Notre Dame not taking time to enjoy the silence
Notre Dame’s 8-5 upset of No. 6 seed Princeton in the first round of the NCAA tournament went a long way toward silencing its critics, many of whom cast doubt and aspersions on the team’s 7-6 record and late collapse, which still earned the school an at-large bid to the tournament.
But if coach Kevin Corrigan is feeling a certain sense to gloat, he’s avoiding taking that road.
"I don’t know that anything’s going to satisfy that feeling of the people who are concerned about that," he said. "I can’t worry about that. I’ve been on both sides of that one, and people who are disappointed about not getting in probably feel like that could’ve been them when they see that win. They’re disappointed, and understandably so, but I’m not too worried about that."
Which is why Corrigan is funneling all of his focus on the Fighting Irish’s next opponent, No. 3 seed Maryland, in the quarterfinals Saturday at Princeton. It’s a rematch of last year’s NCAA tournament first-round contest that the Terps won, 7-3, in South Bend, Ind.
That victory ended Notre Dame’s 15-0 season and renewed criticism of the team’s schedule. So the players have a little sense of payback on their minds, right?
"That was last year’s team," Corrigan said. "Everybody who was on that team last year certainly remembers the feeling of disappointment. But honestly, I think the disappointment was so much more in ourselves than anyone else. We just didn’t feel like we played our best game. Whether you win or lose, you want to feel like you went out and played your best game and just got beat because you didn’t have enough that day. We didn’t feel very good about that. We didn’t feel like we played great."
Many observers anticipate Maryland winning again and moving onto the Final Four. Corrigan said the Fighting Irish don’t duck the underdog label.
"We’re pretty honest about who we are and who we aren’t," he said. "If we’re the underdogs, we’ve earned it. We lost six games this year. I don’t think it’s unfair to call us the underdogs. But our guys also feel like we can be a pretty good lacrosse team, and they’re excited for the opportunity to prove that to people."
