Photo Credit: Ohio State Athletics

In arguably the biggest game of the weekend, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will head to Columbus for the second time this year to face the Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday. Game time is noon EST from the Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium. 

In case you missed our previews this week, check them out below!

UNC vs Richmond Preview 

Princeton vs Towson Preview

Colgate vs Penn State Preview

Five Storylines for the NCAA Tournament 

The matchup pits two of America’s most prominent collegiate brands against each other, in what promises to be an absolute rockfight of a game. OSU took the first matchup this season 10-9, in the middle of their incredible winning streak. Alex Marinier had three goals in that one to lead the Buckeyes while goaltender Caleb Fyock made 13 saves. Shane O’Leary scored the game winner for the Buckeyes with just seven seconds remaining to seal the victory. 

The matchup this weekend might surprise and frustrate some fans, especially the Buckeyes. Notre Dame is a tough draw in round one. But as a reminder, the tournament committee factors in obstacles such as travel, so the geographic proximity of the two teams is a notable reason for the matchup.

The Buckeyes enter this weekend as the winners of three straight. Over that time they secured both the Big Ten regular season title and the Big Ten Tournament title. In the tournament, they beat Rutgers 11-7 then pounded Maryland 14-10 in a game that was more lopsided than the score suggests. 

Notre Dame enters the 2025 tournament coming off their first playoff loss in ten games. They made it competitive late against Syracuse but eventually took the loss in the ACC tournament. It was their second loss in five games to the Orange. 

But this is group that is built for May. With back-to-back championships under their belt, they will look to become the first team since Princeton did it from 1996 – 1998. This isn’t the same Irish team we have seen the last two years, with a laundry list of departures that includes Pat Kavanagh, Liam Entenmann, Eric Dobson, Brian Tevlin and others. 

But the Irish return a lot as well, and will look to take advantage of an Ohio State team that has not made the NCAA tournament since 2022. 

Statistically, this game projects to be low scoring. Ohio State has arguably the best defence and goaltender in the nation, officially finishing with the sixth best scoring defence. Notre Dame is just behind them in tenth. The rest of the major statistics are below. 

TeamRPIScoring OScoring DFaceoff 
Ohio State516639
Notre Dame1091025

Also worth noting is the quality of the goaltending in this game. Ohio State’s Fyock finished first in the nation in save percentage, while Thomas Ricciardelli finished ninth for Notre Dame. Ricciardelli had an incredible 20 saves in the first loss to the Buckeyes. 

Keys to the Game

Both – Unassisted goals 

This is certainly the biggest area of focus in this game, as these are two of the most talented defensive units in the country, especially down low. To be clear, assisted shots are far superior to unassisted ones, so the goal of any offence should be to create high quality looks with the pass. 

But the reality we see every spring is that slides slow down in the playoffs. Through a combination of fatigue and weighing options, defences often force teams to score off the dodge. More simply, unassisted goals are a way to show that you are winning matchups, which is the real key here. 

OSU is well set up for this type of game and has been playing this way all year. I loved their midfield play against Maryland, they dominated at the point of attack and finished at a high level. They finished the Maryland game with 8 unassisted goals, including several from their two midfield lines. If they can get 8 unassisted against Notre Dame, this game will be a wrap. 

Here are a few examples. First, Liam White getting down the alley.

And here is another from Dillon Magee. 

And arguably none was more impressive than this one from Gannon Matthews, after which he took a hit from Will Schaller that knocked three of his teeth out. 

For ND, their midfield scoring is vital. Neither Devon McLane nor Jake Taylor are significant dodgers, so that puts a lot of pressure on Chris Kavanagh to create his own shot and score unassisted. Kavanagh will likely be covered by Bobby Van Buren, one of the very best cover men in the nation. 

Jordan Faison can do it, but the loss of Matt Jeffery puts a lot of strain on the Notre Dame offence (more on that later). Their other middies will need to be aggressive. 

The Irish scored just five unassisted goals against Syracuse and weren’t able to reliably draw slides, especially early. OSU has a very good ROPE unit that included Honorable Mention All-Americans Cullen Brown and Greg Lanfermeier. 

Whoever wins the unassisted battle will have a big leg up in this game. 

ND – Spacing 

With Matt Jeffery out, the Irish have a spacing problem… they don’t have any lefties. They have tried to address this, most obviously by playing freshman Luke Miller on the second line midfield. Miller is a lefty himself, and gives the Irish some nice juice on that line. 

But on the first line, things got a little clunky, with many of their players gravitating to similar spots. This is more of an issue late in shot clocks when the organization of the possession breaks down and the players need to think on the fly. We know how good Chris Kavanagh is out of structure, but he needs space. 

I took a few screenshots from the Syracuse loss. Look how many Irish players are in the righty wing and crease? Look at the gaps on the field, notably on the lefty high wing. 

The Ohio State defence is way to big and organized to have success with spacing like this. The way to beat them (if any) is to force them to extend by playing a very wide offence. This gives the opportunity for Taylor to get open inside. Taylor has been quiet recently, and I think this spacing is a big reason why. 

Even their righties need to spend more time on the off wing, but something has to improve. 

OSU – Don’t Give the Kavanagh Run

I spoke about this on The College Lacrosse Show this week, so I will save some ink and post the clip.

Home field helps here, but the greatest post-season performer of his generation is back for another round. Notre Dame and their fans are looking for a sign that their now-annual party lap is back on. Nothing signals that like a ride-back juice goal that Kavanagh has produced so many times. Momentum is so key and the Buckeyes must do what they can to limit the runs. 

X Factors 

Chris Kavanagh

Let’s continue that right into the X factors. They say role players play better at home and you need stars on the road. Ohio State is very good and very deep, and Notre Dame will struggle to win matchups more than they have in the past. This feels like a game where #50 will have to reach into the playoff magic hat and the lacrosse world that his college story has a few more chapters. 

Gannon Matthews 

Matthews is on a heater late in the season, with back-to-back hat-tricks against Michigan and Rutgers, including some late game heroics vs the Wolverines. Against Maryland, he stuffed the first goal of the game then got hit, lost three teeth, put on a clean jersey and returned to the game. Nick Myers said in the postgame interview that he thought Matthews gave them inspiration on the bench.

OSU could use both the goals, and the inspiration this weekend. 

Gannon Matthews, you are a lacrosse player!

Who do you have in this one? Let us know below!

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