Men's Lacrosse

No. 4 Syracuse eyes revenge against No. 1 Notre Dame a year after 100th anniversary blowout loss

Daily Orange File Photo

Notre Dame beat Syracuse in the Carrier Dome last year, on the day when SU was celebrating its 100-year history.

Syracuse rarely thinks about upcoming matchups weeks in advance, but this one is different.

Last year, Notre Dame smacked Syracuse hard in a celebration of SU’s 100th lacrosse season to win its first game in the Carrier Dome. Syracuse had entered with two straight overtime road losses, hoping to rebuild momentum with a home win. SU honored its lacrosse legacy before the game and at halftime, yet the contest itself did anything but.

Notre Dame struck just 1:18 in and never trailed. The Fighting Irish pummeled the Orange 17-7, its worst drubbing in more than two years. This season, No. 4 Syracuse (6-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) can avenge that loss with a trip to South Bend, Indiana to take on top-ranked Notre Dame (5-1, 1-0). A third ACC win gives Syracuse its most since joining the conference. But that’s not why this game at Arlotta Stadium has been on players’ minds since before the season even started.

“I’d like to circle Notre Dame,” senior attack Jordan Evans said on Jan. 26. “The 100-year anniversary, getting our butt whooped at the Dome was not a very good showing for us. It really just sticks in my mind and bothers me.”

“Obviously Notre Dame’s notorious for their defense,” redshirt junior Matt Lane said on Jan. 29. “They’ll be a very good matchup for us.”



“It’s high stakes,” senior defender Scott Firman said on March 23.

The strongest facet of Notre Dame’s game is its gritty defense: eighth in the country and forcing eight turnovers per game. It’s what makes UND difficult to beat, even with the team’s middling rankings in almost every other statistical category. In just one game all year — an 11-10 loss to then-No. 5 Denver on March 12 — the Fighting Irish has surrendered more than 10 goals in a game.

Offensively, the team ranks No. 22 in the country. Notre Dame has struggled to overcome the loss of its quarterback, attack Matt Kavanagh, who netted a team-best 50 points last year. He had a hat trick and six assists, responsible for more than half of Notre Dame’s 17 goals against SU in 2016.

The Fighting Irish returns attacks Ryder Garnsey and Mikey Wynne, who scored five and four goals last year against SU, respectively. Garnsey especially assumed a larger role without Kavanagh and leads the team with 14 goals and 14 assists.

Firman will guard Garnsey, the nation’s No. 2 recruit and last year’s ACC Rookie of the Year. “The Phantom,” as goalie Evan Molloy calls him, has quietly dominated in his first collegiate year at close defense. He has limited some of college’s best to below-average games: Albany’s Connor Fields (scoreless, four assists) and Johns Hopkins’ Shack Stanwick (scoreless, one assist).

“He just shadows everybody around, and he’s really quiet and to himself,” Molloy said. “He’s huge for us, especially losing Nick Mellen. He had that role last year, Scott’s stepped up and he’s been playing great in transition, great communicator and a great leader. You can’t ask for more from a defenseman.”

By cutting off alleys toward the cage, Firman forces the No. 1 attack on opposing offenses to work from behind the net. The players sit and watch, trying to facilitate the offense rather than creating plays themselves.

Trying to shut down Garnsey was not what hurt the Orange last year. Syracuse failed to clear the ball on eight separate occasions. The team’s 15 turnovers helped create offense and possession for Notre Dame, tiring out the defense.

“For us not to clear the ball is kind of a telling story,” SU head coach John Desko said after last year’s April 2 game. “It just means that mentally something was wrong today.”

This season, SU has a 92.1-percent clearing rate, tied for second in the nation. Much of that success comes from new starters: Tyson Bomberry’s box lacrosse background, Firman’s quick feet and Molloy’s accuracy on long passes. SU pushes transition and racks up easy goals that usually become difference makers in its current streak of six straight one-goal games.

“Can’t beat them one-on-one,” senior attack Nick Mariano said, “but as a team.”

Transition offense originates not only on defense, but also at the X. A quick faceoff win with a burst of speed creates a man-up advantage. But SU has struggled the past two games where it usually dominates. Faceoffs are the reason SU fell into a hole and narrowly escaped in back-to-back overtime games against JHU and Duke. Faceoff specialist Ben Williams has always been the reliable player SU needed in the past — until recently. (He finished 4-of-18 against Duke and 9-of-18 against Johns Hopkins.)

Even with Notre Dame coming in at No. 51 in faceoff percentage, P.J. Finley owned Williams last year when Williams won just 11-of-24 at the X. With a weak transition game and faceoff struggles, Notre Dame jumped out to a quick lead that SU never overcame.

Giving possession back to UND right after a goal creates a domino effect. The offense sits and waits for its chance while the defense tries to limit opportunities. One goal becomes two and eventually the game slips out of control as it did in Notre Dame’s double-digit victory.

“It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there,” Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan said. “There’s not huge margins in the difference between teams.”

Notre Dame is the No. 1 team in the country. But SU is only three spots behind. Notre Dame may boast the better defense, but Syracuse possesses the better offense. Saturday will be a battle of two ACC brutes, one with hope and the other ready to crush it.





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