No. 10 Syracuse (4-3, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) plays host to No. 7 Notre Dame (5-2, 1-0) on Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. The Orange is coming off a 15-14 road win over then-No. 3 Duke, securing SU a spot in the ACC Tournament. When the two teams met last season in South Bend, Indiana, the Orange knocked off the then-No. 1 Irish.

See what our beat writers think of Saturday’s top-10 matchup.

Charlie DiSturco
UNDer fire
Notre Dame 11, Syracuse 9

Despite being killed in faceoffs last week, Syracuse managed to pull off a huge win on the road against Duke. The Orange showed its potential when everything is put together. The win put the Orange in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s driver’s seat — at least for now. Notre Dame meanwhile has allowed double-digit goals twice all season. And both times, UND lost those games.

But Syracuse’s offense has been so inconsistent, as seen in its three-goal output against Albany a week after 21 goals against Binghamton. Tack on the fact that SU faceoff specialist Danny Varello is slumping and UND’s John Travisano Jr. is having a bounce-back year, and the Fighting Irish have the advantage. Notre Dame also returns four of its five top scorers from last year, while Syracuse’s young offense is still finding its place. There’s too much on UND’s side for this ACC matchup.

Matt Liberman
St. Paddy’s Day was last week
Syracuse 11, Notre Dame 10

SU and Notre Dame are practically polar opposites. Notre Dame has been a model of consistency, not necessarily in the best way, but consistent nonetheless. Notre Dame has never scored fewer than nine goals or more than 12 this season. Meanwhile its opponents have all fallen between seven and 13.

With the Orange, we have a season-high 21-goal offensive outburst and three-goal duds as well as a defense that has limited an opponent to four goals, but also given up 18.

Coming off a 15-goal performance down in Durham, North Carolina, though, SU showed an ability to shoot efficiently and protect the ball. If the Orange can do the same at home against the Fighting Irish, it should send Notre Dame packing.

Josh Schafer
It takes two
Syracuse 14, Notre Dame 12

The Orange has won back-to-back games just once this season. That changes Saturday night. Syracuse put together its most impressive offensive performance of the season against a Top 5 defense last weekend in Durham. It’s hard to say that momentum doesn’t carry over against Notre Dame, which sits 21st in the country in scoring defense with nine goals allowed per game. Couple that with Notre Dame’s conference-worst 10.3 goals per game and SU appears to have the advantage. If Syracuse limits itself to fewer than 10 turnovers again this Saturday, expect a repeat of the Duke game and a second-straight win for John Desko and company.

Published on March 28, 2018 at 8:51 pm