College lacrosse is back. As perhaps the most anticipated season in NCAA history approaches, we’re featuring every team ranked in the Nike/US Lacrosse Preseason Top 20.

Check back to USLaxMagazine.com each weekday for new previews, scouting reports and rival analysis.

Like any other attackman, of course Griffin Westlin enjoys making opposing goalies suffer by firing shots into the back of the net. But Westlin especially craves watching a teammate score with his help.

Now a junior quarterback of the Notre Dame offense, Westlin is still in touch with his early club lacrosse days, when he became obsessed with making the pass that leads directly to a goal.

“Going back to elementary school, I always wanted to help kids who had a difficult time [scoring] by giving them an assist,” Westlin said. “I can remember games when I would feed guys 15 or 20 times, trying to get them to score their first goal of the season. It really felt just as good as scoring the goal myself. Sometimes a good feed still feels better [than a goal].”

In Westlin, the Fighting Irish believe they have the ideal straw to stir their offense in 2021. A lefty feeder out of Lebanon, N.J., Westlin left a promising impression as a first-year starter a year ago in Notre Dame’s 2-3 start to a season shortened by COVID-19.

Westlin averaged two assists in his five starts and recorded three helpers each in losses to Denver and Ohio State. In addition, he scored his first career hat trick in a blowout victory over Richmond. Westlin’s 16 points tied with Pat Kavanagh for the team lead. Westlin also collected an impressive 11 ground balls.

Kevin Corrigan, Notre Dame’s 33rd-year coach, said Westlin will not scare opponents with his decent speed or athleticism — nor does he need to. But Westlin plays and thinks the game fast, and the vision and decision-making he has shown at the Division I level clearly reflect his high school excellence at Seton Hall Prep.

A two-time US Lacrosse High School All-American, Westlin set a school career record with 348 points that included 186 goals and 162 assists. His 142 points as a senior in 2018 set a single-season program record. Westlin’s 70 assists that year was tops among all high school players from New Jersey.

“[Westlin] is not taking on people and breaking them down,” Corrigan said. “But in the flow of the game, with guys around him who understand the game, Griffin consistently gets better as the game goes on and guys like Kavanagh (10 goals in 2020) get exponentially better. Griffin understands what is an appropriate risk or not. He has a good sense of how guys play around him. He figures it out.”

“In a way, going 2-3 has pushed us forward,” said Weslin, who drew serious interest from Penn State, Penn, Loyola and Johns Hopkins, from whom Westlin de-committed in the fall of his senior year after visiting Notre Dame. “I don’t think a lot of people know how much talent and depth we have this season. I think we have something truly special.”

TOP RETURNERS

Jack Kielty, D, Gr.

Heading into his fourth consecutive season as a starter, the 6-foot-2, 208-pound Kielty is the anchor of the unit and likely a captain for the second straight year. Over his last 21 games, he has scooped 62 ground balls and caused 15 turnovers.

Griffin Westlin, A, Jr.

With Westlin diagnosing defenses and distributing the ball, look for players such as attackman Pat Kavanagh (16 points) and midfielders Morrison Mirer (four goals) and Wheaton Jackoboice (eight goals) to thrive.

Wheaton Jackoboice, Sr., M

Jackoboice’s speed charging down the alley and his finishing ability were evident last season, when he laid a hat trick on Ohio State in Notre Dame’s last game. He will present a problem for long poles on a regular basis.  

KEY ADDITION

Kyle Gallagher, FO, Gr.

Playing for his third school after two-year stints at Hofstra and Penn, Gallagher should fix Notre Dame’s recent problems gaining possessions. He has improved every year and enters his third season as one of the top FOGOs in the nation.  

ENEMY LINES

“When you think of Notre Dame, the names change but the quality doesn’t. There’s always a Kavanagh. There’s always the great goalie. There are always great defensemen. The midfielders, they’re just ridiculous. It’s only the names that change.”

NUMBERS GAME

315

Career victories earned by Corrigan, who enters his 33rd season in South Bend, where he is the longest-tenured coach in D-I and has coached the Irish to 305 wins.