Well that is certainly one way to start off your home lacrosse schedule!
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish Men’s Lacrosse team took it to Bellarmine on Tuesday afternoon. 29-10 was the final score and if you were looking for fireworks at Arlotta, you got them all day as lots of records and individual highs were hit on the day. The 29 goals is the most ever by the Irish and same with the 19 assists. That is 48 overall points in the game which makes that a record as well.
It’s a 2-0 start for Notre Dame, exactly the position we need to be in with a HUGE matchup looming on Sunday with the #4 ranked Georgetown Hoyas coming to South Bend.
Looking forward to our “Exit 77” podcast this week as David Brogan and I will have a lot to talk about as we will cover off on the first two wins of the season for the Irish while also previewing the tilt at Arlotta at 12:30 PM EST.
Let’s get into it, and rather than my regular quarter by quarter breakdown, I am just going to get into my overall thoughts on the win.
For Starters
Neat to see Ryan Sforzo lead the team out of the tunnel for his first home game experience as the Notre Dame bagpiper. Really cool moment for him, and in case you missed it, here is a great profile on Ryan from our friends at 18 Stripes.
Take a look at how many players made the scoring column for the Irish on the day:
GOALS: Colin Kenney 1; Brady Pokorny 1; Matt Jeffery 1; Teddy Lally 1; Fisher Finley 2; Will Angrick 1; Josh Yago 2; Will Maheras 3; Jake Vasquez 2; Miguel Iglesias 1; Brock Behrman 4; Gavin Lynch 2; Jalen Seymour 3; Ryan Sforzo 2; Luke Miller 1; Gavin Burlace 2;
ASSISTS: Colin Kenney 1; Matt Jeffery 1; Teddy Lally 3; Josh Yago 2; Will Maheras 1; Brock Behrman 3; Gavin Lynch 1; Max Busenkell 2; Kyle Bergen 1; Luke Miller 2; Griffin Grant 1; Gavin Burlace 1;
Was this the coming out party for Brock Behrman? For a young man who has patiently waited for his time to come, his hard work and persistence paid off as Brock had his best ever game in an Irish uniform. 4 Goals and 3 Assists on the day made for an epic afternoon for him. Not to mention that he barely played later in the game as so many players had the opportunity to see the field. Coach Marcus Freeman talks to his football team about the terms “delayed gratification.” That is a perfect encapsulation for Brock as he looks to be one of the offensive leaders for the Irish here in his junior season.
10-0 was the score after the first quarter and 16-1 was the score at halftime. It was a blitz right from the start with the Irish scoring four goals in the first six minutes of action. While Bellarmine was overmatched, you could tell the Irish wanted to come out and put the Marquette performance behind by leaving no doubt in this one. The time of possession had to have been stark as the Irish were winning faceoffs, slinging the ball around and just completely dominating the overall play.
Speaking of faceoffs, the Irish were 29-41 on the day with an all around excellent effort across Aidan Diaz-Matos, Tyler Spano and Christian Gallaher. We have said it over and over, when your team has two to three FO men that you can count on, you have the ability to battle and bring a new look to the dot each and every faceoff. Great work by these three.
While the offense was the talk of the day, you cannot help but notice that the Irish only gave up one goal in the first half. Christopher Iuliano started in place of Nate Schwitzenberg and we did not see Nate all day. Sure we will find out more this coming weekend on Nate’s status, but Iuliano fit in seamlessly with Shawn Lyght and Will Gallagher. With Thomas Ricciardelli only giving up one tally in the first 30 minutes, it was an all around really good performance by our Irish defenders.
We already talked about Brock’s four goals, but Will Maheras and Jalen Seymour also tallied hat tricks on the afternoon. They scored from a variety of angles and while Will is so quick and fast, Jalen is so long and powerful. Anyone else have some flashbacks to Eric Dobson or Sergio Perkovic when watching Jalen rip it from the outside? Overall, the top two midfield lines played very solid lacrosse. Really good to see Max Busenkell, Will Angrick and Fisher Finley get on the score sheet, and overall across our top two middie lines, they accounted for ten goals and four assists.
I am very much liking what we are seeing from our SSDM group so far this year. Led by Christian Alacqua, Chris Reinhardt, Kyle Bergen and Miguel Iglesias, this group is playing solid lacrosse. They are pushing transition, they are making good passes, they are playing strong defense, and they are scoring goals. The competition will clearly increase from here on in, but lots of confidence being gained for this group across these first couple of games.
What else did I like?
There was a ton to like on Tuesday and want to make sure I get some other quick thoughts out there:
I think just about every player on the Irish roster got on the field on Tuesday. That’s a great reward as lots of hard work has been put in by so many to get the team to this point.
Josh Yago with another four point game for the Irish. Luke Miller with a three point game. The starting attack is starting to round into form.
Matt Jeffery’s quickness and physicality is so noticeable. You can tell he has put in the work across the football season to get stronger and faster.
Teddy Lally with four more points. It is going to be harder and harder to keep this talented freshman off the field.
Gavin Burlace, Jake Vasquez and Ryan Sforzo all with two goals on the day. Really good to see these three hit the back of the net with some hard charging outside shots.
That’s a hammer of a shot by Gavin Lynch. Impressed with his moves up top and then his rockets from the outside.
Dylan Faison, Colin Kenney (first career goal) and Cam Kelley…you can see the talent there and it’s beyond exciting that these types of players are waiting in the wings.
Declan Cooke, George Guyton, Karter Williams, Luke Stickler, Jake Sommer and Anderson Davis. Sorry if I am forgetting other close defenders, but really awesome to see all these players get out there and get in some good run over the last 30 minutes.
What’s Up Next?
We said it earlier, but a big time match up with the Georgetown Hoyas coming to Arlotta on Sunday. This game is huge for so many reasons and a victory this weekend would be not only a big time statement, but a resume builder for the NCAA tournament.
The game will be at 12:30 PM EST and even though the weather is looking pretty cold, the game will be outside at Arlotta. Come on out, looking forward to seeing a big crowd and lots of students in attendance as well. I will be there, looking forward to being in the Bend with my son and some friends and their boys.
Go Irish! Let’s get it done!