The Irish struggled to find consistency from the team as a whole over the first two days of the Big East championships, in which they find themselves in fifth place with just one round remaining.
"We just need a little bit more from our five," Irish Coach Jim Kubinski said. "We felt good coming in, like we had five guys that could keep us in play, but honestly we've only had two or three good scores in the first two days."
Notre Dame posted a seven-over 295 on day one and a four-over 292 on the second day of the tournament, leaving them 19 strokes behind the leader, Louisville, but only eight strokes behind second-place Marquette.
Freshman Max Scodro and junior Doug Fortner have led the Irish thus far, posting solid rounds early in the tournament. Scodro has been under par on both days, starting the tournament with a one-under 71 on Sunday and then following that Monday with a two-under 70, putting him at three-under and in a tie for third overall. Fortner is currently in sole possession of eighth place after shooting a one-over 73 on the first day followed by a one-under 71 on day two.
"[Scodro] and [Fortner] have done a fantastic job," Kubinski said. "Both of them have a chance to win the tournament tomorrow as individuals."
Beyond that, the Irish have not gotten much help. Sophomores Jeff Chen and Connor Alan-Lee each contributed a two-over, 74, but they, along with sophomore Dustin Zhang, shot five-over or worse in each of the other rounds.
"We played a little better, but we still can't get a fourth score that really helps us out," Kubinski said. "We've had to count 77 in the first two rounds and in this kind of event you'd like a 73 or 74 at worst. We're just not quite getting four guys to put up the numbers for us."
The Irish will finish the tournament tomorrow, and with a low scoring differential between the teams ahead of them, they have a good chance to finish strong.
Kubinski would not rule out his team's chance to make a run at the top spot.
"[The scores are] really bunched up second through fifth, so it's a real opportunity for us to move into second tomorrow," he said. "We've come back from 12 down, and granted we're down a lot more than that, but if you get three or four guys who can shoot in the 60s, you can make up a lot of ground."
