Our #1 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-0) take on the #2 Maryland Terrapins this Saturday in a rematch of the 2024 NCAA Championship game and a look at what could be a matchup on Memorial Day weekend. The game will be played at 1:00 at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia with a forecast of  high 60s temps. The game will be broadcasted live on ACC Network.

The last three National Championships were won by these teams. This is a matchup of the best, well deserving of its #1 vs. #2 status.

The Opponent 

The Irish are no stranger to the Terrapins. The series is dead even at 9-9, with the Irish winning the last three, including the 2024 NCAA final, the 14-9 win last March at Arlotta, and the triple-overtime thriller in College Park in 2023. Maryland fans will more fondly remember the three-game streak it had before, which including a heartbreaking overtime win at Arlotta in the 2021 NCAA Championship quarterfinal.

Maryland is coming into this game red hot, winning all 4 of there game so far against #18 Richmond (12-7), Loyola (8-7 OT), #2 Syracuse (11-7), and #5 Princeton (13-9) (rankings are what they were at the time the game was played).  Not every performance has been stellar, but three ranked wins this early in the season has tested this team and proves their quality. It would not be unfair to say Maryland is a bit further along in there season development.

Offensively, they are led by some familiar faces with Daniel Kelly leading scoring with 9 goals 2 assists, Eric Spanos with 7 goals 4 assists, and Marietta, Georgia’s Braden Erksa with 6 goals 3 assists. Transfer Matthew Keegan has been very productive with 7 goals 3 assists. The offense is certainly high powered but nothing the boys haven’t seen before (quite literally).

On defense they are lead by Colin Burlace (Brother of Notre Dame’s Gavin) with 3 CTOs and 3 GBs, Jackson Canfield with 3 CTOs and 3 GBs, and Will Schaller with 3 CTOs and 7 GBs. The unit has been particularly good defending man-down situations this year (.143). Notably, their all-world defenseman Ajax Zappitello has graduated, so we should expect an entirely different defensive plan from the Terps. The excellent Logan McNaney is still between the pipes. He has had a good start to the season with 48 saves (62%). Shea Keethler has been taking the majority of the faceoffs and has been winning at an excellent 67%.

This is a well coached and well prepared Maryland team. Any questions on how they were going to account for their losses to graduation and transfer have been favorably answered.

The Venue

The game will be played on the campus of Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium.  It will be the first lacrosse game at any level at that football stadium in 30 years. It will also be by far the largest venue to host an NCAA lacrosse game in Atlanta.  The hosts prepared an excellent field, taking care to give the teams lacrosse-only markings on the field, a rarity at games hosted at football venues.

Our Questions 

  1. Slowing down their offense: It is no secret that this is likely one of the stronger offensive units we will face. Spanos and Erksa have a habit of causing us some trouble. The boys will need to keep their communication strong and minimize mistakes.  Most importantly, they will need to end possessions by securing ground balls. 
  2. Keeping up offensive production: For most of the season our offense has seemed unstoppable, including scoring the opening 6 goals against Georgetown in only 10 minutes. But the Georgetown game also showed we are not incapable of struggling. This is  a match up where a high total will be necessary. They boys will need to be consistently efficient. 
  3. Staying focused: On a similar note to our previous questions, the boys need to stay focused and keep the sloppiness to a minimum. In their previous match up, while they were able to pull out the win, they lost the ground ball and turnover battles by a significant margin. This can’t happen again this weekend.

Having a game of the year contender this early in the season is always fun! We have a feeling this won’t be the only time we face Maryland this season! 

Go Irish!