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Syracuse rattled off three straight nonconference wins, all by double-digit points. After the most recent 18-7 win over Hobart, goalie Will Mark said the Orange are prepared to “shake up the room a little bit” and enter the final stretch of Atlantic Coast Conference play with a better outlook than last season. The faceoff unit of Johnny Richiusa and Jack Fine have fixed their early-season woes, and Syracuse has done a much better job picking up ground balls and mitigating mistakes, entering Saturday’s game with a 6-4 record.

But its first test of the final part of the schedule comes against the No. 3 team in the nation. Notre Dame, a team Syracuse hasn’t beaten since 2018, is coming off a 15-10 loss to No. 1 Virginia at home, the first blemish on a 6-1 record, which includes wins against Maryland, Georgetown and Ohio State. It’s scored at least 13 goals in all but one game and has the second best scoring margin in the country, winning on average by 6.71 goals per game.

Before Syracuse (6-4, 0-2 ACC) takes on Notre Dame at the JMA Wireless Dome, here is everything you need to know about the Fighting Irish (6-1, 0-1 ACC).

All-time series

Syracuse leads 10-9.

Last time they played

After losing 22-6 at South Bend in what proved to be the worst loss of Syracuse’s historically bad 2022 season, the Orange welcomed Notre Dame to the Dome on May 1 in hopes of avenging the loss and snapping a five-game losing streak. Instead, ND ended the Orange’s abysmal season with an 18-11 loss. Seniors Brendan Curry, Owen Seebold, Tucker Dordevic, Lucas Quinn and Jacob Buttermore comprised eight of the nine goal scorers in the senior day game, though redshirt freshman Jackson Birtwistle led the team with three goals.

Notre Dame, though, got off to scoring early and piled on five goals in each of the first two quarters, entering halftime with a 10-3 lead. To finish off an up-and-down final season, Jakob Phaup won 56% of his faceoffs and picked up six ground balls. The Orange also outshot Notre Dame 33-29 and picked up five more ground balls than the Fighting Irish, but saved just 11 shots and went 0-for-5 on extra man opportunities. The loss capped off the Orange’s first-ever 10 loss season.

“Going forward, working on that consistency,” Brett Kennedy said after the loss. “Obviously, a lot of things to work on and they’ll address that in the offseason.”

The Fighting Irish report

Notre Dame is led by the Kavanagh brothers. Pat and Chris have combined for 35 goals and 69 points thus far, picking up a total of 39 ground balls to lead the Fighting Irish to a 6-0 start. But for the first time since March 26, 2022, they lost a regular-season game, falling to the Cavaliers last week. They had trouble defending UVA’s offense, led by Xander Dickson (six goals and one assist) and Connor Shellenberger (two goals and five assists). When clicking, Notre Dame’s offense can build considerable leads early in the game.

ND averages the third-most goals per game in the country, and through just seven games, have scored 111 total goals. Twelve of those goals have come on man-up opportunities, and the Fighting Irish are the second best team in the country at converting extra man attempts. It has also held four teams — then-No. 15 Georgetown, then-No. 4 Maryland and then-No. 10 Ohio State — to eight goals or fewer. The only area that Notre Dame has consistently struggled in is the faceoff X, winning just 44% of its opportunities between Will Lynch and Colin Hagstrom.

How Syracuse beats Notre Dame

If the Orange don’t get their scorers — namely Joey Spallina — going early, they are going to have a difficult time stopping the barrage of shots expected to come from Notre Dame. Syracuse has primed itself for three straight games for this chance. It positioned itself well with more equal performances at the faceoff X and stopping late-game runs that hindered it during its four-game losing streak earlier this season. But the Orange went into early deficits against each of the last three opponents, albeit by three goals or fewer.

Should the Fighting Irish crack open an early lead, it is likely that the Orange aren’t ever going to catch up, and their defense will break against ND’s four attacks with at least 11 goals. The clear advantage is at the faceoff X, with Richiusa and Fine in a better position after a retooled approach to the X prior to SU’s loss against Johns Hopkins.

The Orange can capitalize on Notre Dame’s subpar ground ball and faceoff talent in order to gain more time of possession and possibly stifle the Fighting Irish’s scoring chances. If they can’t stop them from controlling the game and give up the ball, the Orange will have a difficult time keeping pace with one of the best offenses in the league.

Stat to know: 63.2%

Notre Dame ranks second in the country in converting man-up opportunities. Through seven games this season, it has scored 12 goals off of 19 attempts. In last season’s loss, the Orange allowed the Fighting Irish to convert on both of their man-up opportunities and have continued to struggle on the man-down throughout this season.

They’ve faced the most man-up opportunities in the country with 46, allowing 12 goals off of those chances. Syracuse can’t afford to further hinder its chances against the No. 3 team in the country and give the Fighting Irish a man up, likely leading to more unnecessary goals and a larger deficit.

Player to watch: Chris Kavanagh, attack, No. 50

The heir-apparent to Pat Kavanagh, Chris — a sophomore following up a relatively solid freshman season — has overtaken his brother as the focal point of the Fighting Irish’s offense. He already has 23 goals, one shy of twice the number of goals he finished last year with. Chris has also added eight assists on 49 shots and has scored five goals on man-up opportunities. He’s a dynamic attack alongside Pat, Eric Dobson and Quinn McCahon who’s going to give Syracuse’s defense fits throughout Saturday’s game.

Published on March 29, 2023 at 10:12 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt