Nd lax

[irishrb 0]

Notre Dame should have another strong year this year in lacrosse. Their schedule is an absolute killer, but they should be able to make the tournament again. The only reason I say should, really is because of their schedule. They are currently ranked #4 and they started the season witch slapping Jacksonville 19-7. I couldn't watch the game but apparently it was one of their most impressive offensive performances in a while.

They take on #12 penn state today at 3:00. psu just lost to loyola so this is a big, early game for them. Hopefully the Irish come to impress and keep their offensive momentum going. I know psu's goalie is very good so we'll really get to see if ND is actually going to have some offense this year.

[irishrb 0]

Of course I start this thread and they come out and lose to psu....I didn't get to see any of it as I was out all day but I HATE it when they lose anything to psu! Next week it doesn't get any easier as they are at #3 NC.

[OKCIrish99 3]

Imagine they will have another great season. Very cool sport also. All around the entire athletic dept. is doing well. Jack Swarbrick has done a nice job for sure.

[BrianKellyWasNotTheMan 12]

Doesn't look like we have a very good offense like everyone thought.

[irishrb 0]

BIG win for the Irish..They won at #3 NC 11-10.

Once again, it wasn't on, and I was out of town so I couldn't follow it but it sounds like they changed goalies up and poured it on in the second half!

Next up they have to travel to California and play #5 Denver.

[irishrb 0]

Another big game for the #6 Irish team as they face #12 Denver. Denver is coming off a loss so look for them to play balls to the wall against the Irish today. It can be seen on:

The Lacrosse Network | TLN - YouTube

[BrianKellyWasNotTheMan 12]

Like I said horrible offense, and inconsistency. Been the problem last few years.

[irishrb 0]

POOR showing by the Irish today. They lost to Denver 10-7.

Their defense was a step too slow.

Their offense didn't move well, didn't pass well, and turned the ball over too much.

And Denver's goalies outdid Notre Dame's.

Notre Dame needs to figure out how to attack the zone better or they are not going to be very good this year. Very frustrating game to watch.

[OklahomaIrish 0]

I will tune in when we get to the tournament. Until then, I will just check here for updates.

[irishrb 0]

Notre Dame has had a couple of tough losses early in the season but 3 of the four teams they have played so far are still ranked in the top 10. Sunday, they face their 4th top 10 team in a row when #7 Virginia comes to town. UVA lost for the first time last week so they will be very focused. I believe it's also their first trip ever to ND so they will be motivated.

Coach Corrigan is an alum from Virginia so I assume he'll be pumped up and he'll have ND playing well.

I think it's going to come down to the end but ND will be more focused, with a cleaner, more active offense, and squeak this one out.

IT'S ON ESPNU TOMORROW @ 5:00.

[irishrb 0]

ND ended up dominating Virginia, 18-9. They started slowly but then totally just dominated the second quarter. It all started at the face-off where ND totally dismantled Virginia. I think that just gave them confidence and let them play more freely where they just fired away and were pretty accurate. Hopefully this gives them some confidence going forward. Very impressive win today!

[irishrush 60]

Yes. Great game. Looked very impressive. I am going to see them play SU in a couple weeks.

[irishrb 0]

Glad to see someone else following ND LAX. Hopefully they take care of osu next week and head into Syracuse on a roll. That should be a great game.

[irishrush 60]

My 5th grade daughter just started playing, so I am trying to get her excited about it. She actually watched the entire game with me yesterday, so things are looking up...Hell, my wife even got into it.

 

I am looking forward to the SU game. My brother is an SU alum, so we can't wait to stick it to him...

[OklahomaIrish 0]

Keep us posted. I will tune in towards the end of the season.

[irishrb 0]

ND is back in the top ten sitting at #9. Their next game is at ohio sucks, I believe on Tuesday. osu has been struggling as of late, but an away game during the middle of the week is going to be very tough. I expect a very slow start for the Irish.

[OklahomaIrish 0]

Is there a lot of youth on this team?

 

Do we have top 2-5 recruiting classes every year??

 

We scored 18, does that mean the offense is growing by leaps and bounds??

 

Any chance for a title, or are there teams way better than us???

[irishrb 0]

Is there a lot of youth on this team?

See Below.....

Do we have top 2-5 recruiting classes every year??

Their recruiting has been top 10 and is getting better every year.

 

We scored 18, does that mean the offense is growing by leaps and bounds??

ND dominated the faceoff position and just wore UVA out. There's still A LOT of work to do on offense.

 

Any chance for a title, or are there teams way better than us???

At this point and time, I would be surprised if ND won the title this year, as they really struggle against the zone. BUT....If O'Connor dominates the faceoff position like he has so far, anything is possible.

 

There's a guy on Irishenvy, IRISHLAX, that knows everything about LAX.

 

Here's his great breakdown of the team:

 

The Fighting Irish come into the year #5 in both polls. This is probably the most overrated a Notre Dame lacrosse team has ever been. Notre Dame hasn't finished outside the top 10 in a long time, so they're a pretty safe bet for pollsters to pencil in at the #5 spot, but this year they play 8 of top 9 teams in the country... phrased another way, the only team they DON'T play from #1 through #9 is themselves. That's absurd.

 

The Big Picture

This is probably the least proven overall defensive until Notre Dame has rolled out in a very long time, but it's the most skilled attack line Notre Dame has had since Hicks/Swezey/Hoff. Notre Dame has two legit A-list players in Jim Marlatt and Matt Kavanagh on offense. Kavanagh could be a legitimate Tewaaraton candidate, and Marlatt will be tasked with most of the heavy lifting on offense. The supporting cast is full of question marks outside of Conor Doyle, who is going to be very good if not great this year at attack. On defense, it's not that any players are "bad"... it's just that there is going to be a lot of unproven pieces asked to step up. Conor Kelly should be VERY good in goal, but he is a first time starter. Either Prevoznik or Landis should be able to step up and replace Matt Miller, but who steps up as a short-stick defensive midfielder? What makes ND's defense so formidable is great goaltending coupled with impeccable coordination. If Notre Dame is going to weather their ridiculous schedule, O'Hara must step up as a big time leader and organize the troops.

 

Attack

Kavanagh and Doyle are locks to start, and could be one of the better one-two punches in the country. The big question is who is the 3rd starter? You have some really skilled finishers in Ryan Mix and John Sciosia who aren't dodging threats, or you have some unproven guys, like Kyle Runyon who is much more of a dodging threat. The big wildcard is Westy Hopkins. Does he play midfield? Does he play attack? He's going to be value added at one of these positions. The best bet right now would be that he plays midfield.

 

Midfield

Usually, you need at least one dominant midfield line, and a second very-passable midfield line to field a great team. The best teams often have two very good lines plus a number of specialist defensive minded or "two way" midfielders capable of pushing transition. Notre Dame comes into this year with literally only one player anyone in the country considers proven or dangerous -- Jim Marlatt. Marlatt is a great shooter, and an average midfielder in all other facets. When you talk to coaches about who else would play on the 1s with him... there are not a lot of answers. Will Corrigan played on the 1s for most of last year and absolutely killed the offense. He had one of the worst seasons I've ever seen for a top line midfielder on a #1 caliber team. He's a very heady player, his issue is that he doesn't have a strong offhand and he isn't super athletic. So he's not much of a dodging threat, you can sit on his right hand, and when the ball gets to him the offense basically stalls because he isn't enough of a threat. Does he stay on the 1s this year?

 

The x-factors are Jack Doyle, Pat Cotter, and all the unknown players. Jack Doyle was at one time the #2 overall recruit in the country and he had a good start to his career at Harvard. But then he had some horrible hip injuries and needed surgery and the Ivy League doesn't let you redshirt... so long story short he's now at Notre Dame for a 5th year to play with his brother. Can he step up or have injuries taken away what made him the #2 player in the country coming out of HS? Pat Cotter missed all of last season with an Achilles tear... how does he come back from that? Who of the freshmen and unproven players are able to step up? Early returns on Perkovic are good, Ossello and Brosco may be able to step up as offensive players this year, as could Pridemore and a number of other players. If there is one thing that could kill this team, it would be if the midfield doesn't jell. Mostly everything this offseason has been attack driven. There are a lot of players not named who SHOULD be good, have not shown out yet.

 

Defense

You're looking at Buglione and O'Hara returning, who are both good but not flashy defenders. Neither are great ball handlers. Conor Kelly was a Team USA goalie and should be very good if not great in his first year starting. Prevoznik and Landis are the two defenders in line for the last starting spot, and at LSM you're looking at Henry Williams (and/or Landis) as a really good player. Who fills in to supplement that is a bit up in the air. At SSDM, you're definitely looking at Jack Near... and beyond that probably Collins and some fresh faces. Notre Dame should have the horses, but in offseason scrimmages the defense has been streaky.

 

 

This is probably more than you asked for but it gives you some great information about the team!

[irishrb 0]

ND beat the suckeyes 13-7 today. The game wasn't on tv so I had to catch it on Gametracker. They played the game in blizzard conditions, which made for a sloppier game, but the Irish pulled through. Their ace attack man, Kavanaugh, had, I believe, 7 monster goals! Next up they play another tough away game against Syracuse. This team is starting to pick up some real momentum right now. GO IRISH!!

[irishrb 0]

# 7 ND has to travel to #9 syracuse for yet another tough match-up. Syracuse had trouble matching some of Duke's good attack men last week so hopefully Kavanaugh is able to work his magic and rip their defense up. With that being said, I fully expect cuse to play a lot of zone and totally focus on shutting Kav down. Some other players are going to need to step up.

Hopefully ND continues to dominate the face-off and continues to fire away for the W.

The game is on ESPNU at 12:00. If you get the chance, check them out.