#3/5/5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish lacrosse (2-0) travels to College Park, MD, for its now traditional early season grudge match against the #7/7/8 Maryland Terrapins (3-1).  Faceoff is Saturday at 1:00 pm at Maryland Stadium.  The forecast is for 36 degrees and high winds at gametime. It will be streamed on BTN+.

The Irish have had recent success against the Terps, including a fantastic overtime win in Loftus last year, but Notre Dame has yet to win in College Park.

The Opponent

Maryland is one of lacrosse’s traditional powerhouses.  The Terps’ four games this season have had a consistent and familiar plot:  Maryland gets behind but generates a furious comeback late in the game.  Against Richmond (14-13, 2 OT) and Penn (17-15), the comeback was enough to win.  Against Villanova (12-13), they came up just short.  What we have learned watching them this season is that no lead is safe.  This should come as no surprise to those who witnessed them come back against the Irish last year.

Coach John Tillman’s Terrapins have a roster stocked with talent.  #12 Wisnauskas, #1 Bernhardt and #16 DeMaio have led the scoring so far.  Bubba Fairman and Dylan Maltz continue to play well and have had prior success against the Irish.  These should all be very familiar names to Irish fans by now.  It seems many of these have been starting for Maryland forever.

On the defensive side we like to watch Geppert and Makar.  Irish fans should also take note that former Marquette standout Nick Grill is now on the Maryland roster where he again shows his takeaway skills.

Shockey and Calderone share faceoff duties and are winning just north of 50% of their draws.  Brandau has handled the goalkeeping duties and is saving at a .519 rate.

Our Pregame Three Questions

This 2020 team is going on the road for the first time this season and will face a very difficult opponent.  Watching this test we will be focused on these matters:

  1.  Will the boys take care of the ball:  Notre Dame will be on the road and playing in difficult weather conditions.  The can’t afford to be careless, especially late in the game.  In their first two games, the boys’ ball discipline waivered in the fourth quarter.  That would be a collosal mistake against this Maryland team that is so capable of mounting a comeback.  The Irish need 60 full minutes of disciplined lacrosse.
  2.  Can the defense restrict the Terps:  The Irish have scored well, and Maryland has scored well.  The difference between the two teams in our opinion is that the Irish have a better chance at stopping their opponent from scoring.  If the Terrapins are to be beaten, it will be because Notre Dame defense does not allow them to keep up.  The boys do not want a shooting match on Saturday.
  3.  Progress with the man-up unit:  There haven’t been enough man-up opportunities to properly discuss this unit, and they’ve looked fine so far, but we think they’d like to be a good bit more efficient with their opportunities. We think this unit has the skillset to be dominant.  We hope to see them take the next step towards that dominance.

 

Last year against Maryland, a lot of familiar faces had success: Willets, Morin, Hallenbeck, Mirer, Jackoboice, Leonard, etc. This group continues to play at a high level. The Irish have checked all the boxes so far this season:  Great defense, balanced scoring, roster depth, great faceoff play, and excellent goaltending.  The next test is to confirm they can maintain this high level of play on the road against a top opponent. We are confident that they can.

To put is in the mood, let’s take another look at the 2019 highlights!

#GoIrish