#8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse (1-0) will face the Bellarmine Knights (1-4) this Saturday at 4:00 pm at Arlotta Stadium, ACCNX.

The Irish look to build on last week’s all-around success.  Notre Dame has a 5-0 all-time record versus this opponent, with their last meeting being an 11-6 win in 2016.

The Opponent

After a promising start to the season with a win against Mercer, the Knights struggled with lopsided losses to Utah and Jacksonville.  Covid-19 issues then forced the team into hiatus.  The team emerged last week with a loss to Delaware, followed by an 8-17 loss to the Irish’s opponent of last week, Robert Morris.

Senior Landon Trout and Freshman Kyle Playsted lead their scoring.  The roster has a bit of a Canadian flavor, not quite as pronounced as Robert Morris, but with many similar skillsets.  The team also has quite a few Atlantans from our neck of the woods.

They have struggled mightily at faceoff, not even winning 25% of their draws.  The goaltending unit has had a rough season so far saving at a .420 rate.  The Knights have used 3 keepers, with J.C. Higginbotham getting the most time so far.

A player to watch on defense is #41 Jon Robbins.  The Texan generates a ton of caused turnovers and will exploit any undisciplined play.

Our Pregame Thoughts

The game is an opportunity for the Irish, but one easily squandered, too.  A few things we’ll be looking at:

  1. Focus:  Notre Dame doesn’t have a sufficient number of games on the schedule to miss out on any chances to improve.  They have to resist the urge to get flashy and selfish against a team where they can probably get away with it.
  2. Defense: The first unit must show they can lock this team down.  It’s not enough in a season like this to limit Bellarmine’s scoring, they have to eliminate it.
  3. Bench: Who gets to play, and how soon in the game do they get to do it?  39 or so players got in versus Robert Morris, with the bench getting in early in the 4th quarter.  Can the Irish get in more guys and get them in earlier?

Bellarmine is a good team, and it has good players.  But if the Irish consider themselves to be among the superteams, they have to show improvement into week two by stomping on the Knights, and all lines need to get in on it. It’s not any more complicated than this.

Weather is forecast to be sunny, but 40 degrees and windy.

#GoIrish