The Fighting Irish will open their ACC conference play at UVa this Saturday. The Cavaliers are coming off a one-point edging of St. Joseph’s following roster dismantling over the offseason. Notre Dame lost an overtime devastator to Denver this past Saturday, but are still ranked No. 4.
Virginia (5-1)
The Cavaliers are putting on a show considering the obstacles they experienced over the offseason. Despite losing their senior starting defender and junior replacement, this squad has impressive wins over five opponents, only losing to Syracuse who is No. 1 anyway.
UVa has outshot Notre Dame so far this season 212 to 161, and their percentage is still .377. It’s obvious the distractions didn’t effect the offense of this Virginia team.
Virginia’s weak point will be face offs because they’re statically less successful. However, they may win some extra possessions through ND violations if the Irish performances aren’t cleaned up.
At face off for the Cavaliers are mostly Jeff Kratky (30-84) and Jason Murphy (32-74) but Tanner Ottenbreit has taken 12 draws himself, as well.
Ryan Lukacovic is leading the team with 23 points on 12 goals and 11 assists. However, he’s tied with two others for total shots with 27, and those others would be Greg Coholan and Owen Van Arsdale. James Pannell leads the entire pack with 45 shots.
Notre Dame (3-1)
Despite coming off a loss, the season and roster for this Irish squad still brings promise.
For one, they’re shooting with a .379 percentage. Though it’s not catastrophic, it’s consistent and above the opponents’ averages so far this season. The two main draw men for ND this season are Nick Ossello (27 wins of 62 face offs) and Thomas Stephen (24 wins of 36 faces). Both are great, but both need to watch their penalties and violations. Despite draw discipline needed to win at the levels they expect to, the squad still boasts an overall draw percentage of .528.
Notre Dame’s attack unit is renowned throughout the NCAA and lacrosse spectatorship, but hopefully the media and compliments aren’t going to their heads. Though Matt Kavanagh is leading the team with 22 points on the season, he sometimes goes for unnecessary shots, like his missed around-the-world wide left from point blank against DU. If he’d made that shot, would the game have gone into overtime?
The Irish seem to lack the discipline required for their skill level. They make silly violations, unnecessary penalties, etc. Sometimes simpler is more effective.
A strength for ND is their ability to capitalize on man-up opportunities, closing nine of their 11 chances this season. That is something every opponent of their should fear, especially a team like Virginia who’s struggling at the defensive position.
What to Watch For
Virginia may try to exploit the face off game, but more likely they’ll open fire on Irish goalie Shane Doss. But if Notre Dame can gain possession and take smart shots, they’ll have a better chance of controlling game possession.
As an ACC Conference Game, the opener for ND, this game should impress spectators with their level of play.
