The Notre Dame Irish men’s lacrosse team currently holds the No. 1 ranking in the country and is considered the favorite in the upcoming ACC tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina, this weekend. However, the ACC is widely considered to be the best conference in college lacrosse, and Notre Dame will have its hands full if the Irish wants to win its fourth ACC tournament crown since joining the conference in 2014.
After winning the regular season title, the Irish earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament. No matter the ranking in this tourney, though, the semifinal round will be tough, and the Irish’s opponent is no exception to that, as they face the No. 8 Virginia Cavaliers — the only team they lost to this season.
The Cavaliers have a solid offense that scores 12.93 goals per game, tied for 16th in the nation, while the Irish are just above that, scoring 13.00 goals per contest. Virginia struggles on the other end of the field, however, allowing 10.93 goals per game, compared to the Irish’s 8.27 (third nationally). Despite the weaknesses of the Cavalier defense, though, the Irish had one of their worst offensive showings of the year in the 11-9 loss to Virginia, scoring only 3 goals in the second half and getting shut out in the fourth quarter.
The key thing the Irish need to do differently this time around see more action from sophomore attacker Luke Miller. Against the Cavaliers, Miller didn’t score despite having seven shot attempts, only one of which was on goal. In two of the Irish’s last five games, they did not reach double-digit goals, and Miller went scoreless in both matchups. Graduate student Josh Yago was the Irish’s primary attacker at the beginning of the season, but his production made him the main focus of the opponent’s defense, leaving much of the scoring load on Miller. The Irish will need him to step up if they want to get their revenge.
Defensively, the Irish have done a solid job limiting star players this season, notably containing the North Carolina Tar Heels’ Owen Duffy and Dominic Pietramala. They also stymied Duke’s standout attacker Benn Johnston to just 2 goals on 15 shots, which helped the Irish to a win despite their offensive struggles. However, like Notre Dame, the Cavaliers’ offense boasts multiple threats even without a centerpiece; in that first contest, all three of Virginia’s starting attackers contributed equally, each picking up four points. The Irish will need to handle that better this second time.
If the Irish are able to get past the Cavaliers, they’ll face the winner of No. 5 North Carolina and No. 6 Syracuse. Earlier this year, the Irish topped the Tar Heels and the Orange by 10-5 and 16-11, respectively. Notre Dame’s face-off dominance keyed the victory over, as starting FOGO, junior Tyler Spano, vested Tar Heels’ specialist Brady Wambach on 10-of-17 face-offs. Junior goalkeeper Thomas Ricciardelli was also a brick wall between the pipes, recording 15 saves — good for a 75% save percentage. The Tar Heels are currently the 8th-best offense in the country, scoring 14.00 goals per game, and the Irish’s ability to win face-offs and force bad shots was the main reason the Tar Heels were limited to five goals. The Irish would hope for a repeat performance from Spano and Ricciardelli in a rematch.
Despite a similar margin of victory as the UNC game, the Irish’s battle against the Orange was more of an offensive shootout. Even though Syracuse’s star attacker Joey Spallina had 3 goals, the Irish contained the other main attacking weapon for the Orange in Michael Leo by limiting him to zero goals on 5 shot attempts. Offensively, the Irish did what they do best and spread the scoring around. While Miller and senior midfielder Max Busenkell each netted hat tricks, seven other Irish players contributed goals. The best offenses in lacrosse are the ones with many different weapons, and the Irish showed that in their contest against Syracuse.
In sum, the Irish found success in ACC contests this year by containing star players, winning the face-off battle and spreading the scoring out offensively. The Irish will have a very tough game to start their ACC tournament in Virginia, and if they advance, they will play a team looking for revenge in either Syracuse or North Carolina. Notre Dame takes on the Cavaliers at 5 p.m. on Friday, and the finals are scheduled for noon on Sunday.
