No. 19 Michigan, No. 16 Notre Dame Set for Top-20 Showdown in South Bend

Saturday, March 19

South Bend, Ind.

Noon

Michigan

Notre Dame

(Michigan Photography)

No. 19 Michigan, No. 16 Notre Dame Set for Top-20 Showdown in South Bend

3/14/2022 4:45:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

By: Scott Kemps

» Saturday's contest between No. 19 Michigan and No. 16 Notre Dame will be the first ranked-vs.-ranked road matchup in U-M program history.
» Josh Zawada is first in the nation in points per game with 6.75 and leads the No. 3 offense in the country (17.25 goals per contest).
» Sophomore goalie Shane Carr ranks second in the nation in goals-against average at 7.75.

THIS WEEK
Saturday, March 19 -- at No. 16 Notre Dame (South Bend, Ind.), Noon
TV: ACC Network | Live Stats | Live Video

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The No. 19 University of Michigan men's lacrosse team (7-1) will travel to South Bend, Ind., to take on the No. 16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday (March 19) in its final non-conference matchup of the season. The contest will be broadcast nationally on ACC Network and commence at noon from Notre Dame's Arlotta Stadium.

Wolverine Bites

• Michigan enters the massive road matchup ranked No. 19 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and No. 17 in the USILA Coaches Poll. A win would tie the U-M record for wins in a season (eight in 2017 and '18).

• Junior attackman Josh Zawada recently moved into second in program history in career points (125, 70g, 55a) and is 19 points away from Ian King's (2014-17) program record of 144. Zawada's average of three helpers per game ranks No. 5 in the NCAA, while his 3.75 goals per contest rank third. Overall, he maintains his NCAA lead in points per game (6.75).

• Fellow attackman sophomore Michael Boehm ranks No. 10 in the country in points per game (5.25) and is No. 23 in goals (3.00) and No. 14 in assists (2.25). With 42 points, he is also on pace to surpass the previous school record of points in a season of 48, a mark broken this year by Josh Zawada (54).

• Freshman attackman Ryan Cohen ranks No. 38 nationally in points per game (4.12), a number that ranks second among all freshmen in the country behind Bucknell's Connor Davis (5.00).

• As a team, U-M leads the nation in assists per game (11.12) and points per game (28.38). The Wolverines also boast top-five rankings in scoring offense (No. 3, 17.25 goals per game), scoring defense (No. 4, 8.50), man-down defense (No. 3, 79 percent), and opponent clear percentage (No. 3, 79 percent).

• Sophomore goalie Shane Carr is second in the NCAA in goals-against average (7.75) and No. 6 in save percentage (61 percent). The loss against Harvard was his first defeat as a starting goalie since 2016 when he was on his high school's junior varsity team.

• Junior Jake Bonomi ranks third on the team in goals with 21 and is one goal away from the U-M record for goals by a midfielder in a season. He trails Decker Curran's mark of 22, established during the 2018 season, and has already surpassed his previous career-best for goals in a season (13).

• The Wolverines have excelled at the faceoff dot with a 59 percent mark as a team. Sophomore Justin Wietfeldt and junior Nick Rowlett have virtually split time at the dot, with Rowlett missing the Harvard game due to injury. He is expected to be back this weekend for the ranked matchup in South Bend. Rowlett is also tied with Brad Lott (2012-15) for most ground balls in U-M history with 178.

• Per Lacrosse Reference, U-M's cumulative offensive efficiency ranks No. 1, while the defensive unit ranks third. Josh Zawada ranks third in the country in the site's "Statistical Tewaaraton" with 37.83 expected goals added, while Michael Boehm is No. 7 (33.92). U-M's strength of schedule is ranked No. 26.

Opponent History

U-M is 1-3 all-time against the Fighting Irish. Their most recent matchup came in 2019, which saw Notre Dame defeat Michigan 12-9 in Ann Arbor. U-M is 1-1 all-time in South Bend, defeating the Fighting Irish 13-12 on March 21, 2018.

Opponent Preview

Notre Dame enters as the No. 16 team in the country and is 1-3 so far this season. The Irish opened their season with a 24-2 win over Detroit Mercy but have fallen in close matchups to No. 3 Georgetown, No. 1 Maryland and No. 10 Ohio State. Per Lacrosse Reference, their schedule is ranked as the second-most difficult in the country.

In a ranked matchup against the Buckeyes, the two teams traded goals for most of the afternoon with the deficit never exceeding four goals. Despite scoring three goals in less than 90 seconds during the third quarter to bring the score to 8-7, Notre Dame was unable to complete the comeback and lost by a final score of 14-11. The Irish were led by Pat Kavanagh and Eric Dobson, who each scored three points (two goals and one assist). Freshman faceoff man Will Lynch went 12-28 at the dot, and junior Liam Entenmann had 11 saves in goal.

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