not unexpected, but also not fun in the slightest
#9 Notre Dame scored on their 5th, 9th, and 14th shots of the first half and then tacked on two more goals after intermission on Sunday.
Yep, no fun. Your final from South Bend: Fighting Irish 5, Marquette 0. The Golden Eagles drop to 1-5-1 on the season after getting outshot 14-2 in the first half and 11-6 in the final 45 minutes.
I could recap this match, but I don’t particularly see the point. Notre Dame was likely to do something like this to Marquette based on what the two teams had done so far this season, and there’s nothing newsworthy about the result.
There is, however, something newsworthy about the comments that head coach Chris Allen made after the match. This is in the official Marquette recap/press release on the match, not something he said to the Marquette Wire or something after the afternoon in Indiana had concluded:
“A very disappointing result,” head coach Chris Allen said. ”When you are playing one of the top teams in the country at their place, you have to win the intangibles like energy, heart, toughness, belief, effort, passion, etc.
“Unfortunately, we did not display the fighting spirit necessary to pull off an upset and consequently were first-hand witnesses to Notre Dame’s athleticism, skill and execution,” Allen added. “The hope is that we learn some valuable lessons from this embarrassing loss.”
That may be the harshest criticism I’ve ever seen from a head coach in the official team recap. Allen called it both disappointing and embarrassing, and said that his team didn’t match or exceed Notre Dame’s energy, heart, toughness, belief, or passion.
It’s a lot.
Up Next: Allen’s players get a chance to respond to his critique of their attitude and play on Thursday when they take the field in the front half of a doubleheader with the men’s team. The women’s team taking on Mercyhurst as the Lakers play their first ever season of Division 1 competition with first kick scheduled for 5pm Central time. Mercyhurst is 0-6-0 on the year and have scored just one time since a 6-2 loss to Duquesne in their opener. They’re coming off a 7-0 loss to Pitt on Sunday afternoon.