LaxPower Back-Up Stick

In the poll asking if the other three Final Four participants of last year finish business, most people are saying no. For some, if not most of you, is that because you think ND repeats?

It's super hard to repeat as champ in any sport.

I would, however, expect ND to be a final four team. They really are likely to be still that good.

don't you mean three-peat?

Will they be as good as they were last year? Probably, but in all likelihood so will be Duke, UVA, and Penn State. Syracuse will be better, Hopkins will be as good or better than last year, and at least one Ivy out of Cornell, Yake, and Princeton could emerge as a real threat. In sum, I’d rank ND preseason number one but bet against a repeat or three peat.

Well said. I would change your forecast for Syracuse from better to much better and I would add Maryland to the ranks of good teams which will be better than they were last year

Forgot to mention Maryland, who I think will be the most likely team to replace one of last year’s FF teams in this year’s FF.

I don’t know if their Ivy transfers (who all stink, right?) will have the impact Tevlin and Fake did (OT game winner vs Virginia, absolutely putting the clamps on Brennan…bagpiper..could go on!). I think the Jameson and Guinness cause a hangover that make for a different offseason than the “snub” in ‘22 did, which was evident in the Princeton scrimmage. Liam Entenmann is a game changer, Im willing to bet we see the Irish in the quarters.

No. Too many other good teams who improved as much as or more than the Irish did. No more chip on their shoulder. No Tevlin. No Fake. And lest we forget they were extremely fortunate to beat UVA in the semis. They were down with 50 seconds left in the game before Taylor hit that one-in-a-million twister, and then Tevlin won it in OT. Just feels like they got all the bounces last year. Doubt that happens again. Could maybe see another Final Four appearance, but not going to repeat as champs.

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:03 pm No. Too many other good teams who improved as much as or more than the Irish did. No more chip on their shoulder. No Tevlin. No Fake. And lest we forget they were extremely fortunate to beat UVA in the semis. They were down with 50 seconds left in the game before Taylor hit that one-in-a-million twister, and then Tevlin won it in OT. Just feels like they got all the bounces last year. Doubt that happens again. Could maybe see another Final Four appearance, but not going to repeat as champs.

They made the plays to beat Va! The save by Entenmann. The great twister shot by Taylor. Wasn’t by accident. The decision by Shutz was is what you have to question. Because that cracked open the door. If Va goes Phil Ford, and ND had to chase, time was critical.

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:03 pm No. Too many other good teams who improved as much as or more than the Irish did. No more chip on their shoulder. No Tevlin. No Fake. And lest we forget they were extremely fortunate to beat UVA in the semis. They were down with 50 seconds left in the game before Taylor hit that one-in-a-million twister, and then Tevlin won it in OT. Just feels like they got all the bounces last year. Doubt that happens again. Could maybe see another Final Four appearance, but not going to repeat as champs.

They made the plays to beat Va! The save by Entenmann. The great twister shot by Taylor. Wasn’t by accident. The decision by Shutz is what you have to question. Because that cracked open the door. If Va goes Phil Ford, and ND had to chase, time was critical.

Mr3Putt wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 3:55 am

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:03 pm No. Too many other good teams who improved as much as or more than the Irish did. No more chip on their shoulder. No Tevlin. No Fake. And lest we forget they were extremely fortunate to beat UVA in the semis. They were down with 50 seconds left in the game before Taylor hit that one-in-a-million twister, and then Tevlin won it in OT. Just feels like they got all the bounces last year. Doubt that happens again. Could maybe see another Final Four appearance, but not going to repeat as champs.

They made the plays to beat Va! The save by Entenmann. The great twister shot by Taylor. Wasn’t by accident. The decision by Shutz was is what you have to question. Because that cracked open the door. If Va goes Phil Ford, and ND had to chase, time was critical.

virginia did go phil ford for the 5 minutes before that shot, and got bupkus. that's what killed them. they took their foot off the neck. schutz made a great play, didn't finish. it happened with 3 minutes left and notre dame got 2 goals within a minute.
killing another 30 -40 seconds... again... to come up empty again would not have changed anything.

.

wgdsr wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 7:17 am

Mr3Putt wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 3:55 am

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:03 pm No. Too many other good teams who improved as much as or more than the Irish did. No more chip on their shoulder. No Tevlin. No Fake. And lest we forget they were extremely fortunate to beat UVA in the semis. They were down with 50 seconds left in the game before Taylor hit that one-in-a-million twister, and then Tevlin won it in OT. Just feels like they got all the bounces last year. Doubt that happens again. Could maybe see another Final Four appearance, but not going to repeat as champs.

They made the plays to beat Va! The save by Entenmann. The great twister shot by Taylor. Wasn’t by accident. The decision by Shutz was is what you have to question. Because that cracked open the door. If Va goes Phil Ford, and ND had to chase, time was critical.

virginia did go phil ford for the 5 minutes before that shot, and got bupkus. that's what killed them. they took their foot off the neck. schutz made a great play, didn't finish. it happened with 3 minutes left and notre dame got 2 goals within a minute.
killing another 30 -40 seconds... again... to come up empty again would not have changed anything.

.

Biggest surprise in that game was at the X. ND was sub 50% all year at the X. They were 40.7% at the X in the 2 prior games (22-54). They won the faceoffs 16-12, winning the last 5 faceoffs. They also dominated the ground balls (42-30).. That is a lot of extra possessions.

wgdsr wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 7:17 am

Mr3Putt wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 3:55 am

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:03 pm No. Too many other good teams who improved as much as or more than the Irish did. No more chip on their shoulder. No Tevlin. No Fake. And lest we forget they were extremely fortunate to beat UVA in the semis. They were down with 50 seconds left in the game before Taylor hit that one-in-a-million twister, and then Tevlin won it in OT. Just feels like they got all the bounces last year. Doubt that happens again. Could maybe see another Final Four appearance, but not going to repeat as champs.

They made the plays to beat Va! The save by Entenmann. The great twister shot by Taylor. Wasn’t by accident. The decision by Shutz was is what you have to question. Because that cracked open the door. If Va goes Phil Ford, and ND had to chase, time was critical.

virginia did go phil ford for the 5 minutes before that shot, and got bupkus. that's what killed them. they took their foot off the neck. schutz made a great play, didn't finish. it happened with 3 minutes left and notre dame got 2 goals within a minute.
killing another 30 -40 seconds... again... to come up empty again would not have changed anything.

.

agreed, they played to not lose, and it cost them.

coda wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 9:27 am

wgdsr wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 7:17 am

Mr3Putt wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 3:55 am

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:03 pm No. Too many other good teams who improved as much as or more than the Irish did. No more chip on their shoulder. No Tevlin. No Fake. And lest we forget they were extremely fortunate to beat UVA in the semis. They were down with 50 seconds left in the game before Taylor hit that one-in-a-million twister, and then Tevlin won it in OT. Just feels like they got all the bounces last year. Doubt that happens again. Could maybe see another Final Four appearance, but not going to repeat as champs.

They made the plays to beat Va! The save by Entenmann. The great twister shot by Taylor. Wasn’t by accident. The decision by Shutz was is what you have to question. Because that cracked open the door. If Va goes Phil Ford, and ND had to chase, time was critical.

virginia did go phil ford for the 5 minutes before that shot, and got bupkus. that's what killed them. they took their foot off the neck. schutz made a great play, didn't finish. it happened with 3 minutes left and notre dame got 2 goals within a minute.
killing another 30 -40 seconds... again... to come up empty again would not have changed anything.

.

Biggest surprise in that game was at the X. ND was sub 50% all year at the X. They were 40.7% at the X in the 2 prior games (22-54). They won the faceoffs 16-12, winning the last 5 faceoffs. They also dominated the ground balls (42-30).. That is a lot of extra possessions.

Good point about the results at the X. ND had some big games facing off throughout the year but as you noted overall they weren't great. I think the issue was Lasalla was worn down and a shell of himself by that point. Didn't look like the same guy at all.

JeremyCuse wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 12:33 pm

coda wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 9:27 am

wgdsr wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 7:17 am

Mr3Putt wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 3:55 am

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:03 pm No. Too many other good teams who improved as much as or more than the Irish did. No more chip on their shoulder. No Tevlin. No Fake. And lest we forget they were extremely fortunate to beat UVA in the semis. They were down with 50 seconds left in the game before Taylor hit that one-in-a-million twister, and then Tevlin won it in OT. Just feels like they got all the bounces last year. Doubt that happens again. Could maybe see another Final Four appearance, but not going to repeat as champs.

They made the plays to beat Va! The save by Entenmann. The great twister shot by Taylor. Wasn’t by accident. The decision by Shutz was is what you have to question. Because that cracked open the door. If Va goes Phil Ford, and ND had to chase, time was critical.

virginia did go phil ford for the 5 minutes before that shot, and got bupkus. that's what killed them. they took their foot off the neck. schutz made a great play, didn't finish. it happened with 3 minutes left and notre dame got 2 goals within a minute.
killing another 30 -40 seconds... again... to come up empty again would not have changed anything.

.

Biggest surprise in that game was at the X. ND was sub 50% all year at the X. They were 40.7% at the X in the 2 prior games (22-54). They won the faceoffs 16-12, winning the last 5 faceoffs. They also dominated the ground balls (42-30).. That is a lot of extra possessions.

Good point about the results at the X. ND had some big games facing off throughout the year but as you noted overall they weren't great. I think the issue was Lasalla was worn down and a shell of himself by that point. Didn't look like the same guy at all.

Lynch followed it winning 12-19 against Jake Naso, the First Team All American from Duke in the title game. Some of his success could be attributed to LaSalla being run down, but not all of it.

Powellfan22 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 2:09 pm

JeremyCuse wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 12:33 pm

coda wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 9:27 am

wgdsr wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 7:17 am

Mr3Putt wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 3:55 am

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:03 pm No. Too many other good teams who improved as much as or more than the Irish did. No more chip on their shoulder. No Tevlin. No Fake. And lest we forget they were extremely fortunate to beat UVA in the semis. They were down with 50 seconds left in the game before Taylor hit that one-in-a-million twister, and then Tevlin won it in OT. Just feels like they got all the bounces last year. Doubt that happens again. Could maybe see another Final Four appearance, but not going to repeat as champs.

They made the plays to beat Va! The save by Entenmann. The great twister shot by Taylor. Wasn’t by accident. The decision by Shutz was is what you have to question. Because that cracked open the door. If Va goes Phil Ford, and ND had to chase, time was critical.

virginia did go phil ford for the 5 minutes before that shot, and got bupkus. that's what killed them. they took their foot off the neck. schutz made a great play, didn't finish. it happened with 3 minutes left and notre dame got 2 goals within a minute.
killing another 30 -40 seconds... again... to come up empty again would not have changed anything.

.

Biggest surprise in that game was at the X. ND was sub 50% all year at the X. They were 40.7% at the X in the 2 prior games (22-54). They won the faceoffs 16-12, winning the last 5 faceoffs. They also dominated the ground balls (42-30).. That is a lot of extra possessions.

Good point about the results at the X. ND had some big games facing off throughout the year but as you noted overall they weren't great. I think the issue was Lasalla was worn down and a shell of himself by that point. Didn't look like the same guy at all.

Lynch followed it winning 12-19 against Jake Naso, the First Team All American from Duke in the title game. Some of his success could be attributed to LaSalla being run down, but not all of it.

All together, hats off to Notre Dame's play down the stretch. But, especially in the eyes of UVA folks, was that at least a slight choke-job by the Cavaliers?

JeremyCuse wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 12:33 pm

coda wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 9:27 am

wgdsr wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 7:17 am

Mr3Putt wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 3:55 am

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:03 pm No. Too many other good teams who improved as much as or more than the Irish did. No more chip on their shoulder. No Tevlin. No Fake. And lest we forget they were extremely fortunate to beat UVA in the semis. They were down with 50 seconds left in the game before Taylor hit that one-in-a-million twister, and then Tevlin won it in OT. Just feels like they got all the bounces last year. Doubt that happens again. Could maybe see another Final Four appearance, but not going to repeat as champs.

They made the plays to beat Va! The save by Entenmann. The great twister shot by Taylor. Wasn’t by accident. The decision by Shutz was is what you have to question. Because that cracked open the door. If Va goes Phil Ford, and ND had to chase, time was critical.

virginia did go phil ford for the 5 minutes before that shot, and got bupkus. that's what killed them. they took their foot off the neck. schutz made a great play, didn't finish. it happened with 3 minutes left and notre dame got 2 goals within a minute.
killing another 30 -40 seconds... again... to come up empty again would not have changed anything.

.

Biggest surprise in that game was at the X. ND was sub 50% all year at the X. They were 40.7% at the X in the 2 prior games (22-54). They won the faceoffs 16-12, winning the last 5 faceoffs. They also dominated the ground balls (42-30).. That is a lot of extra possessions.

Good point about the results at the X. ND had some big games facing off throughout the year but as you noted overall they weren't great. I think the issue was Lasalla was worn down and a shell of himself by that point. Didn't look like the same guy at all.

Notre Dame was down 2 very late but made the plays to force OT and win the semifinal. The teams played 3 times and Notre Dame only won one, but it was the key last one. End of story and no need for excuses. Lasalla proved to be the only trustworthy option for Virginia at Face off last season. His understudy played less and less as the season went on and understandably transferred out. Lasalla is irreplaceable, but was worn down at the end of the season, especially in the latter stages of that game. Lars doesn't have a Lasalla this year but he has several experienced players to man the face off position. Braun returns from injury and a couple of experienced & capable transfers from Navy, Binghamton, & Colgate give Virginia depth and options they have not previously had. At a minimum, that position does not appear to be a weakness now and may end up surprisingly good.

I didn’t realize Conlin is back too.

So ND has 4 players on the Preseason 1st team AA list. Yeah they are hurting for sure!

While it is incredibly hard to repeat as champions, I think it comes down to the health of the Kavanaghs and the quality of transfers/new faces at the midfield more than anything else. I mean let's not forget the Irish are 20-3 in their last 23 games with the only losses to Virgina. Not to mention outside of the Virginia and Maryland games they dominated in terms of final score. So until another team knocks them off, I think it's fair to say they can be a favorite to win it all. Looks like Utah kept it close this weekend in a scrimmage (albeit without Pat) so the books have moved them to the 3rd favorite at +550. Great value for what should be a team in Philly for Memorial Day weekend.

They still return their starting attack and arguably the best goalie in the country. I think the biggest loss will be Fake as he was able to shut down the #1 option of opposing teams every game. Can't expect Conlin to do that, but if he can at least limit them Entenmann should be able to pick up the scraps. And if the Will Lynch we saw at the end of the season is the one that shows up this year, then it will once again be very very hard to stop the Irish. One title was awesome, but if they can go back to back I think it further cements their "we got screwed" mantra they had after the snubb from 2022.