Notre Dame Lacrosse Open thread

[FDNYIrish1]

Sounds promosing....Incoming recruiting class ranking from Insidelacrosse

2. Notre Dame
Top 100: Jonathan Ford, Marco Napolitano, Tate Young
Top 50: Max Schalit, Jake Taylor, Reilly Gray, Patrick Kavanagh, Liam Entenmann

While Kevin Corrigan’s staff took a hit, new Fighting Irish assistants Chris Wojcik and Ryan Wellner walk into a favorable position with their freshmen. Accompanied by a strong group of non-hotbed longpoles in front of him, top-ranked keeper Liam Entenmann should make an early push for time. Attackmen Patrick Kavanagh and Jake Taylor should to fit in well with the Irish attack. The Fighting Irish graduated a lot in the middle of the field, so this crop of six midfielders could be leaned on going forward.

Liam Entenmann is one of my favorite kids. So happy for the player he has become. Great kid from a great family.

[IrishLax]

Liam Entenmann is one of my favorite kids. So happy for the player he has become. Great kid from a great family.

I hope he's given every opportunity to win the job this year because a 49% save percentage from your starting goalie is simply not getting it done.

[Picasso]

Liam Entenmann is one of my favorite kids. So happy for the player he has become. Great kid from a great family.

Irish team pummeled the alumni this past Saturday. Hope that bodes well for the Spring. Given the quality of new staff, don't be surprised if the new DC isn't a giant gust of fresh air at South Bend. If they can resolve the keeper issue, this team will be a top 5 defensively. Not sure about the offense as they've lost a lot of firepower over the past two years. But sometimes a team of "no names" is exactly what you need to have a balanced offense. Lastly, the Irish have the best FOGO they've had in a decade.

[IrishLax]

Irish team pummeled the alumni this past Saturday. Hope that bodes well for the Spring. Given the quality of new staff, don't be surprised if the new DC isn't a giant gust of fresh air at South Bend. If they can resolve the keeper issue, this team will be a top 5 defensively. Not sure about the offense as they've lost a lot of firepower over the past two years. But sometimes a team of "no names" is exactly what you need to have a balanced offense. Lastly, the Irish have the best FOGO they've had in a decade.

I'm going to see them play next weekend, hope to see some of the young guns shine. Attack is really the only position I've got worries about... Garnsey illustrated in the playoffs just how much they missed an "alpha" for most of last season.

[irishrb]

I'm going to see them play next weekend, hope to see some of the young guns shine. Attack is really the only position I've got worries about... Garnsey illustrated in the playoffs just how much they missed an "alpha" for most of last season.

It's actually sickening to me how much talent they have pumped out of ND the passed few years yet still don't have championship to their name...LET THIS BE THE YEAR!!!!

[FDNYIrish1]

I'm going to see them play next weekend, hope to see some of the young guns shine. Attack is really the only position I've got worries about... Garnsey illustrated in the playoffs just how much they missed an "alpha" for most of last season.

Lax let me know what you think of Liam. It’s tough to predict how kids will play at the next level but I think he’s going to be awesome. He’s played at the top levels of club and high school here on the island.

On another note, I think I remember reading on here that Xavier Arline May be a PWO football candidate. He’s a top 5 lax recruit committed to UNC. Damn shame we didn’t get into the O’Neill sweepstakes. That kid is a monster.

[irishrb]

Write-up from InsideLacrosse.com on Notre Dame's fall scrimmage....Sounds promosing....LAX did you go???

Notre Dame
The Irish were on another level in terms of athleticism, especially when teams went to their benches to mix in a few more players. They were the bigger, faster, stronger team and it showed in their ability to win the 50-50 groundball battle and ride it back.

Offensively, they stuck to what we have come to know from Notre Dame. They initiated with a long dodge out of the box, trying to draw a slide and move it quick through X to the backside. The most impressive part of the Irish offense was in the secondary portion. They did a great job working their matchup from X, either on a solo dodge off the endline or out of a big/little look and getting their hands free up the hash. They shot a great percentage and seemingly made the defense pay for not sliding all day.
Notre Dame was dominant in the middle of the field and created several transition opportunities because of it.

Freshman Pat Kavanagh had a solid showing all day but looked especially crisp in transition with his hands free; he made great reads and took what the defense gave him. Sophomore Griffin Westlin also impressed and may have been the best all-around attackman we saw. He did just as good of a job finding space and working without the ball as he did putting pressure on the defense as a dodger.

At this point, we have a pretty solid idea of what the Irish are getting from upperclassmen like reigning ACC Offensive Player of the Year Bryan Costabile, Brian Willetts and Connor Morin. If that is going to change, there wasn’t much indication of it in this scrimmage.

Defensively, this unit was tough to beat, led by senior Jack Kielty, who will anchor as the top cover guy of the group. He handled his matchup in both games which allowed for the off-ball defense to stay home. Kielty certainly seems poised to give many of the top attackman nightmares in the upcoming season. Both the Tigers' and Raiders' offenses were extremely pick-heavy. and the Notre Dame defense did a good job of sticking to their pick rules and not allowing the offense to come off hands free or manipulate matchups.

[stpeteirish]

Write-up from InsideLacrosse.com on Notre Dame's fall scrimmage....Sounds promosing....LAX did you go???

Notre Dame
The Irish were on another level in terms of athleticism, especially when teams went to their benches to mix in a few more players. They were the bigger, faster, stronger team and it showed in their ability to win the 50-50 groundball battle and ride it back.

Offensively, they stuck to what we have come to know from Notre Dame. They initiated with a long dodge out of the box, trying to draw a slide and move it quick through X to the backside. The most impressive part of the Irish offense was in the secondary portion. They did a great job working their matchup from X, either on a solo dodge off the endline or out of a big/little look and getting their hands free up the hash. They shot a great percentage and seemingly made the defense pay for not sliding all day.
Notre Dame was dominant in the middle of the field and created several transition opportunities because of it.

Freshman Pat Kavanagh had a solid showing all day but looked especially crisp in transition with his hands free; he made great reads and took what the defense gave him. Sophomore Griffin Westlin also impressed and may have been the best all-around attackman we saw. He did just as good of a job finding space and working without the ball as he did putting pressure on the defense as a dodger.

At this point, we have a pretty solid idea of what the Irish are getting from upperclassmen like reigning ACC Offensive Player of the Year Bryan Costabile, Brian Willetts and Connor Morin. If that is going to change, there wasn’t much indication of it in this scrimmage.

Defensively, this unit was tough to beat, led by senior Jack Kielty, who will anchor as the top cover guy of the group. He handled his matchup in both games which allowed for the off-ball defense to stay home. Kielty certainly seems poised to give many of the top attackman nightmares in the upcoming season. Both the Tigers' and Raiders' offenses were extremely pick-heavy. and the Notre Dame defense did a good job of sticking to their pick rules and not allowing the offense to come off hands free or manipulate matchups.

Is this the alumni game or did we scrimmage someone else?

[irishrb]

CLIFTON, Va. — Sunday was a chilly, autumn day with a drenching rain pouring constantly, but that didn’t stop Colgate, Notre Dame and Princeton from getting after it in a series of scrimmages played at Centerville High School in Northern Virginia.

The scrimmages were organized as a fundraiser for the American Boy Foundation Matt Megale Scholarship, which helps those recovering from addiction and included clinics for youth players.

Though the rain and wind made the play on the field occasionally as sloppy as the weather, and each team playing two games meantwe didn’t always get to watch each team playing their starters against each other. Here are a few key takeaways from the day for each team.

[stpeteirish]

Opener with Cleve St a rout 15-3 after 3 periods. Liam Entenmann got the start and played into the 3rd period 2 goals allowed and somewhere in the area of 9-10 saves; really impressive. Schmidt in now. Pat Kavanagh really lighting it up.

TWo very impressive freshman who could make a big difference this year.

[IrishLax]

Even if Pat Kavanagh ends up not being quite as good as his brother, it was quite clear today that he's a do-it-all player who is going to play at good-to-elite level for the next four years. This is the most balanced offense ND has had since probably that 2015 team. That 1st line of midfielders is going to be deadly, and the second line is good enough to start at many D1 schools.

On defense, it's self-explanatory that a goalie saving 80% of the shots he faces is going to allow you to go on runs and dominate teams. Even if Entenmann only saves in the neighborhood of 55% on the season that's going to make a world of difference for Notre Dame.

[irishrb]

Nice opener. They have so many options on offense this year. LOVED seeing 2 freshman studs have the opportunity to show what they can do immediately too!
I didn't realize this: Former Harvard head coach Chris Wojcik also joins the staff, taking over the offense.....
Anyone know anything about him? Will Corrigan let him actually take the offense over? If so, is Corrigan doing what it takes to win a championship before he leaves?

[FDNYIrish1]

Never understood why ND didn’t recruit Chaminade heavier under GB. Hopefully that changes. Psyched to see the results from yesterday and excited about this season.

[FDNYIrish1]

Denver today. Where is everyone? Where my fellow lax addicts been?

[irishrb]

Denver today. Where is everyone? Where my fellow lax addicts been?

Agreed....where is everyone....Went to the Maryland game...Really not a good showing...
Face off was absolutely horrid...hate how one player can impact the game that much. I really think they need to bring the wings in closer to increase the chance of turning faceoffs into 50/50 scrums!

The Irish are better than Denver, but they better come to play, as I really think they need this game with the upcoming schedule...

Things I want to see...
1. Better faceoff results than last week.
2. A little more aggressive offense around the crease.
3. Better energy/fight for ground balls. UMD wanted the game more last week and routinely won the small battles.

[irishrb]

Don't know what's happened to Leanord, but wow, is he a disappointment right now. Combine that with a slow D that has to slide way too early and this could be a tough year.

[irishrb]

How in the world do you not try a change of pace at faceoff. You literally can't do worse in the last 2 games....Instead, you change the goalie...okay...ya makes sense. This looks like a team that might end their tourney run....

[IrishLax]

The team is only as good as their faceoff play right now. Don't know if it's an injury or what, but the primary reason why ND was largely non-competitive the past two weeks has been faceoff play and getting killed in the possession game. Quite disappointing.

[irishrb]

The team is only as good as their faceoff play right now. Don't know if it's an injury or what, but the primary reason why ND was largely non-competitive the past two weeks has been faceoff play and getting killed in the possession game. Quite disappointing.

Agreed..
I will say, I literally hate the faceoff position. No one person should be able to control the game like that in any team sport. If you have to keep the face, which lacrosse obviously will, you have to move the wings in. Make it more of a scrum/battle!

[IrishLax]

Agreed..
I will say, I literally hate the faceoff position. No one person should be able to control the game like that in any team sport. If you have to keep the face, which lacrosse obviously will, you have to move the wings in. Make it more of a scrum/battle!

There are some very creative solutions being floated around, but the simplest is to go to a circle (players can stand wherever they want around the circle versus two wings) and move it in about 50%. Will make it a more athletic contested GB situation most of the time.

[irishrb]

There are some very creative solutions being floated around, but the simplest is to go to a circle (players can stand wherever they want around the circle versus two wings) and move it in about 50%. Will make it a more athletic contested GB situation most of the time.

Love the idea, and makes so much more sense to me! Would make the game more interesting/entertaining too. To know the other team is just going to make it/take it, like it was today, just gets stupid....

[stpeteirish]

disappointing game. It wasn't just face offs, they were just way more physical than we were. Didn't see that coming; we are usually the more physical team.

[irishrb]

disappointing game. It wasn't just face offs, they were just way more physical than we were. Didn't see that coming; we are usually the more physical team.

I just don't think the D is as athletic as we are accustomed to seeing at ND. They were getting beat, routinely. Tough to be physical if you can't recover.
IMO, there are some things that must happen in order for this team to be a true threat...In order of importance:

1. Faceoffs...Goes without saying...HAS to improve...100% pathetic the last 2 games.
2. Goalie Play..Has to be consistent and elite. As I stated, the D just doesn't look up to typical ND style...
3. Offense, as always, needs to be more creative. Too much iso up top....most of their offense has consisted of trying to dodge up top to create a shot. Move the ball...move people..cut......there are way too many capable scorers on offense to limit yourself the way they have been...
4. D might have to pack it in this year and play more zone. I just don't see the athleticism to press out.
Just my opinion....

[Picasso]

I just don't think the D is as athletic as we are accustomed to seeing at ND. They were getting beat, routinely. Tough to be physical if you can't recover.
IMO, there are some things that must happen in order for this team to be a true threat...In order of importance:

1. Faceoffs...Goes without saying...HAS to improve...100% pathetic the last 2 games.
2. Goalie Play..Has to be consistent and elite. As I stated, the D just doesn't look up to typical ND style...
3. Offense, as always, needs to be more creative. Too much iso up top....most of their offense has consisted of trying to dodge up top to create a shot. Move the ball...move people..cut......there are way too many capable scorers on offense to limit yourself the way they have been...
4. D might have to pack it in this year and play more zone. I just don't see the athleticism to press out.
Just my opinion....

1. Faceoffs: Must have a viable plan B and C at this position. Rock, paper, etc. There's only a couple of programs that can put all their chips on one player.
2. Goalie: Tough for a freshman to star but I would stick with him through thick and thin at this point. The other guy had two full years to get the job done. Enough said.
3. Offense: Agree wholeheartedly.
4. D: How do you explain the drop off? Over the past five years, you've had 3 D POY winners augmented by other strong players. In the last two (counting this year) seasons, the LSM position has dropped off dramatically and the third and fourth pole have been un-athletic with less than optional stick work.

[stpeteirish]

Believe it or not we had a game today at Ohio St. Game was on BTN I only caught the last 8 minutes and really really gave one up today. Really bad final 3 minutes.
With a one goal lead we gave it up with a series of errors. First Restic got picked off behind the net and his man hit a teamate in front of the goal who scored. To make matters worse Restic's stick hit the face of the man who picked him resulting in a 60 sec penalty with 1:48 to go and LeClair scored his 4th man up goal of the game with about a minute left. We appeared to have won the scrum after the faceoff only to have Westlin called for offside. We got a steal about 30 seconds later but couldn't stay inbounds. Got called for another penalty on the inbounds play and they scored again man up into an open net.

Man up goals by LeClair really killed us. Also were some horrible unforced turnovers in the part I watched.

Corrigan really needs to shake things up to salvage this season.

Anybody else watch this shitstorm?

[IrishLax]

Sloppiest ND team I’ve ever seen. They look completely disinterested out there relative to past ND teams.

[irishrb]

Couldn't get faceoffs when they really needed them...
Undisciplined penalties throughout the whole game...
Just plain bad defense against LeClair....
As LAX said, disinterested team....I said it as soon as they came out to play..they don't look like they want to be there...
After they dominated a decent Richmond team, I actually had high hopes for this team...Crazy how bad they look right now. Super annoying/frustrating.

[FDNYIrish1]

Shocker out of Baltimore, Dave Pietramala our at JHU. Hated him as a coach, absolutely loved him as a player. Where does he end up?

[Picasso]

COVID Developments

Does anyone know if the two kids who ended up at Denver looked at Notre Dame? Would have been nice to have a true attack centered offensive QB. Losing Constabile at middie is huge but maybe it's addition by subtraction with a more balanced offense: also maybe we'll have the ball more on offense with the new depth at Fogo. Team defense should be stronger with Kielty returning, the new close D transfer and true competition at the keeper spot. SSDM and two way middie slots solidified last year but I still don't believe our LSMs are true CTO generators and stoppers like Sexton. Team D must be cleaned up and 4 quarter ground ball energy needs to be a point of focus. Look for next year's team to make the Elite 8. If this rising sophomore goalie blossoms, the team goes greater than 60% at the X and regains their defensive and ground ball intensity, this team could "sneak" into the Final Four.

[stpeteirish]

Irish season starts Sat with a home (indoor) game vs Robert Morris. Wonder what the Lacrosse fans here think about Corrigan's strategy of starting the season 2-3 weeks later than everyone else.

Non conference schedule is way lighter than usual with the likes of Robert Morris, Bellarmine and Cleveland St instead of the usual fare of Ohio St, Maryland and Denver.

But the ACC is absurdly strong on paper. Inside Lacrosse has us 9th nationally, which is 5th and last in the ACC.

Roster appears quite strong to my eye. Light on freshman but 8 Grad students including 5 transfers, most of whom were all conference at their previous schools.

[IrishLax]

Team looking really good right now against a decent Robert Morris team. Offense is full of competent dodgers and athletic threats, but the big reason they’re dominating is because their faceoff unit is INSANE right now and that plays right into the style that works for ND and Corrigan.

[stpeteirish]

face off guy is a transfer from Penn. Looks awesome.

[IrishLax]

face off guy is a transfer from Penn. Looks awesome.

Yeah, all of the transfers were impressive impact players today. The team has GREAT balance and athleticism. The way they won today is how they used to win when they were regularly making final fours and competing for championships -- dominate possession, get great goalie play, create transition opportunities. Every single person on offense is a threat to dodge and get their own goal, which means you can't cheat towards any matchups or tendencies. The one thing they lack is an "alpha" like Costabile, or like Duke has with Sowers this year... a guy that you can give the ball to in a low time or pressure situation and know that they can't be guarded 1v1. I'm not sure anyone has the horses to compete with Duke this year, but ND has a unique blend of strengths to be competitive with anyone.

[stpeteirish]

amusing side note..currently top 3 teams nationally are Duke Virginia and North Carolina. Syracuse was also rated ahead of us but they lost a game and are now slightly below us. We ccould go .500 and be a top 10 team.

I'm trying to remember what went wrong last year. If it was faceoffs and goalkeeping we appear to have fixed both.

[stpeteirish]

Yeah, all of the transfers were impressive impact players today. The team has GREAT balance and athleticism. The way they won today is how they used to win when they were regularly making final fours and competing for championships -- dominate possession, get great goalie play, create transition opportunities. Every single person on offense is a threat to dodge and get their own goal, which means you can't cheat towards any matchups or tendencies. The one thing they lack is an "alpha" like Costabile, or like Duke has with Sowers this year... a guy that you can give the ball to in a low time or pressure situation and know that they can't be guarded 1v1. I'm not sure anyone has the horses to compete with Duke this year, but ND has a unique blend of strengths to be competitive with anyone.

could Will Yorke, the transfer from Bucknell, be the alpha? Scored 59 goals in the last two years at Bucknell, including 9 in one game (Marist).
didn't even start today but looks like a guy who can be a major factor. Our other attackmen are pretty small and Yorke is 6-4 215 and can move.

[Picasso]

In lacrosse as in other team sports, sometimes less ballyhooed talent is more. So far this team has that feel. Love the depth and excellence at the X, the top 5 keeper and the unselfishness of the young/new attack. Don't like the fact that we're not playing anyone in the top 10 before the ACC season starts? I'm cautiously optimistic but we'll know a lot more 3 games into the juggernaut ACC schedule.

[stpeteirish]

Bellamine game was a bit of a downer. Never in doubt but never should have been, they lost to Robert Morris. Offense was very conservative. Held the ball deep into the shot clock, even had multiple shot clock violations. Why would you do that vs an obviously inferior team?

Bellamine only won 4 faceoffs, two in the last 2 minutes of the game. We should have totally crushed those guys.

[Picasso]

Bellamine game was a bit of a downer. Never in doubt but never should have been, they lost to Robert Morris. Offense was very conservative. Held the ball deep into the shot clock, even had multiple shot clock violations. Why would you do that vs an obviously inferior team?

Bellamine only won 4 faceoffs, two in the last 2 minutes of the game. We should have totally crushed those guys.

Fighting the last war is a familiar theme in South Bend. This is not the early days when you needed to slow down the game to maintain possessions and keep the score close. You finally have a top FOGO team, a top 5 tender and a crazy pandemic year where everything is a little crazy. Let the boys press out, run a super aggressive transition game and play a fast paced settled O. Let the chips fall where they may! IMHO, its the only way this staff wins the SHIP.

[IrishLax]

Fighting the last war is a familiar theme in South Bend. This is not the early days when you needed to slow down the game to maintain possessions and keep the score close. You finally have a top FOGO team, a top 5 tender and a crazy pandemic year where everything is a little crazy. Let the boys press out, run a super aggressive transition game and play a fast paced settled O. Let the chips fall where they may! IMHO, its the only way this staff wins the SHIP.

The biggest issue with that game was that Bellarmine zoned ND (almost a carbon copy of the star backer zone that RMU ran with some success against ND, but just more active and better executed) and ND had literally no answer. None. They stood around flat footed with very little deception or movement. They only had one goal that I would consider "good" zone offense.

Getting caught with your pants down once.... fine. But when the next opponent rungs the *exact same thing* you struggled with the week before and you have no answer? Pretty indefensible. Every team should have a zone buster set and/or a couple plays in their back pocket.

[FDNYIrish1]

The old Jack Kaley backer zone??

[IrishLax]

The old Jack Kaley backer zone??

Hah! Not quite the same... but man, solid reference! I love that zone. And it still works! I use it as a wrinkle for the HS team I coach. Especially in short shot clock situations, so many middies get baited into dodging into the teeth of that defense.

[stpeteirish]

Irish blew away Cleveland St today 19-5. Team looked good in all areas except a 5 to 1 man up differential. CSU only scored on 1 of the 5 man ups.
A lot more early offense today than what I saw vs Marquette and Bellermine.

It gets serious now as the remaining 6 games are vs the other 4 ACC teams all of whom are rated in the national top 10.

I'm thinking 3-3 in the ACC gets us a bid but its hard to tell. And there's also the ACC tourney which give you 2-3 games to change the narrative.

I think I heard the announcers today say we are #1 nationally in both GK save % and FO win %. So GK and FO are two problems we've had recently that aren't problems now.

[IrishLax]

EDIT: St. Pete beat me to it

[irishrb]

This team is built for a championship run...Problem is so is the rest of the ACC. It will be interesting to see how things shake out! I will say, you gotta love seeing them dominate at face! I do think they will need to rely on Gallagher more, especially in the postseason, to keep that up.

[Picasso]

Tough one today vs UVA: almost pulled it out. The marshmallow pre-Conference schedule didn’t do the Irish any favors. A couple of observations: almost all of the defensive middies including the LSMs were overmatched athletically all over the field. Why wasn’t Dox Aiken poled when he got hot? D played well in spots but missed a ton of second slides. Why are we playing D below GLE when an attackman is deep at X and the Cavaliers are dodging from up top? Hard to make slides when you’re not in the inner circle. Hard to fault the keeper today. Too many quality shots for the Wahoos. The refs (one in particular) were especially weak. Every wrap check in the first half was flagged for holding. Is taking wrap checks out of the game a point of emphasis this year? Offense was inconsistent all day. Too much slow down on O. Kavanagh is a great feeder now but needs to be more assertive establishing himself as a dodger and shooter. York is a very good shooter. The Irish need to run more seal plays (see the past 8 years of Denver game film) to get him great looks. That being said, he should have hitched on his last look and increased his angle. Some great dodges from the middies up top but some of the boys need work on stepping away from pressure and moving the ball more quickly when they draw the slide. Overall, this team has all of the pieces to make the Elite Eight and possibly the Final Four. The youth needs to develop rapidly and the coaching staff need to adjust their schemes to their personnel more.

[irishrb]

Tough one today vs UVA: almost pulled it out. The marshmallow pre-Conference schedule didn’t do the Irish any favors. A couple of observations: almost all of the defensive middies including the LSMs were overmatched athletically all over the field. Why wasn’t Dox Aiken poled when he got hot? D played well in spots but missed a ton of second slides. Why are we playing D below GLE when an attackman is deep at X and the Cavaliers are dodging from up top? Hard to make slides when you’re not in the inner circle. Hard to fault the keeper today. Too many quality shots for the Wahoos. The refs (one in particular) were especially weak. Every wrap check in the first half was flagged for holding. Is taking wrap checks out of the game a point of emphasis this year? Offense was inconsistent all day. Too much slow down on O. Kavanagh is a great feeder now but needs to be more assertive establishing himself as a dodger and shooter. York is a very good shooter. The Irish need to run more seal plays (see the past 8 years of Denver game film) to get him great looks. That being said, he should have hitched on his last look and increased his angle. Some great dodges from the middies up top but some of the boys need work on stepping away from pressure and moving the ball more quickly when they draw the slide. Overall, this team has all of the pieces to make the Elite Eight and possibly the Final Four. The youth needs to develop rapidly and the coaching staff need to adjust their schemes to their personnel more.

Great write up! I think there are too many simple things that should be taken care of, and year in and year out, it goes back to one guy. I know it will never happen, and the man has built this program from ground up, but I'm ready for someone to come in and do what it takes to get this program a championship!

[stpeteirish]

Tough one today vs UVA: almost pulled it out. The marshmallow pre-Conference schedule didn’t do the Irish any favors. A couple of observations: almost all of the defensive middies including the LSMs were overmatched athletically all over the field. Why wasn’t Dox Aiken poled when he got hot? D played well in spots but missed a ton of second slides. Why are we playing D below GLE when an attackman is deep at X and the Cavaliers are dodging from up top? Hard to make slides when you’re not in the inner circle. Hard to fault the keeper today. Too many quality shots for the Wahoos. The refs (one in particular) were especially weak. Every wrap check in the first half was flagged for holding. Is taking wrap checks out of the game a point of emphasis this year? Offense was inconsistent all day. Too much slow down on O. Kavanagh is a great feeder now but needs to be more assertive establishing himself as a dodger and shooter. York is a very good shooter. The Irish need to run more seal plays (see the past 8 years of Denver game film) to get him great looks. That being said, he should have hitched on his last look and increased his angle. Some great dodges from the middies up top but some of the boys need work on stepping away from pressure and moving the ball more quickly when they draw the slide. Overall, this team has all of the pieces to make the Elite Eight and possibly the Final Four. The youth needs to develop rapidly and the coaching staff need to adjust their schemes to their personnel more.

so the Cliff Notes version: we have enough talent to win it all but won't because the coaching isn't top shelf.

[IrishLax]

Big win today @ #4 Syracuse. After a slow start with shots not falling, ND absolutely dominated possession and blew out Syracuse. 18-11 final and it would've been more if ND didn't take their foot off the gas for the last 5 minutes of the game. Kavanagh tied a program record with 9 points, including 1 spectacular goal.

[irishrb]

Great win today! Having a dominant face-off guy is just broken. Kavanagh's field vision is fun to watch and they were able finish shots pretty well today! The ACC is literally insane.

[stpeteirish]

Duke is next. They are #1 but are winning close games, including a one goal win over Syr.