The #10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-3) beat the Michigan Wolverines (7-2), 12-7, this weekend at Arlotta Stadium.  The Irish performed well to get the season back on track.

The Scoring

Chris Kavanagh led the goal scorers with 3 goals and an assist, while his brother Pat matched him in points with 4 assists. Eric Dobson scored 2 with an assist, and Walker and Jackoboice added 2 goals each.  Lipka, Angrick, and Ricciardelli also scored.

Entenmann had an incredible 19 saves, and the Kavanagh brother had another 8 ground balls between then.  McCahon, Walker and Cochran led the agressive defense with 2 caused turnovers each.


The faceoff unit had a hard day going 7 of 23, but they were balanced out by a ride that kept Michigan to 16 of 23 clearing.  Also, the Irish were ahead in ground balls 30 to 23, which is absolutely amazing given the faceoff disparity.  The boys were OK in the turnover department with 12.

25 players saw the field for the Irish.

The Plot

The Irish scored on the opening possession on a Dobson goal, but were quiet the rest of the first quarter, finishing the frame down 1-2.

A man-up goal by Ricciardelli to open the second got the Irish flowing.  The rattled off 5 straight to go into halftime up 6-2.  Liam Entenmann and the defense were stellar throughout the half.

There was a bit of back and forth to open the second half, but the boys went on another 5 goal run to put themselves comfortably ahead, 12-4, midway through the 4th quarter.  The Wolverines scored 3 goals in garbage time to make the final score of 12-7 look respectable, but they were no match for the Irish defense.

Pregame Thoughts

We listed a few things we would be focused on coming into the Michigan game:

  1. Defensive communication: It appeared much improved as the amazing 18% efficiency would suggest (which includes 3 garbage time goals). There were certainly fewer occasions where SSDMs were left on islands and slides came late. To be fair, superhuman efforts by Cohen and Entenmann helped the cause, but they Irish will be pleased with their progress.
  2. Consistency: Defense was consistent until the waning moments, the ride was intense throughout, but we think it will be fair to say the offense would still disappear for long stretches.  When it was on, it was spectacular, as 6- and 5-goal runs would indicate.  We’ll have to see how this goes from game-to-game, but the category is certainly much improved.
  3. Continued face-off progress:  It wasn’t statistically a good day, but combined with the ride, the unit did a great job not conceding losses.  The whole team could be counted upon to jump on any face-off loss to regain the ball.  The effort was solid, which will really be a benefit when the stats catch up. The unit is still in need of improvement, but the Irish are finding a way.

credit: Fred Assaf

Stray thoughts

  • The ride is relentless, and the commitment of the attack unit to retain possession in loose ball situations is fantastic.
  • We’re noticing a slowly shortening game roster, which gets about a player shorter every week.  We are not sure if this is influenced by injury, but we hope the coaching staff finds a way to get more players on the field.
  • The coaches remain open to the idea of using different combinations of players on the field, with a 5-ish player rotation on attack, and a lot of personnel flexibility between the first and second midfield lines.

Next week

The Irish travel to 2-time defending national champion #3 Virginia to open their ACC campaign (March 26, 1:00 pm, ACCN). The Cavaliers were the #1 team until they got body-bagged 23-12 by Maryland last weekend.  Let there be no misunderstanding, just because there is a significant disparity in results against our common opponent, Virginia remains an extreme matchup challenge for the Irish, and the reasons why they were ranked #1 did not dissappear.  It’s also been a very long time since Virginia has lost two games in a row.  The faceoff unit led by Petey LaSalla will again present a special challenge for the Irish, and Virginia’s willingness to push transition blunts Notre Dame’s recent success with the ride.  The boys will also need to find a solution for Connor Shellenberger, who was been filling the scoring sheet.

 

#GoIrish