Before a record crowd of 5000 at Arlotta Stadium and wearing fancy new uniforms, Notre Dame took care of business and beat the defending national champion Tar Heels, 14-13.

Mikey Wynne led the Irish with 5 goals, with Sergio Perkovic playing another great game with a hat trick and 2 assists.  Brendan Gleason and Bryan Costabile each added 2 goals and an assist.  Brendan Collins had a goal, and Bobby Gray had the highlight goal of the day, literally blowing a hole in the net.

North Carolina, as has been their custom in recent years, gave the Irish defense fits. Notre Dame did not help themselves with a fairly sloppy game, committing 19 turnovers. The Irish did, however, put in a solid work with 39 ground balls, notably with Garrett Epple vacuuming up 7 and John Sexton 5. These efforts were somewhat overshadowed by a lot of untidy play by the team as a whole.

Taking a look at our pregame 3 questions:

  1. Man-down has to improve:  Of the options we discussed, Notre Dame went with the plan to commit no penalties and obviate the problem.  They played disciplined lacrosse on defense with only one penalty, and North Carolina gave up the ball long before getting their EMO set up.
  2. EMO must be successful: North Carolina was similarly disciplined, but the Irish did convert both their extra-man opportunities.  Perkovic flexed his muscles with a goal and an assist in these opportunities, both at a critical time late in the game.
  3. Perkovic AND Garnsey:  Perkovic, as noted above, had a fantastic game, but Garnsey was relatively quie with 1 assist. While they didn’t join forces to demolish the Tar Heels, the third member of the offensive power trio, Mikey Wynne, did blast UNC in concert with #16.  Late in the game Ryder looked to be hobbled with an injury.  There is no news yet if there is any reason to be concerned.

Status leading into the ACC Tournament

The Irish offense clicked on Saturday, even with Garnsey not at 100%. Perkovic has found his mojo and as been the dominant force we hoped he would become.  His outside shot has become complementary to his game, not the focus of it.  Wynne reminded us why he is among premier closers in the game.  The balance of the offense used the bye week well to fine-tune their roles. Still, there is a bit of sloppiness to clean up.

Close defense looks good as always, but we see some challenges at defensive midfield.  What was at the beginning of the season an area of strength now has a few cracks.  The loss of Milliken and Gaiss to injury has seriously hurt depth, and the recent injury struggles of Schantz has mandated that coach Corrigan go deep into the roster and include freshman Restic in the rotation.  The  problem cascades with the defense needing to slide even more quickly to cover for the depth issues.  Sexton has been excellent, but he can’t be everywhere.  We will need to monitor this situation.

The faceoff unit had a very successful day against the formidable Stephen Kelly.  The combo of Finley and Travisano were strong their own, but fantastic when flanked with Epple and Sexton.  They will again be tested by Kyle Rowe next week, but we approach the game with optimism.

Shane Doss had a decent day even if the save numbers weren’t eye-popping.  He’s not only a good stopper, but also an effective outlet passer and steady in the clear.  Notre Dame still has the most reliable player between the pipes in the ACC.

The clear was undisciplined and sloppy in against UNC.  This must improve before next week.  It did not seem the Irish were troubled by Tar Heel pressure, they just had loose passes and made some odd decisions.  The Irish have a good clearing tradition, we hope this game was just a blip.

The Irish are well-positioned going into the tournament.  The key will be simply to play well and build momentum.  The ACC no longer has an automatic qualifier to the NCAA, but it’s not likely that the Irish would need it.  Perform well and they should get in and hopefully have a first round home game.  Plus, it’s an opportunity to settle scores with Duke and Syracuse for earlier losses.

Tidbits:

-Next up for the Irish is the ACC Tournament, where they will open with a rematch against host Duke on Friday at 8:30 (ESPNU).
-Another look at the Bobby Gray net-ripper:

 

-While we are partial to the gold helmets, Under Armor did come up with some good-looking uniforms for the game:

#GoIrish