The #2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-0) ready themselves to play rival #9 Ohio State Buckeyes (3-2). Cold temperatures are expected at Arlotta Stadium for the Saturday, 2:00 pm game time (ACCN).

The Opponent

The Buckeyes come for the 47th meeting between these two teams, with the Irish owning a 34-12 advantage in the series.  Notre Dame enjoyed a 16-game win streak until Ohio State came back to win the last three, including last year in Columbus, 11-14.

Their season began with two big wins over Air Force and Cleveland State, followed by a rock fight win over North Carolina.  Matters turned sour recently with losses to #1 Virginia (6-17) in Naples, Florida, and #3 Cornell (13-16) at home.

On the offensive end, the Buckeyes are led by 6’4″ 210 lb All-American attackman Jack Myers. He was second in the country last year with 5.19 points per game. He is joined on the attack by sophomore Ed Shean, who leads the team with 14 goals this season. The Buckeyes use a similar 4 attackman lineup to Notre Dame, with Scott White and Jason Knox primarily joining Myers and Shean.

Once again, the Irish will face a fearsome defensive tandem in Bobby Van Buren and Army transfer Marcus Hudgins.  These two will present the boys with a very difficult test. Van Buren did a fantastic job with Schellenberger in their Virginia game.  That tape should be enough to get the attention of the Notre Dame team.

The Buckeye specialists are expected to be goalie Skylar Wahlund, whom the Irish faced in relief last year, and FOGO Drew Blanchard.  Blanchard is having a good year against some serious opponent pleases, winning at .626.  He had some good success against Will Lynch last year supporting Justin Inacio.

Our Thoughts

Our biggest concern is that the Irish remain focused and motivated after an emotional win on the road last week. If they can remain energetic and controlled, the path to victory is difficult, but clear:

  1. Control Jack Myers:  It’s not a big secret that finding a solution to Myers is critical to success.  He’s a great player. The questions is how to go about it and not give up too much to Shean and the others who are efficient scorers in their own right.
  2. Don’t let Van Buren and Hudgins dictate: The Irish have to stay dynamic and multiple as these two are more than capable of taking two or more players off the board. The boys have shown an aptitude for dealing with fearsome defenses.  It won’t get any easier this weekend.
  3. Continue faceoff and possession improvement: Blanchard is having a great year.  Lynch and company have to continue their very positive development and maintain possession parity.  Along with this, the rest of the team has to continue to improve clearing and taking care of the ball.  The Irish can’t afford to lose extra possessions.

Last week was a great win, but this schedule doesn’t get any easier.  The boys must refocus and commit to the one game in front of them.  If they do this and step on the field with energy, we know they will have a good day.

 

#GoIrish