M Lacrosse vs. #2 Notre Dame ('23 NCAA Champs), 3PM on ACCN

Michigan heads to South Bend today to take on the defending national champion and #2-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Michigan is coming off a tough loss to Harvard last week but this is a huge opportunity for a signature win that would be monumental for Re-Tourney Quest, Part II: The Sequel. Game is at 3PM and will air on the ACC Network/ESPN Cinco(?).

[Also - on the podcast this week Brian said there’s a community of lacrosse sickos who head to Venue before the games, so here’s a plug for them! Maybe they’ll have the game on there today. And definitely go down next week, a lot of alums will be in town. Let’s build the lacrosse community at Venue! (I mean, there’s no men’s basketball to watch, {frown/tear emoji})].

I’m very psyched about this matchup. I mean, after all, it’s Michigan vs. Notre Dame. Up until last week Michigan looked like it was recapturing some of their late 2023 form as their replacement starters and new additions started to gel. But, they ran into a feisty and athletic Harvard team who jumped out to a big early lead and then held off Michigan the rest of the way for a 13-11 victory. From what I can glean from the box score and Twitter clips, Michigan shot extremely poorly and on the other end of the field, their goalie and defensive midfielders did not have great games. It seemed like a bizarre game:  Michigan had significant advantages in shots, ground balls and faceoffs and yet still were chasing all game. They’ll have to clean up those problems against the Irish and then a tough Big Ten slate. 

Keys for Michigan:

1. Hit the cage. The Wolverines will really need to recalibrate their shooting. Notre Dame goalie, Liam Entenmann (unfortunately not of the donut empire family) is very good and a bad shot will be the same as a turnover. Shoot on the run, change your levels and don’t telegraph the spot.
2. Slow it down and send cutters. The Hoyas scored a lot of goals on feeds from behind in which the defense lost middies cutting from up top. They also used a lot of shot clock, depriving ND of offensive opportunities.
3. Effective slides. Michigan does a good job of making teams work, but they also give up a lot of unassisted Gs because they tend to maroon their D guys on islands and are not a great help defense. Anticipate and send slides early.
4. Clear calmly and competently. ND wants to cause chaos on the ride/full-court and their two leading scorers love unsettled situations. Maryland gifted them a number of extra possessions on sloppy clears and the Irish capitalized. So, don’t do that. 
5. Also don’t get penalties because ND’s man-up unit is super-efficient.

Notre Dame is 4-1 and coming off victories over Ohio State and Maryland. They do have some significant vulnerabilities though - they dropped a game at home to a just-OK Georgetown team a few weeks ago in which they turned the ball over a lot and their star attackmen were quiet (the game closely resembled Michigan’s 2018 upset of the Irish in South Bend). So, it can be done, but Notre Dame is extremely talented. 

Other Things To Watch:

1. Prepare to be nauseated. ND’s top scorers are the Kavanaugh brothers, two 5’9 ginger punks from Long Island who ESPN absolutely adores. Be prepared for a slew of whiteboy “gym rat” cliches and gushing remarks about how tough they are. In fact, if you’re at Venue, maybe do a shot for every time they mention the Kavanaughs’ “lunchpail mentality” or how “it’s like they’re playing in the backyard”. On second thought, don’t; that might send you to the hospital.
2. Notre Dame freshman slot receiver Jordan Faison is also playing middie for the Irish and he’s shown to be a problem for opposing defenses. He has serious burst and change-of-direction so it’s a must that Michigan keep a longstick on him at all times. 
3. Former QB Tyler Buchner is also on the roster. He transferred to Alabama and is back at Notre Dame now for the spring. Apparently, he had originally committed to Michigan to play lacrosse back in the day. What a weird career path, but I guess that’s college sports in 2024. 

Let’s ruin their St. Patrick’s Day weekend!  GO BLUE!!