PREVIEW TIME!
Notre Dame checks in at #2 only trailing an absurdly loaded Denver team that is #1. Duke is #3 because they're Duke, and these are your three front runners. There are a number of teams that will challenge these top 3 (Syracuse, Maryland, UNC, Hopkins, etc.) but this is without a doubt the most balanced and top-to-bottom talented team Notre Dame has ever had.
The Big Picture
Notre Dame plays a more manageable schedule than last year, but a relatively small slate for games thanks to Maryland leaving for the Big Ten. They should make the tournament for a nation leading 10th straight time but a hiccup or two could really cost them. Notre Dame starts with scrimmages against Bellarmine (1/25) and Air Force (1/31) before opening their regular season slate. Games at #1 Denver, at terribad Michigan (pussies finally agreed to play us if we came to their place), and at #3 Duke highlight the road slate. Tilts against #4 Syracuse and #6 UNC highlight the home slate. The ACC tournament will again be held in Philly.
As reigning ACC champions and national runner ups this is the year of highest expectations in South Bend. Anything less than a championship will ultimately be a disappointment. The team has very few question marks, and a lot of returning studs as will be highlighted below.
Attack
Attack used to be a liability for the Irish. This year, it's hard to see the position group as anything other than a huge strength. Enjoy Matt Kavanagh for the next two seasons because once he's gone we might not see another player like him for a long time. He plays the game at 100% in every phase... riding, clearing, off-ball, and on-ball he ALWAYS shows up. His "clutch" puts Jordan to shame. He's a pre-season 1st Team All-American and it's well earned. When he first came to Notre Dame, people thought he'd be more of an off-ball player but he really evolved last year into a dynamic dodging threat too with a deadly shot from medium and close range. He's complimented by senior Conor Doyle who was a very highly touted player out of high school that has struggled to transcend from "good" to "great." It's doubtful he makes a meteoric leap this year but he's still an extremely talented player who is quite well-rounded. He's a very good facilitator for the offense and in his third year with Kavanagh should be expected to be an All-American caliber player.
Notre Dame replaces John Scioscia's inside finishing and that shouldn't be understated. I'm a firm believer that Notre Dame's offense functions at its peak with a dominant crease attack player, and Scioscia was the best player ND has had at that position since Ryan Hoff. The problem with the goal scoring machine is that he was not a threat whatsoever with the ball in his stick. He couldn't create or get his own shot, and sometimes he was downright a liability to offensive flow because he was one-dimensional. To replace him, Notre Dame will likely platoon a number of players early on. Eddie Lubowicki was dynamite on EMO last season and could step in as a facilitator, Logan Connolly and Kyle Runyon are well-rounded players who have bide their time and will likely get an opportunity at some point to show what they can do, Anthony Marini is a change-of-pace dodge-first guy who has no traits in common with Scioscia besides his size and is likely to get some runs as an offensive midfielder or situational player, and then there is Mikey Wynne. Mikey Wynne is a top rated attack recruit who is a talented finisher and primarily an off-ball player. He was the Under Armour All-American game MVP, #4 overall recruit, and has shown up big in every offseason scrimmage I've seen. He dropped a hat trick against Team USA and it's hard to imagine he doesn't get serious immediate playing time on attack. Relative to Scioscia, he might not be as polished of a scorer inside but he's also already much better with the ball in his stick and seems like the natural heir to that role. At timeshare with Lubowicki and Wynne until one asserts themselves is likely the most probable scenario for how the third spot plays out
Midfield
This position group is deep and talented for 2015. Jim Marlatt returns, but the bigger question is if he can overcome his nagging injuries that have really robbed him of a great career. When healthy, he is a dominant player, but the injury bug just won't leave him alone. Sergio Perkovic -- fresh off dropping 5 goals against Duke in the finals and 6 assists against Team USA -- looks to make the jump from "impact freshman" to "dominant player." He's a physical mismatch for 95% of midfielders and will certainly draw the longpole from most teams this year... which makes Marlatt's health so important, because realistically you can't pole both if the third attackman is any kind of dodging threat. I saw Perkovic a couple times this offseason and he still needs a lot of polish, but he's virtually unguardable when he's on. He's deceptively athletic for his size, has an incredible outside shot, has improved his passing remarkably, and is so physically strong that he can muscle his way through any stick check and most defenders. He commands double teams when he gets running downhill. His one weakness... and it continues to improve... is his stick handling. His offhand isn't great and he turns the ball over a bit too much, but both of those aspects are continually improving. By mid-season he could be the best midfielder in the country.
Outside of those two headliner, the big name to watch is Nick Ossello. I don't know what the coaches will do with him. He's great at faceoffs, and is an athletic two-way midfielder. If ND stacks their first midfield line it'll almost certainly feature Ossello as the third guy, and it appears they have solid alternative options for faceoffs. Outside of those three, I really look for Ben Pridemore and Cole Riccardi to make big leaps this yer, and with guys like Trevor Brosco, Will Corrigan, Bobby Gray, Kyle Trolley, etc. providing talented depth it's very possible that Notre Dame runs 3 lines. The big X-Factor is Brendan Collins. His PG'd during the fall semester so he missed all of fall ball, and as such he'll be very behind in development as a true freshman. But he's got a tremendous upside and will be hard to keep off the field in some sort of role as he develops.
Defense
Matt Landis is the veteran with most of the pre-season accolades, but Garrett Epple is the truth. He is a takeaway machine and a budding star. He will dominate this year. The third longpole spot will be manned by Glazener. From what I've seen from this group, they should be very good. And behind them are a number of really good players. If anyone is going to get pushed, it'll be Glazener (assuming injuries don't force Landis to LSM or something crazy). Alex Hurdle in time should be an impact player, and Jack Sheridan, Pat Healy, and Chris Carter are all guys I've heard good things about. I wouldn't be surprised if Sheridan starts off the year as the 4th pole.
At defensive midfield, Jack Near is one of the best if not the single best SSDM in the game. He'll dominate and make a HUGE impact. Nick Koshansky was a bit of a liability at SSDM last year but I know people believe in his talents. Ultimately, Notre Dame will probably play 4 bodies primarily at SSDM, with Near being the headliner because of his abilities in transition. LSM will be spearheaded by veteran Henry Williams, with John Sexton almost certainly playing on faceoffs and in some spot duty on defense. Sexton has electric ball handling and stick skills for an LSM.
Goalie
It's Conner Kelly's job and hopefully he plays how he did at the end of last year. After a dreadful start to the season by both he and Shane Doss, Kelly started playing with a lot more anticipation and attacking the ball down the stretch. The result was his save percentage going way up, his GAA going way down, and ND winning many more games. He started robbing people of sure goals and playing at a level you expect from a Notre Dame goalie. Shane Doss and talented frosh Owen Molloy will challenge if and only if Kelly reverts to making no saves.
Faceoffs
True frosh John Travisano is apparently really good at faceoffs, and PJ Finley is supposedly not a slouch either. I expect both to get serious work early on and potentially split duties during the season until one player asserts themselves. The worst case scenario is that neither perform well and Ossello gets tuck taking a large quantity of draws, but it's also possible that with midfield depth Notre Dame could eventually decide it's OK to primarily utilize Ossello there and let someone else do more heavy lifting on offense. There is no doubt that Ossello's ability to spark transition offense off faceoff wins is a huge weapon.
