Our #5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-2) take on the #7 Syracuse Orange (8-2) this Saturday in Syracuse at 2pm. This game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.

After a big win against Duke to open ACC play, the chance string back to back wins in the ACC is one the boys can’t miss. This will be another must win against a team that can be fun to watch.

The Opponent

Just like the Blue Devils, the Irish are very familiar with the Syracuse team. Notre Dame has won 10 of the last 12, including 7 straight. Most notably just a few years ago Jake Taylor set his career high goals in a game with an incredible eight, in which he alone outscored the Orange. Syracuse is coached by the legendary player Gary Gait.

This young Syracuse team is led by Joey Spallina (22g 33a) and Owen Hiltz (25g 16a). While those two are the key threats, that doesn’t take away from the fact that they have plenty of players that can hurt the Irish. But to cut to the chase in this preview, we just see that controlling these two superstars as the key, as any drop in their production will put too great a burden on the rest. Shawn Lyght has played well against Spallina in the past, but with how good of a player Spallina is, the rest of the defense can’t fall asleep behind him and expect Lyght to win that matchup every time. While it will be a challenge, and require us to play to a high standard, this is definitely a team that we can dominate defensively.

On the defensive end of the field, Nick Caccamo (16 CTOs 14 GBs) and Riley Figueiras (15 CTOs 18 GBs) top their defensive stat sheet. Billy Dwan is also someone to watch on defense. While they are certainly great players, they will have to show a consistent level of defensive discipline to silence CKav, Taylor, and the boys. To our observation, the Orange haven’t yet put a full 60 minutes together yet. They’ve been very good, but the Irish only need them to lose focus for a few minutes to put the game out of reach. Between the pipes is Jimmy McCool (awesome last name) who is at 60% on the season with an amazing 109 saves. With McCool between the pipes, shot placement will need to be great.

Play Breakdown

For those interested, we have attached the highlight reel for the Syracuse vs. Maryland game to get a preview of the offense that we will be facing. More specifically, we would like to draw your attention to 1:19-1:35.

This is a classic Syracuse action. To start, they go for a big-little pick with Spallina. This is something that the boys will need to make sure to communicate as putting a short stick on Spallina is not good for anyone. Here however, they didn’t get the switch the pole was able to maintain the match-up. But the pick still was otherwise successful as it took the attention of the defense and allowed for the roll to be wide open and the Orange manufactured a Nations look out of the confusion. Again, their creative approach will require precise communication to make sure that every man in the exchange is covered. When the talk isn’t up, as shown in the clip, the defense starts spinning which will inevitably lead to a goal.

While the sort of movement is pretty basic, executing it at the level of Syracuse does make it lethal. While our defense certainly has the skill to handle it, it will require lots of communication to deal with it. There can be no regression to the communication trouble the boys had earlier in the season.

Our Questions

We’ll watch the game with these focus points in mind:

  1. Offensive firepower: After a three-week lull where the team struggled to get past 10 goals, we’re getting back to the chemistry that makes massive totals possible. This should be a game where the boys are able to continue their momentum, especially with Taylor hot and his success against ‘Cuse in the past. We will be looking for a super high scoring performance from our offense this game.
  2. Building an ACC win streak: With this second half of the season being almost all ACC play, it is the most important part of the season. Building an ACC win streak early will be very important in maintaining confidence and securing a spot in the ACC and NCAA tournaments. What we are looking for is not just a win, but a performance that firmly establishes Notre Dame as the top team in the conference. A big road win at a venue like the Dome can do that.
  3. Defensive Control: Similar to past opponents, the key to beating the Orange is control of 2 outstanding players. The boys need to make sure they keep those threats from finding opportunities and the rest of the offense will struggle without them. This will be a difficult challenge, but if we are able to do it it will make the rest of the game a lot easier.

Now we are fully into ACC play! No more easy game means challenging ones like these are close to must-wins to go to the tournament. This will be a good one!

 

# GoIrish