Fresh off their first ACC win of the year, the Blue Devils have no time to rest, heading up to the Midwest to take on the Fighting Irish.
No. 6 Duke faces No. 12 Notre Dame Saturday at 4 p.m. at Arlotta Stadium in South Bend, Ind., as the two conference rivals battle for second place in a tight ACC race. One week after a thrilling come-from-behind home victory against North Carolina, the Blue Devils have a stiff challenge ahead of them, against an opponent reeling from a conference loss of its own and hungry for a win.
“They’re going to be tough on the faceoffs and the wings,” Duke head John Danowski said. “They play such great individual and team defense, and offensively they always have some great players.”
The Fighting Irish (5-3, 1-1 in the ACC) are eager to find some consistency this season after going 2-2 in their last four matchups, the most recent of which was a 10-6 loss to Syracuse on the road, but junior Ryder Garnsey and company will contend with Duke’s sixth-ranked scoring defense.
Despite struggling for stretches against the Tar Heels last week and Syracuse the week before, the Blue Devil rope unit is in the top 10 in the nation in both caused turnovers per game and man-down defense, giving it a leg up against a Notre Dame offense that has only scored 10 or more goals once in its last five games.
The Blue Devils (9-2, 1-1) and Fighting Irish traded off in the season series last year, with Duke emerging victors from the regular-season matchup before Notre Dame took revenge with a one-goal victory in Durham during the ACC tournament.
What is most startling for the Blue Devils is the talent they will face from the Fighting Irish attack this year despite their low scoring totals. Between Garnsey, junior Brendan Gleason, senior Mikey Wynne and sophomore Bryan Costabile—the architect of Duke’s undoing the last time these teams met in the postseason—Notre Dame has four offensive powerhouses who could all pick up the scoring load for their side.
Garnsey and Wynne utilize slick stick skills and elusiveness at attack, and Gleason and Costabile complement them with exceptional shooting ranges and the ability to engage the defense physically.
“There’s a fine line between being aggressive and playing defense with a certain energy,” Danowski said. “The last two weeks, we’ve kind of waited to see what the offenses were doing, but we need to be more assertive early.”
One week after struggling against the Tar Heels’ complex zone defense, the Blue Devil offense will have an opportunity to play against a man-to-man scheme again. The Fighting Irish are led by senior defender and 2017 first-team All-American John Sexton, the anchor of his squad’s top-20 scoring defense. Duke can counter with offensive firepower in the form of Justin Guterding—the nation’s leader in goals per game—and midfielders Brad Smith and Peter Conley, who have a combined 41 goals this year.
“We’ve always struggled against Notre Dame offensively,” Danowski said. “They scout us really well and they play really sound, fundamental defense. They have also had terrific goalie play, so the combination of a really good scouting report, good prep by them, they don’t change too much week to week, and terrific goalie play makes it like a three-headed monster.”
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