No. 8 Syracuse (5-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast), in the top-10 for the first time this year, plays it’s first true road game of the season on Saturday. The Orange travel to South Bend, Indiana, for a noon start with No. 12 Notre Dame (4-3, 0-1) at Arlotta Stadium.

SU most recently defeated then-No. 2 Duke, 9-8, in overtime and the Fighting Irish fell in the extra period to No. 4 Ohio State.

Here’s what to know about the matchup.

All-time series: 10-4, Syracuse leads

Last time they met: The conference rivals traded three-goal runs to start the game, the Orange pulling ahead by a goal before halftime. The Irish tied it 1:24 into the second half before SU went on a 4-0 run spanning 15:20 of game time and ended with 7:05 to play.

Brian Willetts was the only Notre Dame player to notch more multiple goals (two) and the Irish as a team finished with a single assist. Three Syracuse attackers, Nate Solomon, Jamie Trimboli and Brendan Bomberry, scored two goals a piece. In net, Dom Madonna made 13 saves.

Notre Dame also beat SU in faceoffs (11-8), ground balls (29-24) and man-up opportunities (8-0). The Irish converted none of their extra-man chances a year ago.

The Notre Dame report: The Fighting Irish feature four double-digits scorers in Bryan Costabile (16), Brian Willetts (15), Brendan Gleason (12) and Connor Morin (11). Beyond those top scorers, Wheaton Jackoboice has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) and has registered two or more points in the last five games. But beyond those five, UND’s production is limited.

UND ranks No. 15 in the country in scoring defense, allowing a sparse 9.71 goals per contest. However, Notre Dame’s man-down defense is feeble by comparison, ranking 54th in the country and allowing opponents to convert nearly 40 percent of their extra-man chances.

Matt Schmidt has started all seven games in net for UND, posting a 9.59 goals-against average but only saving 48 percent of shots. Syracuse’s Drake Porter, though allowing about half a goal more per game, has saved 56.1 percent of shots he’s faced. At the faceoff X, Charles Leonard wins 55.4 percent of his draws, good for 28th nationally.

How Syracuse beats Notre Dame: Dominate the ball and exploit man-up chances. While Leonard is a good faceoff specialist, Syracuse’s Jakob Phaup is currently outshining him, winning 66 percent of draws, eighth in the country. Phaup winning at the faceoff X should set up SU’s offense to work at a comfortable pace and hopefully wear down Notre Dame’s defense — and keep the ball from UND’s scorers.

But like they did against Duke last Saturday, the Orange need to make the Irish pay for going down a man. The Orange have the No. 3 man-up unit in the country, scoring 14 times on 27 chances. SU is one of seven teams currently scoring half the time or more on the man up.

Schmidt is not a force in net, so if the Orange can consistently win the ball at the faceoff X and leverage that into man-up chances, it should pull away from the Irish.

Stat to know: 38.1 percent — The Fighting Irish have allowed opponents to score on nearly four out of every 10 man-up opportunities, 54th of 73 teams.

Player to watch: Brendan Gleason, senior attack, No. 9

With 20 points to his name — the only UND attacker to amass that many to this point — Gleason heads the dangerous stable of scorers the Irish possess. He’s on the Tewaaraton Award watch list and for good reason. Gleason’s ability to feed and score in multiple ways could present a problem for the Orange, and he’ll likely be defensive priority No. 1.

Published on March 29, 2019 at 7:18 pm

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham