The Notre Dame Fighting Irish face the Denver Pioneers in the NCAA Quarterfinals in Long Island, NY, at 2:30 on Saturday, ESPNU.  The Western Rivalry continues.

The history of this matchup says all that needs to be said:

Buzzer beater, OT, OT, OT, 3 goals, OT, 3OT, 1 goal.

Denver has gotten the better of this rivalry the past few years.  Let’s face it, the Irish simply have to get over this hump if they want to be champions.  This is not simply survive and advance, this game is the litmus test of whether this Notre Dame team is championship material.

In this regard, the Irish will be arriving with a secret weapon:


Have you ever seen anything so shiny?

The Denver gameplan is a secret to no one.  They have the greatest faceoff man in the history of college lacrosse, Trevor Baptiste. Baptiste will give Denver huge imbalance in total possessions.  In these possessions, Denver will pass, pass, pass and pass some more until everyone in the stadium is asleep, then they’ll score.  They will try to slowly choke out ND by denying them the ball. This much we know.

How do the Irish overcome the possession imbalance?

  1. Faceoff wing play will be critical.  Baptiste will win draws, and win most of them to himself.  That’s a reality.  They wings will need to get the ball back by simply terrorizing Denver in the middle of the field.  ND-Atl 2.0 points out that Sexton and Epple are two of the most disruptive open-field defenders in all of college lacrosse, so the weapons are there to make this happen.
  2. Shot clock.   Bring ear muffs for the kids, folks.  For our football fan readers, purple-faced Brian Kelly is a rank amateur when it comes to the sideline volcano bit compared to our lacrosse coach.  Corrigan needs to bring his A game and be in the ear of the officials from the first possession. Let’s face it, Denver coach Bill Tierney is a legend in lacrosse with more national championships that we can count.  Officials give him, and will continue to give him, all kinds of deference.  He can bring the noise with the best of them.  Corrigan must dial himself up to 11 from minute one to counter-balance this reality, and must blow out his vocal cords and invent new words.  Anyone uncomfortable with this plan should be forced to watch the last three minutes of the regular season Denver game.  A proper shot clock puts that game into overtime.  Additionally, roster issues at SSDM due to the injuries to Koshansky, etc., further require that the time on the defensive end be minimized.  ND can’t afford to keep Schantz and Restic on defense for 3-4 minutes a pop, and as strong as the half-field defense is, no defense can hold out forever.
  3. Efficiency.  Limited possessions means you have to make the most of what you get.  Conventional wisdom suggests this also means playing more methodically on offense to rest the defense.  We absolutely disagree.  The offense is better and more efficient when playing quickly.  We were reminded of this watching the Marquette game.  Plus, reducing the total amount of game possessions only furthers Denver’s strategy.  Baptiste will cause a possession imbalance, the counter is a combination of efficiency and increase in total possessions by playing quickly.

Tidbits

-As noted above, injuries remain a concern.  Garnsey and Perkovic are on the mend, but the depth at SSDM due to injury has reached critical levels.  We may see some new faces on defense this weekend.

-Much is said about the Pios’ possession advantages and the legend of Coach Tierney.  Denver is, however, vulnerable.  Goaltending and defense, while good, can be exploited more easily than other units of this team.

-This game is being played at Shuart Stadium on the campus of Hofstra University, the ideal lacrosse venue if there ever was one.  Folks have noted Denver Coach Tierney’s Long Island connections, however, Notre Dame’s Strong Island bona fides are deep:   Nick Koshansky (St. Anthony’s go Friars!), Coach Gerry Bryne and John Zullo (Chaminade), Brian Willets (Smithtown East), Jordan Walter (Cold Spring Harbor), not to mention the great Matt Kavanagh.