Replay: Irish Take Care of Business

May 5, 2018

By John Heisler

On another day, this assignment might have been much more difficult for the University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team.

Coming off their Atlantic Coast Conference title a week ago, the Irish might easily have felt a bit fat and sassy.

They might have been distracted by final exams that begin Monday.

Maybe they were already looking forward to the announcement of the NCAA Championship bracket Sunday night (9 p.m. EDT on ESPNU).

Since the opponent in the regular-season finale at Arlotta Stadium was a Black Knight team that had lost five in a row and already had been eliminated for consideration for an at-large NCAA slot, the Irish might have taken this one for granted.

Maybe they had forgotten that Army defeated the Irish exactly a year ago in overtime at West Point — or that the current Cadets were anchored by a team defense rated second nationally (allowing 7.67 goals per game).

Instead Notre Dame played the game maybe better even than Irish coach Kevin Corrigan could have drawn it up on the board.

His team eliminated the drama by scoring early and often (a season high-matching goal total) in the 17-5 Notre Dame triumph.

The Irish defense allowed a season-low total in the goal column. Notre Dame thwarted top Black Knight scorer Nate Jones by holding him without a point on three shots.

When your team scores 17 times (only once in an extra-man situation) and allows only 12 shots on goals, you can’t lose.

The home team played with precision early, committing only a pair of first-half turnovers. Plus, the combination of John Travisano, Charlie Leonard and Jacob Frane allowed the Irish to claim all but a half-dozen of the 27 face-offs.

From a 5-2 advantage midway through the second period, Notre Dame scored seven consecutive goals.

That meant the Irish could substitute liberally in the latter stages, enabling a handful of Notre Dame players to post their first career goals or assists.

It was hard to say what the big crowd at Arlotta Stadium enjoyed more — the impressive play of the Irish or the balmy 73-degree weather.

“That was spot on, exactly what we wanted coming out of this game,” Corrigan told his players seconds after it ended. “Playing well, keeping our momentum, playing hard, playing smart — and a lot of guys got to contribute. I loved that effort today.”

“The second season starts right now,” said Irish senior captain Mikey Wynne.

Added Corrigan later in the locker room: “Knowing where we are, what we had to play for, what they had to play for, this was the game I wanted to play. We were on everything, we didn’t take anything for granted. We didn’t get cocky, we just kept playing.”

Before the game began, Corrigan told his players about a book he’s reading about a man afflicted with Parkinson’s disease. He noted that the man doesn’t complain because routine tasks are now twice as hard as they used to be. Instead the man accepts his condition and lives in the reality of today as opposed to comparing his current plight to an earlier time.

“When I think about the journey of our team over a season and all the things that happen, there’s always something that makes it a little more challenging,” Corrigan said. “But it’s not really more challenging, it’s just as challenging as it is.

“I hope that’s our mantra going into the end of the year here. We don’t care what’s in front of us. It’s just as hard as it is–and we’re up for the fight.”

The Irish will gather Sunday night to learn their postseason assignment. Most accounts suggest Notre Dame will play at home in the first round.

Whatever the look of the bracket, Corrigan and his Irish like where they stand.

They’ve weathered the storm of the most difficult schedule in the country.

They survived a midseason spate of injuries that made goal-scoring a major challenge for a few weeks.

They’ve seen their rookie goaltender, Matt Schmidt, grow over the course of his freshman season to the point where he earned all-ACC Tournament honors a week ago and then allowed a season-low goal total Saturday against Army.

As Corrigan emphasized to his unit, in many ways none of that matters now that it’s May.

The NCAA Championship is a week away.

The Irish are banking on handling whatever is thrown their way.

Senior associate athletics director John Heisler has been following the Irish sports scene since 1978.