#2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse (6-1, 2-1 ACC) will play their second game in a row against the #3 Duke Blue Devils (11-1, 2-1 ACC), Thursday at 7:00 pm, Durham, NC, ACCN.  The Irish look to repeat their winning performance in a primetime game!

Las week, the Irish handled the then-top ranked Duke, 13-8.  Notre Dame has been idle since, while Duke snuck by Virginia in overtime, 13-12.

What should we expect?

Notre Dame had a strong performance last week against Duke with a long list of positive contributions.  It wasn’t flawless, and we should probably expect Notre Dame to come out with a few modifications. Similarly, we certainly shouldn’t expect Duke to come out with the same exact gameplan, either.  With this in mind, we consulted with our colleagues at 18 Stripes and put together some thoughts for round two of this conference rivalry game:

  • Faceoffs:  Gallagher and Leonard have been incredible all year, but the Duke freshman Jake Naso go the better of them for most of the last game.  Duke wasn’t able to capitalize, but we think it’s fair to say the Irish can’t afford to play with a 7-possession deficit at the dot, and ideally, we hope to see them turn tables and build a possession advantage for the Irish like they’ve done against the rest of the competition.
  • Defensive strength: Holding Duke to 8 goals was fantastic.  Holding them to a similar total a second will be a huge challenge on the road.  But with Kielty, Cohen, Thornton, Hallenbeck, Boyer, Entenmann, etc., there is no reason to argue it’s not possible.  The first time was not a fluke.
  • Travel: The Irish are going on the road for only the second time all season. While they convincingly won their first road game against Syracuse, it is also true that they got off to a very rough start that game.  The Irish need to start this game well.
  • Duke’s defensive focus:  In game one, Duke took their chances with the Irish midfield and put in on that unit to be the main offensive focus for the Irish.  Notre Dame responded well and won going away.  Will Duke approach this game similarly, or will they reverse course and force the Irish to put the game on the backs of Kavanagh and Westlin?  The Irish are balanced, so we don’t see a problem either way, but it will be interesting to see where Duke thinks their best chances lie.
  • Field conditions: Koskinen Stadium is a nice venue, but we’ve commented after past visits that field quality isn’t always the best.  It’s a facility that gets a lot of use.  While Kielty handled Sowers well on the pristine synthetic Arlotta surface, keeping up with Sower’s lateral movement on the slippery and heavily patched Durham surface will be an added challenge.
  • Duke in the middle of the field: A hard ride and aggressive clears are not the same emphasis for Duke as they are for teams like Notre Dame, UNC and Virginia.  The Blue Devils’ have better strengths elsewhere on the field.  However, we may find them reconsidering giving up this many possessions in the middle of the field.  We’re not sure if Duke can develop this area much in the 10 days since the teams last played, but Coach Danowski is certainly innovative and has successfully had his teams shift gears plenty of times.
  • Duke Discipline: Duke may ultimately come out with the same plan and simply look to play with better discipline.  There is no denying Duke’s talents.  They may feel there is no need to panic, and that playing at home with better discipline is all that is necessary to flip the result.
  • Notre Dame Depth:  The Irish have to trust their full depth to perform.  With a game against UNC on short rest following Duke, the coaching staff can’t risk running the boys into the ground.

Challenge accepted

We’ve said this a few times this season.  Hard games like what is scheduled at Durham are what we want to see the Irish play.  They have the talent and depth to do it, and they’ve certainly shown they can do it on the field with great results to date.  If the Irish put forth the same effort they did last week in South Bend, there is every reason to think they will be the victors once again.

#GoIrish