Film Review: Analyzing No. 4 Syracuse’s 1st-quarter setback vs. No. 1 Notre Dame

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The stage was set for Syracuse men’s lacrosse to take over as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation Saturday. Losers of six straight against the Fighting Irish — including getting outscored 44-14 in their last two meetings at Arlotta Stadium — the Orange had a chance to make a statement.

Instead, Notre Dame showed why it is considered the best team in the country. The Fighting Irish dominated the Orange for large portions of the game, but ND’s performance in the first quarter was the difference.

Notre Dame outshot Syracuse 15-7 (10-3 on goal), won 8-of-9 faceoffs and picked up 13 ground balls to Syracuse’s five in the first 15 minutes. Notre Dame led 6-3 after the first quarter and maintained at least a three-goal advantage until late in the fourth when Syracuse made a push.

“It looked like they had two weeks to prepare for us and they executed very well, especially in the first quarter,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said postgame.

Here’s a deeper look into No. 4 Syracuse’s (9-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) first-quarter struggles versus No. 1 Notre Dame (6-1, 1-0 ACC):

Reilly Gray dodges down the alley

This play starts from X where Max Busenkell receives a screen from Pat Kavanagh. Short-stick midfielder Nathan LeVine pushes Busenkell off his spot and forces him to give the ball up. Busenkell dishes to Jake Taylor, who wastes no time swinging the ball to Reilly Gray on the wing with space to operate. This is where Syracuse starts to have issues.

Saam Olexo comes out to greet Gray on the perimeter as he dodges and gets downhill, initiating contact. Olexo pushes Gray away from goal and slightly knocks him off balance. The contact looked to have been enough to make the attack pass the ball away. Instead, Gray shifts his hips and utilizes a quick faint to get on Olexo’s inside shoulder.

With no slide coming initially, Olexo makes one last attempt at knocking Gray away from the net, but it’s too slow. As soon as Billy Dwan sees Gray potentially getting inside leverage on Olexo, he leaves his man — Taylor — in the middle to provide help. Dwan and Olexo both collide with Gray but can’t stop him from scoring past Will Mark to put Notre Dame up 2-1.

Slow slide leads to Dobson’s rocket from distance

After three straight goals from Notre Dame to make it 3-1, Jackson Birtwistle and Finn Thomson scored two of their own to tie the game. Yet, Mason Kohn received a delay of game penalty after his third faceoff violation of the half, giving the best man-up unit in the country a chance to strike.

Syracuse’s man-down defensive unit is unique because it utilizes five fresh defenders from the bench to kill off penalties. So far, the Orange have done well, killing 73% of their opponents’ man-up chances. But Notre Dame made Syracuse pay here.

Taylor and Devon McLane used a give-and-go at X to try and draw out Syracuse’s defense. McLane starts to curl around the post, but as he gets parallel with the goal line, he kicks the ball out to Chris Kavanagh. Chris locks his eyes on goal, ready to unleash a step-down and forcing Tommy Drago to cover him. Instead, Chris finds Eric Dobson wide open from the point.

Dobson, ND’s second-leading scorer in 2023 (34 goals), is not someone you want to leave open. He found so much space because while the ball was at X, Jeffery Ricciardelli cut in front of the crease, forcing Dylan Sageder to stay close to him and prevent an easy feed on the doorstep. As the play developed and Dobson received the ball, Sageder couldn’t close him out in time since he was occupied with Ricciardelli. Sageder’s late contest results in a lefty rocket past Mark to make it 4-3 Notre Dame.

Too slow on the pick from X

Gait had high praise for the Kavanagh brothers during his weekly media availability before Saturday’s matchup. Gait had good reason to praise them since they’ve both destroyed Syracuse in the past, especially Pat. The graduate student averaged 8.6 points over his last five contests against Syracuse, including two 10-point performances.

Syracuse sophomore Riley Figueiras was tasked with slowing down Pat. Figueiras has been a staple of SU’s defense in 2024 with Gait saying he’s growing “more confident” as the season has gone on. But this play won’t be on Figueiras’s highlight reel.

On a reset, Pat controls the ball at X and quickly accelerates from right to left. Figuerias stays tight, but a quick stop-and-go move from Pat leaves the defender flat footed. Combined with a solid pick from Busenkell, Figuerias loses Pat. He tries to recover, but Pat is too quick and curls around the cage for an easy finish. By the time Figuerias tries checking Pat’s hands, the ball is already in the back of the net.

Kavanagh Island (Again)

With 15 seconds left in the first quarter, Chris initiates ND’s offensive set by dodging along the right side. Dobson pops back out and receives a pass before swinging the ball to Pat, guarded by Figuerias again.

This time, the two were matched up on the wing. Pat curls infield, using a swim dodge to switch to his left hand. Pat darts toward goal and no Syracuse defender can help off his man because of Pat’s threat to distribute the ball. Pat led the country with 52 total assists last year and is Notre Dame’s all-time assist leader.

Figuerias tries to check Pat’s hands to keep him from unleashing a shot, but Pat simply absorbs the contact. Matt Wright leaves his man to slide at the last second, but doesn’t even make contact with Pat as he fires the ball into the net for his second goal in just over a minute.

Pat’s goal with three seconds left in the first quarter was a killer blow for Syracuse. Even though they got within two goals late, the Orange falling behind early didn’t do them any favors.