Previewing Notre Dame’s 2020 men’s college lacrosse schedule

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the 74th team in our 2020 men’s college lacrosse schedule preview series and the fifth and final team from the ACC. Notre Dame finished 9-7 overall in 2019 and 2-2 in ACC play. The Fighting Irish lost to Virginia in the ACC Championship game but defeated Johns Hopkins in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. They fell to Duke in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Here’s their entire 2020 schedule:

Who’s In?

• Cleveland State Vikings (2/15)
• Army West Point Black Knights (4/11)

Who’s Out?

• Detroit Mercy Titans (19-6 W)
• Cornell Big Red (11-9 L)

Circle These Dates

• 2/23 vs. Richmond: The Spiders have given the Fighting Irish some fits in their previous two meetings. Back in 2018, Richmond overcame a 5-0 halftime deficit to take a short one-goal lead before Notre Dame was able to come back and win in the final quarter. But last year in Richmond, the Spiders held a late Notre Dame rally in the rain for the upset win. Don’t be surprised if it’s another defensive battle.
• 2/29 at Maryland: Notre Dame has won three of the last four meetings against the Terrapins dating back to 2016. Fortunately, the previous two games have had more scoring than the first two that went 9-4 and 5-4. Last year’s matchup inside the Loftus Sports Center might have been the best game of the foursome as Maryland’s Anthony DeMaio scored the tying goal with 16 seconds to play in overtime to force overtime. But Brian Willetts delivered the overtime heroics on a diving goal to complete his hat-trick and the win.
• 3/10 at Ohio State: While the lacrosse community recognizes the Denver-Notre Dame rivalry as the best annual western showdown, the Notre Dame-Ohio State meetings have been pretty good in the last few seasons. After a slow start in the first half last year, the Buckeyes managed to score eight goals in the second half and take a two-goal lead late in the fourth quarter. Wheaton Jackoboice and Bryan Costabile forced overtime for the Irish, but Colby Smith put home the game-winner to keep Ohio State’s undefeated season going.
• 4/4 vs. Duke: Three meetings between the two teams last season, but only one of those went in favor of Notre Dame. Duke took the regular season matchup in Durham before the Irish got their revenge in the ACC semifinals, only the meet again with a trip to Championship Weekend on the line. The Fighting Irish fought back multiple times against Duke in Hempstead with Ryder Garnsey leading the way with four goals and three assists. But the game went into overtime where Joe Robertson won it on Duke’s opening possession.
• 4/18 at North Carolina: The Irish put together a five-goal run beginning with less than a minute left in the second quarter to take a lead they would keep for the rest of the contest. North Carolina was keeping it close throughout the second half with Justin Anderson and William Perry scoring two goals each. Seven of Caton Johnson’s 13 saves for UNC came in the third quarter. They’ll be looking to get back into the top four in the ACC with Chris Gray coming in from BU.