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No. 4 Syracuse hasn’t lost back-to-back games in the regular season in just over three years. Coming off a one-goal defeat at then-No. 2 Duke, the Orange (4-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) will look to continue that trend as they return home to the Carrier Dome this weekend to host No. 9 Notre Dame (4-1, 0-1).

Here’s what to know about the Fighting Irish before Saturday’s noon start.

All-time series

Syracuse leads 10-5

Last time they played

The roles were reversed in 2019, the last time Syracuse met Notre Dame. The Orange traveled to South Bend, Indiana, in late March coming off a thrilling overtime win against Duke. The Fighting Irish nearly killed the game early with a 9-1 run in the first half. Then Syracuse found its rhythm near the end of the second quarter. Seven unanswered goals brought SU back within two goals. But Notre Dame’s leading scorer that year, Bryan Costabile, finished off the Orange with two of his five goals coming in the fourth quarter.

Two of the Fighting Irish’s three leading scorers from that game, Costabile and Brendan Gleason, are gone. Wheaton Jackoboice, who finished with four points in 2019’s affair, still remains, though he’s taken a back seat to sophomore attack Pat Kavanagh.

The Notre Dame report

Coming in with the best scoring defense in the country, Notre Dame may be the Orange offense’s greatest test yet. UND lets in just 6.6 goals a game and doesn’t give up cheap turnovers with an unique clear, Syracuse head coach John Desko said, which has been successful 90.7% of the time so far this season. Even against the vaunted Virginia ride, the Fighting Irish cleared the ball successfully 19 out of 21 attempts. Add to that the third-best faceoff percentage (70.8) in the nation, and it makes for an Irish team that controls possession and the pace of the game.

Offensively, Notre Dame features the leading assist-man in the nation, Kavanagh, who also leads the Fighting Irish in points with 28 through five games. And Will Yorke, UND’s leading goal-scorer with 10 goals, is one of the best finishers in the nation and sixth in Division I shooting percentage this year. The Fighting Irish struggled to score at first against Virginia last weekend before striking twice on the man-up. Desko said the Orange will need to stay out of the box against UND, which features the most efficient man-up unit in D-I lacrosse, scoring a goal on 75% of its attempts.

How Syracuse beats the Fighting Irish

Desko noted UND’s “stingy” defense, which will make faceoffs a key part of the game once more. Last week, Jakob Phaup received two early faceoff violations and went 1-for-10 at the faceoff X before being replaced by Danny Varello. Phaup’s replacement fared a little better, but still went well under 50% for the game against Duke. Though they’ll face a top-five faceoff man in the country in Kyle Gallagher, the Orange need to win more faceoffs and at least come close to around 50% on the day.

If it does lose faceoffs, SU needs to build on a strong defensive second half from last week. The Orange let in just three goals post-halftime, and if their short-stick defensive midfielders can corral Notre Dame’s attack, they should be able to have a similar defensive performance on Saturday. Though top-20 in the nation in scoring offense, Notre Dame’s attack has been spotty throughout the season and only managed 11 goals against Virginia in its last game.

Stat to know: 10.4

Chris Wojcik’s Notre Dame offense is ball movement heavy and rarely does a player hold onto the ball for more than a couple of seconds unless it’s attacking the cage with a dodge. The ball flies around the offensive zone, looking for mismatches, and that’s led to Notre Dame averaging 10.4 assists per game, the second-highest mark in the nation behind No. 3 Maryland. Having the leading assist-getter in the nation, Kavanagh, doesn’t hurt either.

Player to watch: Pat Kavanagh, No. 51, attack

A sophomore star, Kavanagh won’t have the ball in his stick as much as Michael Sowers did last week for Duke against Syracuse. But Kavanagh makes the extraordinary look exceedingly simple, threading passes through the lines, which is why he’s got 28 points this season and leads the nation in assists per game. And he’s all but guaranteed to have a few eye-popping plays throughout Saturday’s contest like when he fought for a ground ball behind the cage against Virginia, split a double and found Mikey Drake for a goal.

Published on March 31, 2021 at 10:36 pm

Contact Arabdho: armajumd@syr.edu | @aromajumder