2013 NCAA Lacrosse Open Thread

[IrishLax]

It's that time of year! The lacrosse season actually started last Saturday when Delaware took down High Point 12-10... but most teams kickoff their season this Friday/Saturday. Here is a schedule of all games for the season. Notre Dame's opener is @ Duke on February 16th... our opening slate is insanely hard featuring 6 top 20 teams in a row to open the season and 3 top 10 teams. If we get through that unblemished we should probably run the table heading into the Syracuse game at the end of the year... but I lean more towards us going 3-3 than 6-0 in that stretch.

Polls? Coaches. Media. Notre Dame has their highest pre-season rating ever at #3. Underrated teams this year are probably Syracuse and Penn State. Overrated? Probably Maryland at #2. They lost 6 games last year but get benefit of the doubt for making it to the championship game.... where they got blown out by Loyola. This is probably the deepest year ever because Denver, Loyola, and Notre Dame have solidified themselves as top teams... so with just them + ACC + Hopkins you have 8 very legitimate title contenders.

TV schedule? Here's ESPN's. And then a weekly updated blog of the nationwide webcasts can be found here. Shockingly, ESPN isn't picking up a bunch of the big early season OOC games... I've heard it is because of some sort of TV contractual issue between the conferences (you know... because of all of that lacrosse money....). So instead you get to watch Hopkins blow out crappy teams like Michigan and Siena in the early part of the season until conference play starts.

Finally, obligatory 2012 highlight video:
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[IrishLax]

Notre Dame specific preview:

<iframe src="http://television.insidelacrosse.com/embed/05233ca1-0262-4d68-b130-549ef5fb9c76" width="400" height="320" frameborder="0"></iframe>

NCAA Preview 2013: Notre Dame | InsideLacrosse.com

Basically, the success of this team on defense is going to come down to how well we replace graduated 4 year starter Kevin Randall at close D. Ty Andersen is a very good player who will fill in for graduating Bobby Smith and Matt Miller & Stephen O'Hara are both rock solid players returning at close D. John Kemp was a 1st team AA in goal last season and should be one of the best in the country at stocking the rock.

At midfield, I'm a big fan of what Quinn Cully and Jack Near should be able to accomplish as D middies. There are some question marks in the offensive midfield... namely who replaces Max Pfeifer as a "glue" player on the first line and whether the second line can be productive. Notre Dame ran 3 midfield lines last year and got really good offensive production thanks to fresh legs down the stretch. It's also virtually impossible for opponents to have a comprehensive gameplan for 9 different players, whereas you can often come up with a good plan to stop a 1st line heavy team. I don't know if we'll have the depth to do that this year... but look for Will Corrigan and Westy Hopkins to be X factors in the midfield. Corrigan doesn't have a good off hand and doesn't wow you with his athleticism... but he has a VERY high game IQ and could be a great complimentary piece to any line. Westy Hopkins is slated to make the move from attack to being an offensive midfielder and he could be great in that role or he could struggle with the position change. Ryan Foley and Jim Marlatt are both locks to have great years.

On attack, we could be surprisingly good this year if true frosh Matt Kavanagh steps up as expected and Conor Doyle makes a leap forward in his second year. Sean Rogers is a veteran with an above-average game in all areas and should have another solid season.

Liam O'Connor and Nick Ossello should share time at the faceoff X... and it will be interesting to see how well the wing play is this year. Gone are the days of Andrew Irving and David Earl simply dominating on the wings and I'm quite interested to see who plays on the wings this year and how effective they are. Neither O'Connor nor Ossello were particularly dominant last year.

 

[OrlaNDomer]

Should we expect a win vs Duke? And what are your expectations for this year, Lax?

 

[GowerND11]

My area LITERALLY has no lacrosse so it was new to me when I got to college. I enjoyed Notre Dame's run to the championship game a couple years ago. I can't wait for the updates through this thread and hope to watch games on ESPN. Keep us posted Lax!

 

[IrishLax]

Should we expect a win vs Duke? And what are your expectations for this year, Lax?

This is a tough one to me. ND is #3, Duke is #4. So on paper it should be a coin flip. Typically, ND beats Duke in the yearly opener even when Duke has FAR more talent than ND. Why? Because ND is really well prepared, and Duke is a slow starting team.

But this year we don't get the first game against Duke... Duke actually plays Denver this weekend and will get their sea legs from that game. All in all, I think we should win. I think this is the best team we've maybe ever had and I was really impressed by our performance in a scrimmage against Team USA. I think we could get to 11 or 12 goals against Duke and no one scores more than 10 on Notre Dame... not even Team USA who barely got to double digits on us last week. For reference, Loyola was the #2 defensive team last year and they gave up 17 goals to Team USA in the scrimmage the next day. If we lose, it will be because our new midfield lines haven't jelled yet and the offense sputters.

 

[OchoShayneO]

I expect the new rules to drastically change the way ND is forced to play. What do you think Lax?

 

[OrlaNDomer]

I know Kemp in cage coming back is huge and the other preseason accolades guys (Rogers, Miller, Hopkins, Marlatt), but who should I look out for to have a breakout year for the Irish?

 

[IrishLax]

I know Kemp in cage coming back is huge and the other preseason accolades guys (Rogers, Miller, Hopkins, Marlatt), but who should I look out for to have a breakout year for the Irish?

Matt Kavanagh, true freshman, is the best attack I've seen since Will Yeatman at ND. I heard about him over the summer and stopped by some scrimmages in the fall... he's ridiculous. Only 5'8" but has an utterly complete skillset that could allow him to dominate from day 1. Dropped 4 goals on Team USA in the latest scrimmage.

Also look for Connor Doyle to potentially step his game up big time this year if he has good synergy with Kavanagh.

 

[IrishLax]

I expect the new rules to drastically change the way ND is forced to play. What do you think Lax?

I actually think it plays right into our hands and will affect us only positively. Insider pro-tip... the way you breakdown the ND defense is by being incredibly patient and not taking the available low angle shots. If you play stall ball with lots of movement and crisp passing you can get some high percentage shots. With the new stalling rules? If you try that probe-and-reset patient style of offense you will just end up getting a shot clock put on you and then you're effed. Good luck getting a quality shot in a matter of seconds in a 6-on-6 situation against our defense.

Our offense, contrary to popular belief, actually doesn't stall at all and would rather go fast / push transition. The reason the pace of play is typically slow for ND games is because we get back on defense and stop transition... and then teams struggle to find a way to attack our un-aggressive defense... and it leads to long possessions.

Substitution rule changes make 2-way middies more valuable and ND has some really good 2-way guys and D-middies that can push the envelope on offense if needed. Fast restarts shouldn't hurt our defense at all. Stick rule changes might be good because ND has had pretty crappy passing the last couple years and... small sample size... but what I've seen we're far more crisp with our passing now. It could be bad for us though because we typically play position/body defense above all else so we get minimal gain from it being easier to dislodge the ball with stick checks... whereas aggressive teams might now be better at defense and we don't exactly have a bunch of premier ball handlers on our team.

 

[Downinthebend]

Can I get a breakdown of the rule changes?

Where are the strengths of the team this year?

How many games are televised, and where?

When does the polls come out each week?

 

[IrishLax]

Can I get a breakdown of the rule changes?

Here's a link for you. Not a full detailed list, but has the big ones with some context.

Where are the strengths of the team this year?

Defense should be the best in the country for the... 5th? I think 5th straight year. We have the reigning 1st team AA goalie returning. Not quite sure where the weaknesses are yet... might be shooting accuracy from midfielders, might be attack per usual (but I've got high hopes for the young blood), might be clearing... we should know by week 3.

How many games are televised, and where?

See original post. It has links to the ESPN TV schedule and a link to a blog that updates weekly with TV/webcast locations for games.

When does the polls come out each week?

Polls are typically released every Monday... I think. Could be wrong on that, 85% sure though.

 

[irishroo]

Sad to hear about Pat Cotter. Great kid, tough to see his career end with a preseason injury

 

[IrishLax]

What happens when you give a 5 RB a lacrosse stick? This:

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That's Alex Collins. Athletic ability? Check. Stick skills? Work in progress...

 

[IrishLax]

First televised game is on ESPNU right now. Hopkins struggling with Siena only up 6-4 at half.

 

[Kaneyoufeelit]

First televised game is on ESPNU right now. Hopkins struggling with Siena only up 6-4 at half.

They jumped out early to a 5-1 lead in the 1st.

Something that has always confused me what is a legal check and what isn't. They've been talking about a lot today because of the new rule and because there have been so many penalties called. So it's a penalty if you have your hands apart and actually use the stick to check but you're fine if your hands are together and use your hands?

 

[NDPhilly]

What happens when you give a 5 RB a lacrosse stick? This:

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That's Alex Collins. Athletic ability? Check. Stick skills? Work in progress...

Not exactly Jim Brown out there.

I love how he justs Trucks kids though haha

 

[irishfanjho15]

Not exactly Jim Brown out there.

I love how he justs Trucks kids though haha

That video is awesome haha.

 

[IrishLax]

Live blog of the Duke vs. denver game: 02/09/2013 - Denver at Duke | Inside Lacrosse

Live video can be found here:
https://www.nmnathletics.com/PremiumVideo.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200

Looking for a reason to hate Duke? Try $10/month to watch them stream sports like lacrosse. Notre Dame, and most schools that don't suck, stream their stuff for free. No way I'm paying for that and I'm PISSED I'm not going to be able to watch the game next weekend.

EDIT: Duke raced out to a 5 goal lead... and then Denver came out after halftime and dropped SEVEN unanswered goals in the 3rd quarter and now holds a 4 goal lead heading into the 4th. Classic Duke "first game of the season" WTF moment.

 

[FDNYIrish1]

Hey Lax, did you catch any of the Siena-Hop game on espnU? What are your thoughts on the implementation of the new rules? I appreciate the pace of play and the face off technical foul, but the high hit calls are going to be a problem. Thoughts?

 

[IrishLax]

Hey Lax, did you catch any of the Siena-Hop game on espnU? What are your thoughts on the implementation of the new rules? I appreciate the pace of play and the face off technical foul, but the high hit calls are going to be a problem. Thoughts?

The high hits thing is ridiculous. The emphasis should be on cheap shots... not incidental contact to the head. Injuries typically come from blowing someone up after they've shot/passed the ball... not a little bit of helmet contact on a loose ball.

ACC teams this year are going to reallllllllly struggle staying out of the penalty box with their physical style of play.

 

[STLDomer]

“@CollegeSpun USC's LAX debut RT@USC_Athletics The USC crowd is chanting "airball" on missed shots. We're all learning lacrosse together.”

 

[Wolverine1997]

Michigan went down swinging in their season opener today against #15 penn state, 11-6. They were down 10-2 at one point but made a game of it in the 4th. They won both their exhibitions to start the season, 14-6 over first year program marquette and 11-4 over D3 Denison.

Absolutely brutal schedule this season. You can see there are 2 neutral site games at the home of the Dolphins and Mets. Michigan is only playing there due to the owners of both of those franchises being Michigan alums.

2/9 vs #15 Penn State
2/16 at Bellarmine*
2/23 at Johns Hopkins (on ESPN3)
3/2 Army (in Miami,FL at Sun Life Stadium)
3/6 at High Point
3/9 at Hobart*
3/14 at Fairfield*
3/17 Colgate (in Flushing, NY at Citi Field; on ESPNU)
3/23 vs Loyola*
3/30 vs Air Force*
4/6 at Delware
4/13 vs Ohio* (Battle at The Big House II)
4/17 vs Detroit (First Lax night game at The Big House)
4/20 vs Saint Joseph's
4/27 at Denver*

 

[IrishLax]

Duke playing again today... dismantling Jacksonville right now. So they'll have two games under their belt by the time we play them... probably not good for us to be coming in cold with them warmed up, but I'm sure our coaches got film on these first two games and Duke's only film will be from last season so that should play to our advantage some.

 

[Wolverine1997]

Michigan will be on the road for over a month.

They'll travel 4,438 miles. And when they return home, they get #1 loyola.

That new indoor stadium can't come soon enough.

 

[IrishLax]

Big games this weekend...

Denver vs. Penn State will be on NBC Sports at 1 PM. The question is does PSU have the firepower on offense to hang with Denver... if they can manufacture goals then they might have a good shot with Austin Kaut in goal.

Notre Dame vs. Duke you'll have to pay to watch on Duke's website because Duke sucks. Also at 1 PM. Duke has had two warm up games and has their offense rolling... Notre Dame is a total enigma. Could go either way.

And UMASS vs. UNC could be a 16-15 type game and a ton of fun to watch. Really comes down to UMASS winning faceoffs and being able to stay in attack mode... they have the horses to light up UNC if they don't get stuck playing 5 minute stretches of defense at a time. Also at 1 PM and not sure if broadcast anywhere.

 

[IrishLax]

No shock... but Syracuse just landed the top Native American player for next year. Was sidelined for a couple seasons with a knee injury but supposedly he's back to 100% and could be the next big thing.

 

[IrishLax]

ND up 4-0 in the second quarter. Game is in a freaking blizzard and super sloppy

 

[IrishLax]

ND up 8-1 at half. Absolute *** kicking right now and super fun game... worth the $10 to stream it. Kavanagh living up to the hype with 3 first half goals.

 

[IrishLax]

Snow showing no signs of letting up... have to think the daily walks to DBART have us better conditioned for the elements than the boys from North Carolina.

 

[IrishLax]

Comeback is on... Duke winning all face offs and ND has only had 1 offensive possession in 3rd quarter. ND 8 Duke 4