency is reflective of their successful team-oriented approach.

Face-offs continued to be an area of success for the team, winning 14 of 26 for just over 50%. It is a little nerve wracking to see the unit have this close of a margin against a team like Jacksonville. These guys have gone up against the best of the best and consistently won so it’s not a cause of concern, but still we hope for improvement.

Luke Miller’s 5 goals ties CKav for the Notre Dame playoff game record! And we can’t forget to mention his assist for 6 points on the day. An amazing performance from him.

Matt Jeffery put up 5 points of his own with 2 goals and 3 assists. Having 2 5-point scorers is always a great sign. But, it’s even more impressive that 14 players tallied a point. We are hoping to see this balance of team and individual production continue through the tournament.

“We are playing free, playing loose because we know we have each other’s back,” Shawn Lyght said after the game. Having that feeling will continue to promote success through the season.

The Room For Improvement

There is only 1 thing that went wrong in this game: man-up. Going 0 for 3 is not ideal, to be polite. There is no way around it. Johns Hopkins man-down unit will be a substantial upgrade, so this slump will need to end quickly.

Elsewhere

There was chaos across the bracket. Duke beat seeded Richmond, and arch-nemesis Virginia fell to Georgetown. This clears a path more for Princeton than it does for Notre Dame, but it is a relief to not have the potential of facing the Cavaliers at home for a national championship.

PLL weekend started this weekend. Lots of Irish saw the field. We’ll save our in-depth coverage for after the college season, but we will assert that Brian Tevlin may be the perfect player for Olympic sixes format. It would be a scandal if he did not make Team USA.

Lastly, Inside Lacrosse released their All-American selections.  Lyght and Donovan were recognized on the first team.  Jeffrey, Yago, Maheras, Spano, Alacqua, Reinhardt and Ricciardelli received honorable mentions. All well deserved.

On to Hopkins! The boys play on Saturday at noon in New York. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU. We will have a preview up later this week.

#GoIrish

Luke Burgar

ND-Atl 2.0