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Syracuse Heads To South Bend For a Showdown With Notre Dame

Cuse.com

Coming off another thrilling victory, Syracuse (6-1, 2-0) travels to Indiana for a meeting with Notre Dame (5-1, 1-0) in an ACC showdown.

Saturday's game is also a clash between two top five ranked teams as the third-ranked Orange look to avenge last season's loss to the now top-ranked Irish.

Notre Dame battered Syracuse last year in a 17-7 win at the Carrier Dome. The Irish controlled the whole game, led by now sophomore attackman Ryder Garnsey with five goals. Garnsey leads Notre Dame again this year with 14 goals and 14 assists. Those marks are best on the team and have him at twelfth nationally  in points per game. 

SU @ ND begins at noon. Countdown to Faceoff gets underway at 11:30 on 88.3 FM WAER.

The man who will be tasked with stopping Garnsey is 'Cuse's redshirt-senior goalie Evan Malloy. Former Syracuse goalie Warren Hill was pulled last year against Notre Dame during the blowout and Malloy has had the starting role since. He has been very successful since taking over, posting a 13-3 record spanning the two seasons. 

Not to be outdone, the Irish counter with a strong defense of its own. Notre Dame ranks eighth in the country in terms of goals against per game. The very veteran group is led by senior goalie Shane Doss.

If there is one area that the Orange possesses a huge advantage in this matchup, it will be on man-up opportunities. Notre Dame's man-up offense is mediocre, converting just 9 of a possible 25 chances on the year. Syracuse on the other hand has excelled in man-up situations, scoring 9 of 18 chances, good for the eighth-best rate in the nation. 

Defensively, the Irish are even worse. It ranks worst in the nation in man-down defense, surrendering 8 goals in 14 chances. Syracuse isn't as stellar as on the offensive end, but still has only allowed 7 goals in 23 man-down opportunities. If the Orange can force a few man-up opportunities, that could be the difference in the game.