MLax vs. Notre Dame Discussion

[burnspbesq]

The last time Duke and Notre Dame met on the lacrosse field, it turned out to be a very special day. "Clean win by Costabile" went into the Duke audio archives, right next to "There's the pass to Laettner."

They meet again, once again on a neutral field in an NFL stadium, on Sunday. This time it's in Jacksonville, not Baltimore. The game is on ESPN at 3:00 Eastern time.

Both teams lost key performers to graduation and season-ending injuries, but both are still very good. It will be a great early-season test for Duke's young players.

[Oriole Way]

The last time Duke and Notre Dame met on the lacrosse field, it turned out to be a very special day. "Clean win by Costabile" went into the Duke audio archives, right next to "There's the pass to Laettner."

They meet again, once again on a neutral field in an NFL stadium, on Sunday. This time it's in Jacksonville, not Baltimore. The game is on ESPN at 3:00 Eastern time.

Both teams lost key performers to graduation and season-ending injuries, but both are still very good. It will be a great early-season test for Duke's young players.

Who did Duke lose to season-ending injury? Haven't had a chance to brush up on my Duke lax team info as of yet.

[4decadedukie]

Notre Dame brings back much of its terrific defense, which will make this a very demanding game for Duke. However, the season has just begun and a great deal depends on last year's Duke non-starter (and our freshmen) quickly assuming roles -- and leadership -- that might otherwise be at least a season away (especially attack).

[MCFinARL]

Who did Duke lose to season-ending injury? Haven't had a chance to brush up on my Duke lax team info as of yet.

We lost Mike Manley, a third team All-American from last year, who would have been the anchor of the defense. Without him, we have no defenders (not counting the goalie) who started last year. In the Siena game, we started two freshmen, Chris Hipps and Luke Duprey, who are talented but obviously have no college-level experience, and Tom Montelli, who shifted from long stick middie. It will be very interesting to see how today's game goes; although I gather Notre Dame has been working on building its offense, the tested strength of its team is still on defense; we have some new starters in every part of the field but with a lot more experience at attack than on the defensive end.

[sagegrouse]

I got to watch most of the one-hour ESPN-U show with five highly credentialed lacrosse experts, including the ex-UMd coach who just left.

Most of the 2011 love went to Syracuse and UVa, with a lot left over for UNC.

No one really knows what to expect from 5th-ranked Duke. After all, this was a team that graduated TWO senior classes, given the extra year of eligibility granted players around in 2006. One of the commentators said that Duek is probably ranked too high (defending championships get a presumption of continued excellence in most polls).

Not much said about Notre Dame either.

sagegrouse

[MCFinARL]

I got to watch most of the one-hour ESPN-U show with five highly credentialed lacrosse experts, including the ex-UMd coach who just left.

Most of the 2011 love went to Syracuse and UVa, with a lot left over for UNC.

No one really knows what to expect from 5th-ranked Duke. After all, this was a team that graduated TWO senior classes, given the extra year of eligibility granted players around in 2006. One of the commentators said that Duek is probably ranked too high (defending championships get a presumption of continued excellence in most polls).

Not much said about Notre Dame either.

sagegrouse

Duke's preseason ranking could, indeed, be too high, especially given the schedule we face--with games against #7 (#6 in one poll) Notre Dame, Virginia, Syracuse (each ranked #1 in some polls and #2 in others), Maryland (ranked between 4 and 6) and UNC (ranked #3), as well as pre-season top 20 teams Denver, Loyola, Georgetown and Brown.
It's so hard to know the likely impact of the loss of so many seniors. On the one hand, obviously, we are fielding a pretty untested team; on the other hand, despite the high ranking, for the first time in a few years, they aren't really expected to win everything, which may leave them some room to grow and develop without a lot of pressure.

[burnspbesq]

Duke has a lot of highly regarded freshman, and a group of sophomores who looked good in limited action as freshmen (Tripucka, DeLuca, Conners, Lawson, Offit, O'Neill).

I expect we will get better every week, and will be the team nobody wants to see in their quarter of the NCAA tournament bracket.

[rogermortimer]

Notre Dame lost its goalkeeper, Scott Rodgers. I had pretty good seats in Baltimore in the championship game, and seeing Rodgers up close was a treat. He was just dominating, and he was the reason that Notre Dame could play such a defensive oriented, low scoring games and win. Query how ND will do without him.

[MCFinARL]

Notre Dame lost its goalkeeper, Scott Rodgers. I had pretty good seats in Baltimore in the championship game, and seeing Rodgers up close was a treat. He was just dominating, and he was the reason that Notre Dame could play such a defensive oriented, low scoring games and win. Query how ND will do without him.

Good question, but they still have Kevin Ridgeway on defense, who was also really impressive in the championship game, and their new goalie is supposed to be pretty good (though he is a lot smaller than Rodgers)--he was a HS All-American and his older brother, for what it's worth, was a 3-time All-American goalie at Notre Dame before Rodgers.

[4decadedukie]

Notre Dame lost its goalkeeper, Scott Rodgers. I had pretty good seats in Baltimore in the championship game, and seeing Rodgers up close was a treat. He was just dominating, and he was the reason that Notre Dame could play such a defensive oriented, low scoring games and win. Query how ND will do without him.

You are absolutely correct! Rodgers was simply amazing -- probably the best goaltender I have ever seen -- and the catalyst to Notre Dame's run last season.

[loldevilz]

You are absolutely correct! Rodgers was simply amazing -- probably the best goaltender I have ever seen -- and the catalyst to Notre Dame's run last season.

I totally agree. Most of the experts don't seem to remember that Notre Dame was a mediocre team last year until Rogers got very hot and they made the tournament run. Without him I believe it would have been a blowout last year in the championship game. A lot of people rank them very high again, but they may go the way of Butler and really regress this year IMO.

That being said, I believe today's game will be a fight. Notre Dame will definitely get up for this game and the Blue Devils youth may be a problem, especially starting two freshmen defenders.

[SCMatt33]

0-0 after the first. Can't think of the last time Duke played a 0-0 quarter in the last few years off the top of my head.

[loran16]

0-0 after the first. Can't think of the last time Duke played a 0-0 quarter in the last few years off the top of my head.

The ND game last year felt like no scoring for a while. ND is incredible on D. I'm not a LaX expert, but they are just seem an extreme on D.

[Gthoma2a]

Man, this game changed in a hurry. Hopefully we can turn it back around.

[loldevilz]

The youth is really showing through. Duke's young defense just fell apart on that run and lost all composure. The sad thing is that I've been more disappointed by the offense. It doesn't look like they are running anything. They are just throwing the ball around the perimeter. They really look like they miss Crotty in particular.

[4decadedukie]

Decent talent, but LOTS of improvement required before the NCAA Tournament.

[wallyman]

They won last year with superior talent and mediocore goalie play. They don't have the former this year; judging by this game, the latter could be very worrisome. That said, they lost to a vastly more experienced team.

[jkidd31]

I thought Duke came out well, but Kemp kept ND in the game with some big saves in the 1st quarter. The comment was made Duke looked more athletic then ND. After the two goals, ND looked like they turned on a switch and dominated. If Kemp can play like that ND will have a serious chance at making a return trip to Baltimore, because they won't give uo many goals and Brenneman is a stud.

For Duke, the freshman will need to step up in a hurry. Wigrizer needs to play the way he did in the first half and forget about the second half. Many of the ND goals seem to result from breakdowns in the D and there was no chance for the goalie.

[MCFinARL]

For Duke, the freshman will need to step up in a hurry. Wigrizer needs to play the way he did in the first half and forget about the second half. Many of the ND goals seem to result from breakdowns in the D and there was no chance for the goalie.

I agree completely--Wigrizer looked good early, but faced a lot of point blank shots later, including at least one where the defender appeared to stand and watch as the shooter went by him. And subbing in Mike Rock didn't change anything--by that point the defense seemed pretty lost.

But as another commenter noted, there is a lot of talent on this team, if not a lot of experience. In a best case scenario, the demanding schedule in front of them will help them grow quickly and be ready to compete at the end of the season. Even in a worst case scenario, with another excellent recruiting class slated to come in next year, this group can build a solid base for future success as long as they keep working and learn from their mistakes instead of getting discouraged.

[burnspbesq]

I haven't had time to watch the second half yet, but until I do, my mantra will continue to be "It's February, and Duke is very young."

[jkidd31]

I haven't had time to watch the second half yet, but until I do, my mantra will continue to be "It's February, and Duke is very young."

The second half was brutal to watch. Whenever Duke would score ND would answer...sometimes twice.

The only thing good to come out of this w/e was that the Buckeyes laid one heck of a whooping the Tarheels. UNC was up 5-2 in the middle of the 2nd quarter and was outscored 11-3 over the remainder of the game.