#5/6/6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1-0) will face #17/18/18 Richmond Spider (2-1) this Sunday at noon, ACC Network Extra. The game has been moved outdoors to Arlotta Stadium. The Irish look to build on last week’s strong performance and get a bit of payback after a difficult loss in Richmond last year.
The Opponent
Richmond is a lacrosse success story with several NCAA Tournament appearances in its short history as a Division I program. Coach Dan Chemotti’s Spiders beat the Irish for the first time last season, 8-9, on a rainy day. The Irish were unable to draw even with a four minutes left on the clock adter coming back from three goals down. 2018 had the Irish beating Richmond at Arlotta 11-7.
This season Richmond already has wins over Marist (13-11) and Navy (12-9), as well as an 2-OT loss to then #4 Maryland (13-14).
The Spiders have a lot of excellent players on their roster. Three that stand out to us are attackman Ryan Lanchbury (#9, 5g, 9a), midfielder Mitch Savoca (#15, 6g, 5a), and LSM Sean Menges(#40, 13 gb, 7 ct). Lanchbury own the Richmond single-season scoring record as a sophmore with 72 points, and had a hat trick against the Irish last year. Menges is a very disruptive player.
In the specialist department, Richmond divides the faceoff duties among several players, including Will Bou and Jacob Griffin. Jack Rusbuldt is have a good year taking on the goalkeeping responsibilities for the Spiders.
Our Three Questions
Notre Dame’s season is just getting started. While the Irish had a great game last week, we are still learning a lot about this squad and how they will utilize their excellent depth. We’ll keep our questions for this game very simple:
- Scoring balance: Notre Dame must continue to find scoring options across the entire roster. With the shot clock, the Irish can’t afford to depend on one or two superstars to score their allotment of goals and hope the defense gives them a manageable total to beat. The attack, first midfield and second midfield need to contribute, and the defense must be opportunistic in transition. As we’ve noted a few times this season, the metric for this offense is how quickly they can get to twelve goals. The will only be successful in this regard with balanced production. The Cleveland State game saw 10 Notre Dame players put the ball in the net. We hope to see them reproduce that kind of effort.
- Defensive aggression: This unit showed very aggressive on-ball tendencies and a willingness to allow superstars like Jack Kielty to extend very far out. Will the Irish continue this style, and can they play it well enough to keep this quick Richmond team from sneaking behind them? Agression requires the off-ball defense to be particularly tight. There can’t be anywhere for the ball carrier to go, and double-teams have to finish the job.
- Discipline: This game will be Notre Dame’s first outdoors. The Irish have gone through phases where they don’t take the best care of the ball. Adjust to the cold conditions and avoid making careless mistakes with the ball. This is a must. Similarly, on the defensive side they need to avoid lapses in communication discipline. If the boys play like they did the first half of last week’s game there will be no problems in this department. However, if they lose focus like they did in the second half of that game, Richmond will make them miserable.
Why This Game Is Important
With the toughest schedule in lacrosse, every game is important. However, last year we learned how much more difficult this schedule becomes with an early-season loss and how quickly options are limited. On a more positive note, a win with a strong, balanced offense that takes care of the ball, and with a disciplined aggressive defense, then the Irish are rightfully elevated into the national conversation. This week saw #1 Virginia, #2 Penn State and #4 Maryland lose. There is a real chance for the Irish to show how good they are. We recognize that Coach Corrigan will keep the boys focused on one game at a time, and rightfully so. This leaves us available to be the ones with time to dream of bigger things for the boys. It begins with a strong performance against Richmond.
#GoIrish
Nicely written. Thanks!
A question from ignorance: is there a home field advantage in lacrosse, in general? And if so, at ND in particular?
The well attended venues tend to be considered to have big home field advantages, Notre Dame included. Carrier Dome, Michie, Homewood, Shuart, Maryland, etc. all considered tough places. Arlotta in the spring when the weather is good and the hill fills up is considered one of the better venues. Interestingly, Loftus is considered a house of horrors for visiting teams. Field dimensions are slightly off and 1000 fans packed within inches of the field is really uncomfortable for visiting teams.
Sorry for the delay — thanks for the info. I would not have thought about Loftus like that