Preview: Maryland men's lacrosse prepares for massive game vs. #2 Notre Dame

John Gugs
3 hours ago
4 min read

#9 Maryland 1-2 vs #2 Notre Dame 3-0

Where: SECU Stadium

When: February 26th, 12PM

TV: BTN+

Betting: Maryland +1.5, O/U 23.5 (DraftKings)

After falling to 1-2 for the first time since 2016, the Terps road to bouncing back will not get much easier as they welcome the second ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish to College Park. The Terps are 4-1 against Notre Dame all time in College Park.

Notre Dame is led by Kevin Corrigan. Corrigan is in his 38th season as the Notre Dame head coach with a record of 373-180 with the Fighting Irish. The Irish are coming off of a dominant 15-9 win over the previously #3 ranked Georgetown Hoyas in South Bend last Sunday. Corrigan and the Irish have a career record of 9-10 against the Terps all time.

On offense, the Irish are led by grad transfer Josh Yago from Air Force. Through three games this season, Yago leads the team in points with 13 off of nine goals and four assists. This will be the second time the Terps have faced Yago after they held him to just a goal and an assist in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season. Along with Yago, the Notre Dame offense has very much been a balanced offense with seven other players scoring five of more points. In the preseason, the Notre Dame offensive midfield unit was ranked at the fourth best unit in the country and they have proved just that to start the season. One weakness for the Irish offense is turning the ball over. The Irish turn the ball over 13.67 times a game through their three games to start the season. In a game against a high powered offense like the Irish, if the Terps defense is able to make the Irish cough the ball up a lot on Saturday, I like their chance to pull off the upset.

On defense, the Irish are led by unanimous preseason first team All-American Shawn Lyght. Lyght is an eraser and anyone he is matched up with typically has a very hard and rough game. Along with Lyght, the Irish also have one of the best if not the best long stick midfielders in the country in Will Donovan. Donovan leads the team in caused turnovers with six while Lyght is second on the team with five. One place that the Irish defense has struggled however is at the goalie spot. The Irish’s starting goalie in Thomas Ricciardelli while only allowing just over nine goals a game, only has a save percentage of 47.8% on the season. While two of the three games Notre Dame has played indoors which can throw a goalie off of their game, in the one game they played outdoors, Ricciadelli had a 43% save percentage allowing four goals on seven shots on goal before being pulled early due to the Irish being up big.

Three things to watch out for

How does the goalie battle play out?

Both Ricciardelli and Ruppel are below 50% on the season with Ricciardelli at 47.8% and Brian Ruppel at 46.7%. In a game that features two very good defenses, every possession and shot will matter. With a slow start by Ruppel, there could also be a possible change at goalie as well with Tyler Coryea and Aiden Seibel both waiting for a shot at the starting job. Whoever is to get the start in net for the Terps will need to have a good day if the Terps want a shot at the upset.

Which star defender makes the bigger impact?

There is zero doubt that both Shawn Lyght and Will Schaller are two of the best close defenders in the country, if not the two best. I expect Lyght to match up with Braden Erska and Schaller to be on Yago this weekend as Erksa and Yago are the two main quarterbacks for both offenses. Whichever defender has the more dominant day, I expect to have a big impact and potentially help lead their team to a win.

Which team coughs up the ball less?

Both the Terps and Irish offense have tended to cough the ball up a bit in their first three games. The Terps have 43 turnovers through three games while the Irish have 41 turnovers in as many games. In a game like this, every possession will matter and whichever offense plays a cleaner game should have a massive advantage when it comes to the final score on Saturday.

IBG Prediction: Both teams are coming into this weekend’s game with something to prove. The Irish are coming off a dominant win over Georgetown wanting to show they are truly one of the best teams in the country and last week was not just a fluke due to the game being indoors. The Terps are coming off of two losses to the number six and number seven ranked teams in the country by a combined three goals and need a bounce back game to prove they are still a top team in the country with a shot at the title in May. With the struggles at goalie for the Terps to start the year, there have been questions of a change happening at the starting spot. If Ruppel gets the start he could very well be playing for his job on Saturday. But if a change is made, Coryea or Seibel will be out there looking to prove they deserve the starting job. With how dominant both defenses are, despite the goalies struggling, I think this will end up being a low scoring dog fight between two blue blood programs. I think the Terps will be able to get back on track and get back to .500 with a 10-8.

The Terps will be looking to avoid their first 1-3 start since 1993 this weekend when they welcome the Irish and John Tillman is looking to get to 7-8 all time vs Notre Dame. The game is set to face-off at noon on Saturday and is set to air on BTN+.

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