We continue our celebration of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish lacrosse seniors with a chat with LSM Eric Restic!

World events kept us from the chance to follow this team on its journey to a national championship, so ND-Atl 2.0 will instead use the time he would have spent writing previews and recaps to catch up with as many of the Irish seniors as he can to introduce them in new ways to their fans. We hope you enjoy our talk with Eric!

Eric Restic

#7 Eric Restic is a long-stick midfielder for the Fighting Irish.  Eric is from Lake Oswego, Oregon, where he attended Jesuit High School.  There he was the captain of both the lacrosse and football teams, and was on the academic honor roll all eight semesters.  Eric’s journey to Arlotta is unusual, coming from a state not commonly known for lacrosse and without playing on a club team.

Eric Restic saw the field early an often, making 13 appearances as a freshman.  Injury kept sidelined him as a sophomore, but he returned as a junior to play all 16 games. In that 2019 season he recorded a goal and an assist, and 31 ground balls.  He added another goal in his shortened senior season.

Our Chat

We are grateful that Eric took the time to answer some questions from 18 Stripes:

1. What was it like being a lacrosse player in Oregon?

Coming from Oregon, I definitely had a different lacrosse experience than most D1 guys. There’s not very many club teams or tournaments in the Pacific Northwest so kids from my region have to spend the summer travelling to the east coast or Southern California just to try to get recruited. Lacrosse is on the rise in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest in general though, and it wasn’t like there was a lack of competition in my area. It was definitely a unique spot to learn the game though, as it isn’t as developed as the traditional hotbeds around the country are. As far as playing in Oregon, I got really used to playing in the rain, so the transition to spring weather in South Bend wasn’t too awful. Overall, I wouldn’t trade growing up in Oregon for the world. It’s definitely not a lacrosse haven but the future’s bright for the sport there.

2. Were you always a defender, or did you play other positions growing up?

I played as a short stick midfielder my entire lacrosse career up until my Junior year of high school when I would pick up a pole to play man-down defense. I realized I had more fun playing with a d-pole than with a short stick so I asked my coach if I could make the switch to LSM. He was super receptive to the idea because I had always been a defensive minded player.

During the winter of my freshman year, Coach Corrigan asked if I would be open to switch to Short Stick Defensive Mid, and fortunately it allowed me to see some meaningful minutes that I wouldn’t have seen if I would’ve stayed at LSM that year. I think that it’s valuable to play a number of different positions growing up because it made it easier for me to switch from pole back to short stick during my freshman year when the opportunity arose.

Looking back on it, I guess I’ve only played 4 real seasons with a d-pole in my hands which is a little weird to think about. I do wish I picked up a d-pole earlier in my life though because you look at the younger guys on our team who are so natural with a pole like Jose Boyer, Jon Ford, and Maximus Schalit, and you can tell they’ve had the pole in their hands since they were young.

3. Your teammate Auden Menke compared you to John Sexton which is huge and deserving praise. What is your favorite part about the LSM position?

That’s really high praise from Auden because he’s a guy who works as hard as anybody on our team, so when I saw he said that I was more than grateful.

To start, I’ll say John was an incredible player to learn from. He’s easily the most skilled and natural pole I’ve ever played with. It was good for me to learn from him for my first two years and it helped me understand the more creative side of the LSM position. I think that my favorite part about being an LSM is the ability to get out in transition. My speed is a big part of my game and whether that involves starting fast break offense, being aggressive on the ride, or even chasing down a guy on the other team who might have a fast break, it allows me to utilize one of my biggest advantages on the field.

4. What is your favorite practice experience at Notre Dame?

Something that I’ll remember from practice is our games of “Eliminator” that the long poles would play the day before every game. “Eliminator” is basically “hot potato” for d-poles; we stand in a circle and you have to quick-stick the ball around and the person who drops it or messes up is out and the winner is the last man standing. Winning Eliminator is a big accomplishment and we take it ridiculously seriously, so it was always a battle every week of the season and something fun to end a long week of practice.

5. What is your favorite game experience at Notre Dame?

My favorite game experience was playing Johns Hopkins in the first-round of the tournament last year. It had been a somewhat up and down season and a lot of people were picking Hopkins to beat us, but we came out and handed it to them. We played fast and aggressive the entire game and it was one of the times where I’ve felt like we beat our opponent in every aspect of the game.

Personally, if I had to pick one moment from any game, my favorite experience was scoring my first goal against Cornell in 2019. I feel like everyone remembers their first goal more than most others, and for me I only scored 2 career goals, so both of those are up there with my favorite memories.

 

6. Your father was a famous football player for Notre Dame, so we’re sure Notre Dame has always been a part of your life, but how did you decide Notre Dame was for you?

I think I decided Notre Dame was for me when I went to campus for the first time as a kid. I knew the fight song since I was little, had all the t-shirts, and heard all about my dad and how great he was, but it wasn’t really until my first time on campus that I felt like Notre Dame was the spot for me. Anyone who went to, or is affiliated with, the University of Notre Dame can tell you that there’s something special about campus. Whether it’s the Grotto, the lakes, the dome, football stadium, or any other spot, there’s a certain inexplicable allure to the campus. It’s like you can tell that something special happens at Notre Dame, and it was apparent to me on my first visit.

7. Do you have a message for the underclassmen on the team since they have to go so many months without the companionship of teammates?

Honestly, I’m not too worried about those guys. I think that with technology and everything, people have been staying in touch pretty well. The fortunate thing is that we all left campus with the intention of coming back to school, so everyone on the team still needs to go back and pack up at some point which will allow us to connect again before summer.

8. How did you stay connected with the team the season you were injured, and what advice do you have for young players that have to miss time due to injury?

I actually didn’t stay connected with the team very well during my sophomore year when I was injured. Being injured was really tough mentally because when everyone else was practicing, traveling for games, or doing other team activities, I was always in the training room doing rehab work. It’s really hard to still feel like part of the team in those situations because there are no shared experiences during that time. Having two surgeries over the course of 6 months was really tough for me because it was like right as I was going to be able to contribute again, I had to start over from square 1.

The advice I would have for injured guys would be to find ways to be involved with the team both on and off the field, something I struggled with immensely. The biggest help for me during that time mentally was my teammates asking how I was doing with rehab or offering other simple but encouraging words. Having a healthy last two seasons, I’ve tried to be on the other side of that by making sure that the injured guys are doing okay and making sure to always ask them about how their rehab is progressing. So, I would say my advice would focus more on the healthy guys, and I would encourage them to make sure to always be cognizant of the injured guys because there are some really lonely times in that training room as a lot of guys know.

9. What is your favorite part about Notre Dame?

I think my favorite part about Notre Dame is the sense of community at the school. The tradition, iconic buildings, and world-class education are all second to none, however, it’s the sense of community that makes Notre Dame such a special place for me. It’s like the glue that joins all the other cool parts of Notre Dame together.

 

Thank you, Eric, for sharing your story!

#Go Irish

Seniors Project:

Jack Zullo

Auden Menke