Sports
9th ranked Notre Dame secure second victory against Bellarmine
Nate Moller | Wednesday, March 10, 2021
The ninth-ranked men’s lacrosse team recorded their second victory of the season this past Saturday against Bellarmine with a score of 12-6.
Although it took some time for the Irish to ultimately pull away and win, the Irish finished off the game with a strong fourth quarter to win the game by a fairly comfortable margin.
After grabbing a 5-1 lead in the first quarter, Bellarmine was able to fight back and bring the score to 7-4 at halftime.
Despite these minor miscues early on in the game, the Irish were able to stay composed and put together a dominating fourth quarter performance to secure the victory by a six goal margin.
Head coach Kevin Corrigan was pleased with the play of his setup defense against Bellarmine on Saturday.
“I thought that our defense was good, and they had trouble generating any opportunities against our set up defense,” Corrigan said.
Corrigan was disappointed, however, that his team gave Bellarmine chances outside of the setup defense, allowing the Knights to hang around in the game.
“We gave them opportunities to score outside of the setup defensively. When you have a team who can’t generate things against your setup defense, part of understanding the game is understanding that you don’t give up other opportunities,” Corrigan said. “That’s something we’ve got to be better at. Because that was a day where we could have had a more dominating defensive day and we kept ourselves having that a bit by giving them penalties and transition opportunities that we shouldn’t have given up.”
Corrigan was pleased with his teams’ ability to keep their composure even after some mistakes.
“Our guys did keep their composure and they didn’t make it into something worse until we ultimately were able to make some plays to stretch the lead a little bit,” Corrigan said.
Corrigan was proud of his team’s ability to distribute the ball and work together. The Irish had seven different players score in Saturday’s game.
“We continue to be pretty selfless with the ball, and we move the ball really well. We have a lot of different people contributing,” Corrigan said.
Corrigan was also very pleased with his defensive midfielders’ abilities to create offensive chances for his team.
“At the offensive end of the field, our defensive midfielders continue to do an outstanding job of not just playing deep and clearing the ball but even creating offensive opportunities for us at the other end,” Corrigan said. “There’s a lot of good to build on and certainly some things that we need to look at closer and get better.”
Sophomore attack Pat Kavanagh was once again outstanding for the Irish, recording six assists on the day. Through two games this season, Kavanagh has an astounding 13 assists.
Corrigan attributes the success of Kavanagh to his skillset and the zone defense that Bellarmine and Robert Morris showed against the Irish this season.
“Pat is the trigger guy in our zone, and he’s got a great sense of the game” Corrigan said. ”He’s got good skills and great eyesight, and he really sees the game. If they’re gonna let him stay back there and have his hands free and his eyes up, they’re gonna pay a price for that.”
Corrigan was also pleased with the play of junior midfielder Quinn McCahon who scored four goals on Saturday.
“Quinn McCann played a really good game. He had a really smart day and scored four goals, but all were within what we were doing,” Corrigan said. “They were just the type of plays by nothing spectacular, but just a lot of good lacrosse from him.”
Corrigan also mentioned senior midfielder Ryan Hallenbeck, senior midfielder Daniel Cassidy and junior LSM Jose Boyer for their efforts on Saturday.
Corrigan also praised his whole defensive unit in six-on-six situations.
“Our first defense in six on six situations was very effective,” Corrigan said. “I think that we have to know that and appreciate that in those situations, we did a really good job.”
Corrigan was also ecstatic to see fans in the stands on Saturday, and he hopes more and more fans can continue to attend if COVID-19 health guidelines allow.
“It’s nice to see people there, that’s for sure,” Corrigan said. “I’d love to play in front of a full house forty years over. Hopefully we can keep getting there.”
Corrigan explained how playing in front of a limited crowd serves as a good reminder to his players that the COVID-19 pandemic is still very real.
“For us it’s still a reminder that everyday is a day that we have to make good decisions, and make sure that we protect each other,” Corrigan said. “I’m really proud of our guys this spring and the way they’ve done that so far, but they need to continue doing it because it can all turn around in a moment. While we may be closer to the end than we are to the beginning on this thing, we’re not out of the woods yet.”
The Irish will return to action next Wednesday against Marquette in Arlotta Stadium.
