The top seeded Notre Dame began their NCAA tournament by facing a Towson team who had to beat High Point earlier in the week just to make it to the first round. Notre Dame would wind up walking away with the 12-10 win, but it did not come easily.
The first quarter in no way went to the expected script, although it started like it might. Notre Dame quickly won the opening faceoff and followed with a goal. Unfortunately for the Irish, that would be it for the quarter. Towson answered a minute later by scoring on their first shot to tie it up at one with 10:09 left in the quarter. The next 12 minutes would then be a series of bad passes, turnovers, bad shots, and a failed man-up for the Irish, who are one of the best special teams offenses in the country. Towson would score with 1:47 left to go up 2-1 before the first ended.
The second quarter started slowly, but picked up quite a bit at the end. Towson opened the scoring with two goals in the in first 7 minutes before Notre Dame responded a minute later. Towson quickly answered back with two more goals, the last one with 2:50 left in the half. From that point on, it was all Notre Dame. Seven seconds later saw a goal from Nick Ossello on the faceoff. Less than a minute later, Ossello scored again. Sergio Perkovic closed out scoring for the half with one of his trademark cannons from the top center. Halftime saw Notre Dame down 5-6
The second half started like the first half ended, with a quick goal only eight seconds in by Notre Dame’s Conor Coyle to even up the core. Another goal four minutes later saw Notre Dame take the lead which they would not let go of for the rest of the game. Each team took their shots in that quarter and it finished 10-8 in favor of the Irish.
To start the fourth, Notre Dame once again stuck quickly. They score a little over a minute into the quarter and once again at the 10:21 mark to go up by four. Towson answered back with a man-up goal at 8:27, but that would be it for a while. The teams traded possessions until Towson scored a final goal with 30 seconds left. It would be too little too late.
Overall, Towson played some outstanding defense, which really was their calling card this year. What was great though is that neither team tried to slow things down at any point. Nearly all of Towson’s goals were within the first minute of establishing possession. Even when Notre Dame was down, they were taking shots and making moves in the first 15 seconds of having the ball. They were completely unafraid of sticking with the type of lacrosse that earned them the top seed this year.
Up next for the Irish will be Albany, in what is a rematch of one of the best games in last year’s tournament. If you can make it to that game, get a seat far away from the field, otherwise your neck will get tired from all the back and forth action. Albany is looking for revenge. Notre Dame is looking for their gold trophy to match their golden domes. No matter what, it will be some exciting lacrosse.
