Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse advance to the quarterfinals with a 10-8 win over the Drexel Dragons. A little closer than we hoped, but a win is a win.
Survive and advance.
The Scoring
Captain Wheaton Jackoboice had a captain’s game with three goals, including the game winner with 1:19 left in the game.
Pat Kavanagh and Mo Mirer had two goals each, while Will Yorke had a goal and an assist. Graduate students Leahey and Lipka each had a goal. Dobson and Hallenbeck rounded out the scoring with an assist each.
Liam Entenmann had a fantastic game with 17 saves (68%). On the defensive side, Hallenbeck’s 5 gb were noticeable, as were Thornton’s 3 gb and a caused turnover.
The faceoff unit won at a 68% rate, with Leonard winning 8 of 10.
Our friends at Lacrossereference.com observed that the Irish possessed the ball 56% of the time and had a net 5 more possessions than Drexel. The Irish played relatively aggressively, averaging 29 seconds to the first shot.
Reid Bowering led the Dragons with 4 goals, while goalie Ross Blumenthal had a great 15 saves, including 7 in the 4th quarter.
The Plot
The game started well for the Irish with a quick Jackoboice goal to start, but the Dragons made clear they weren’t going away, responding with two goals, including the first of four rebound goals they had in the game.
The Irish scored the next three to end the quarter up 4-2 with momentum building. It wouldn’t be unfair to say the fans were expecting Notre Dame to start their usual 2nd quarter run. The run didn’t really build, but the Irish led at the half 7-3 and looking in good shape.
Notre Dame started to get sloppy in the third with six turnovers and not many shots. The offense was having difficulty generating a threat. Drexel crept back in with more second-chance goals and ended the quarter only down 8-7.
The Dragons tied it up early in the 4th to add worry to the game. The Irish started getting shots on net but Blumenthal was up to the task with 7 saves in the quarter.
With just over a minute left, Jackoboice left his defender in the dust and scored the game winner. Mirer iced the game soon thereafter while playing keep away with the Drexel defense.
Pregame thoughts
We wrote down a few things we’d look for to know how well the Irish were playing:
- Faceoff percentage: The Irish took care of business at the dot (68%) and mostly controlled the action, but Koita kept the Irish from building a run in the 2nd which kept the game in range for the Dragons. Notre Dame’s dominance at the end helped close out the game. We did notice some frustration on the part of Gallagher with some inconsistent start whistles by the referees.
- Getting Started: The boys got started pretty well considering they had 2 weeks off. Four early turnovers are something to improve on, but we can’t be mad at the start.
- Transition: The middies did a good job getting back and stopping their breaks to settle the defense in a 6-on-6, which was very helpful, as Drexel showed their talent for generating midfield turnovers and pushing the ball.
- 13 goals: The second half stall kept the boys from hitting this comfort zone target. As has been the case all season, when the Irish don’t hit this number, the game feels too close for comfort.
- Altitude: The Irish didn’t go deep into the bench, and it did appear in the second half there were times when long shifts led to very tired legs and midfielders caught on defense with some sloppy clears.
Notes
The second midfield is a very handy part of this roster. Not only would they be considered a legit #1 line on just about every team, they play a very different style to the first line, making them really hard to defend. We have to think their level of production doesn’t have an equal in division 1. In this game, the midfield generally showed their quickness, as they were regularly able to just run by the Drexel defense.
Like we said in our preview, Drexel has some good goal scorers. Bowering, Donnelly and Coll can score goals.
As good as the Drexel attack was, credit must be given to the defense once again, holding the Dragons to 6 goals below their season average. The Dragons needed 4 rebound goals to even make it to 8 goals. Much of this is due to Entenmann’s strong game, and much of is due to the consistent defense the Irish have played all year.
Turnovers, offensive stalls, and messy clears are likely to be on the practice list this week. With exams over and time to concentrate solely on lacrosse, the boys will be sure to clean things up.
Up Next
Quarterfinals Sunday at 2:30, and at home at Arlotta!!! Notre Dame and Maryland have had some recent battles, but the Irish have made good use of the home field in this series.
Notre Dame women’s lacrosse also advanced to the quarterfinals with a strong win over Virginia. They face rival Boston College next.
#GoIrish
