Looking at Notre Dame’s Four Class of 2024 Signees from Conn.
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In 2023, Notre Dame and head coach Kevin Corrigan finally broke through and brought the program’s first national championship to South Bend. The roster that finally got it done was built on a mix of talent from hotbeds and non-traditional…
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Continue ReadingIn 2023, Notre Dame and head coach Kevin Corrigan finally broke through and brought the program’s first national championship to South Bend. The roster that finally got it done was built on a mix of talent from hotbeds and non-traditional lacrosse markets.
Stars Pat and Chris Kavanagh, along with goaltender Liam Entenmann, are from Notre Dame’s Long Island pipeline, but along with the usual suspects, recruits came from emerging markets. All-American midfielder Eric Dobson is from Florida. Jake Taylor, who scored one of the most spectacular goals of Final Four weekend, is from Colorado. Ben Ramsey, who emerged as a top defensive midfielder in the country, is from California.
A state that is starting to appear more and more on the Notre Dame roster is Connecticut. Brothers Jeffrey and Thomas Ricciardelli, a pair of former five-star recruits, are from New Canaan and played at Taft. Jake Sommer and Will Donovan (Brunswick School) are from Wilton and Greenwich, respectively, and are entering their sophomore years with the Irish. That pipeline continues, as four players from public schools in Connecticut have signed with the Irish.
Brady Pokorny Brady Pokorny 6'0" | A | Left Hand Darien | 2024 #7 Nation CT , attack
The lefty, who was ranked 7th in last summer’s rankings, has been a starter since his freshman year. In a town like Darien, being a varsity starter as a freshman doesn’t happen more than once every several years. Pokorny has a flair for both the dramatic and the spectacular. Last season, he hit a buzzer-beater that knocked off a Brunswick team that entered that public vs. private showdown as the No. 1 team in the country. He has remarkably skilled hands, scoring goals in tight with defenders draped all over him, but he can also score from range. Early in his career he shared the field with a loaded offense and was a smart and efficient off-ball scorer. As a junior, he took the reins as the Blue Wave’s lead dodger and initiator, doing much more ball-carrying. Pokorny does it all, and he can do it with behind-the-back and around-the-world goals while he’s at it. Early at Notre Dame, Pokorny could be most effective as a scorer off-ball, showing off the hands and skills that got him on the field as a freshman at Darien.
Chris Reinhardt Chris Reinhardt 6'3" | 195 lbs | M | Right Hand Taft PG, Ridgefield | 2024 CT , midfield
Originally a Lafayette commit in the Class of 2023, the Ridgefield graduate is spending a PG year at Taft, a familiar recruiting destination for the Irish. Reinhardt is a tower of a midfielder at 6’3, 200 lbs. Physically, he’s built like the type of midfielder that Corrigan has loved having on the team for years, from Sergio Perkovic to Dobson. Reinhardt is a natural righty, and is at his best creating from the high righty wing. While in younger years, Reinhardt would sometimes force the issue to get to his right across the top, but in recent years he’s developed his other dodging skills from the spot and become versatile and dangerous. He still loves to get the righty sweep, but if defenders overplay him to take it away, he’s developed a lefty shot down the alley, or a face dodge to get underneath his man and score with a well-placed shot rather than his typical overhand heat.
Ben Burmeister Ben Burmeister 6'3" | M | Right Hand Staples | 2024 CT , midfield
Burmeister had to wait his turn behind loaded classes at Staples, but got the opportunity to be the lead weapon at midfield last spring and ran with it, taking home first team All-FCIAC, All-State, and All-American honors. Like Reinhardt, Burmeister is physically overpowering at 6’3, 190 lbs, fitting the Irish mold of a big, powerful midfielder with a cannon of a shot. While Reinhardt does his best on sweeping dodges, Burmeister wants to get a running start downhill and come at the defense like a freight train. He hides his stick well on alley dodges, and goalies have a hard time picking up his shot from multiple release points, even on the run. Burmeister can also play a post-up game from the low wing. When he identifies a significant physical advantage over his man, he takes him to the block and backs toward the goal like a power forward guarded by a shooting guard on a switch.
Matthew Jeffery Matthew Jeffery 5'11" | M | Left Hand Cheshire | 2024 #2 Nation CT , midfield
Considered by many to be the top high school player in the country, Jeffery is an elite athlete. So much so that following his visit to Notre Dame, Jeffery announced he also intends to play football for the Irish. A week ago on Thanksgiving in a high school football game, Jeffery had three touchdowns and three interceptions. Jeffery does it all. Last season, he totaled a whopping 97 points on 55 goals and 42 assists. That includes six goals and two assists in the state title game, which Cheshire won 18-3. As a dodger, his first step has an explosion to it that lets him separate almost instantly from his defender. He is comfortable running out of the box as a midfielder to dodge downhill, and can be just as effective behind the goal as an attackman or out of the invert. After being a left-hand dominant player earlier in his career, he’s become more of a true two-handed dodger who can be effective with either hand. Because he has so many ways to beat you, he’s brutally difficult to scout against. Last season some teams sent a double to him the moment he got possession, regardless of whether or not he was dodging, in an effort to simply make someone else handle the ball and trigger the offense. Even still, a Jeffery-led Cheshire squad steamrolled through Class M a year ago, and the Rams look poised to do it again. At Notre Dame, Jeffery can fit in where needed. When he gets to South Bend, Pat Kavanagh will have graduated, and the Irish will need a new playmaker. Jeffery will get there just in time.