NCAA Lacrosse Tournament 2015: Is Top-Seeded Notre Dame Poised for Early Exit?

After a successful regular season, Notre Dame definitely earned the top seed in this year's NCAA Division I lacrosse tournament.

Problem is, the Fighting Irish have played the role of Goliath before, and it ended with a stone to the forehead.

In last month's ACC tournament opener, bottom-seeded Duke exposed nearly every UND weakness en route to a 13-8 victory. Despite being heavily favored, Notre Dame was completely outplayed in the first half and didn't do enough in the second to make up for it.

"We played as though it was going to be easy. It wasn’t easy, we didn’t expect it to be," Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan said after the loss, per Lacrosse Magazine. "You don’t play a top six team and expect it to be easy."

Notre Dame got a final tune-up last weekend against Army, but the lopsided loss to Duke is undoubtedly still haunting Corrigon and Co. The Blue Devils showed the nation exactly how to slow down Notre Dame's fast-paced offense, how to attack its defense and how to shut down star Matt Kavanagh.

Thus, being placed in an underrated-yet-deadly side of the NCAA bracket is even more daunting for the Irish. ND gets a favorable matchup against Towson in the first round, but facing Cornell or SUNY Albany in the quarterfinals could be a trap game.

Cornell is a tougher team than it looks on paper and could pose problems for the Irish. The Big Red have an impressive scoring duo in Connor Buczek and Matt Donovan, and when paired with star goalie Christian Knight and their stingy defense, the Big Red are an upset waiting to happen for overconfident top seeds.

On the other hand, Albany could be just as much—if not more—of a threat as Cornell. Despite losing to the Big Red earlier this season, the Great Danes have come together at the right time, winning 13 of their last 14.

Mike Groll/Associated Press

Albany's star attackman, Lyle Thompson, recently became D-I's all-time leading scorer, and not by accident. Thompson is widely considered the favorite to win the Tewaaraton Award—the Heisman of lacrosse—and he makes Albany one of the biggest dark-horse threats in the tournament.

Both Cornell and Albany have the high-powered offense that can attack Notre Dame in a Duke-like fashion. Furthermore, Cornell's defense and Albany's overlooked-but-deadly group of middies could prove to be a huge challenge for the Irish.

But even if Notre Dame makes it past the quarterfinals and earns a trip to the Final Four, the awaiting matchup will be even tougher. It will likely earn a rematch with Denver, who edged the Irish earlier this season.

There isn't much doubt that Notre Dame earned the nation's top ranking. But the road to the championship won't be easy, and the Irish may be sent home packing before too long.

Bracket Predictions

NCAA.com

Samuel Benson is a featured columnist for college lacrosse. Contact him at [e-mail].