It’s a little unfair to review this game after the rest of the season has shown the Irish are pretty clearly the best team in the country, but… that was apparent at the time too, right?
Tempo Free
From the official box score, a look at the tempo-free stats:
| Notre Dame 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Notre Dame | Michigan | ||
| Faceoff Wins | 17 | Faceoff Wins | 12 |
| Clearing | 17-20 | Clearing | 17-23 |
| Possessions | 43 | Possessions | 38 |
| Goals | 17 | Goals | 8 |
| Offensive Efficiency | .395 | Offensive Efficiency | .211 |
Notre Dame won the possession battle and was ruthlessly efficient on offense. Michigan’s offense wasn’t bad per se, but with most of the scoring after the game was already decided, it’s clear that they just weren’t on Notre Dame’s level.
Notes
Right, so Notre Dame is the top team in the country, and justifiably so. They did what you expect of a national power against a Michigan team that has made strides but is probably still a year away from belonging on the field with a team like this.
Delving into possession, faceoffs were relatively even until the fourth quarter. ND had a slight advantage in the second and third frames, but really sealed it with the fourth (again, when the game was already out of reach). LSM Chase Brown was the best of the bunch, winning 50% of his draws. He’s more than a defensive concession at X, and probably will continue to get significant run in games when the Wolverines don’t feel good about the matchup at X.
The transition game was the bigger disappointment. The Wolverines failed at least one clear in each quarter – and I don’t remember if I’ve ever seen them do that before. The Oosterbaan advantage in the ride was minimized as well, forcing only three failed Irish clears on 20 attempts.
Defensively, Gerald Logan actually had a nice game despite giving up 16 goals. With 16 saves, he was right at .500 against a really good Notre Dame offense (Robbie Zonino entered to make a save and allow a goal himself). He just faced a ton of rubber thanks to the possession advantage the Irish built up, pretty good shooting accuracy (34 of 44 were on cage), and the ability of ND to back up the shots that they did miss. Holding a team with 43 possessions to 44 shots isn’t bad, but against a talented squad like Notre Dame, they’re going to make the most of them.
Mikey Wynne, Matt Kavanaugh, and Conor Doyle had big days offensively. That is one heck of an attack unit, so it’s no surprise. Brother Rice alum Sergio Perkovic added two goals from the midfield, and faceoff specialist Nick Ossello had a pair of assists. In the settled defense, Michigan was able to hold their own with Notre Dame’s midfielders, but the attackmen were just too good.
For the Maize and Blue, attack Ian King notched four goals and added two assists (giving him a hand in 75% of Michigan’s eight goals), and linemate Will Meter had two goals and an assist himself. Notre Dame is more known for its strong defense than explosive offense (at least until this year), so the offensive efficiency is actually a bright sign, rather than a disappointment.
As is tradition, Michigan played a really clean game – just one penalty, albeit one that ended in an EMO goal for Notre Dame. They went 1/3 on the EMO with five Notre Dame penalties total, converting on a two-man EMO once and failing to capitalize a second time.
Elsewhere
Boxscore. Michigan recap. Photo gallery. Notre Dame recap.