In the 2014 ACC championship against Syracuse, Sergio Perkovic lowered his shoulder and pushed off a smaller defender to create a shooting lane. The then-Notre Dame freshman ripped a goal short side to give his team an early 1-0 lead.

It was Perkovic’s first of his career against Syracuse. He added another later in that game and has scored three goals his last two games against SU.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound midfielder, who can shoot 111 miles per hour, is a key to No. 1 Notre Dame’s (5-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) offense. Perkovic, a senior, has started all 54 games since he arrived at UND in 2014. He’s racked up 98 goals and 18 assists, giving him 116 points in his career. This season, he already has netted 10 goals through six games and will present a formidable matchup for No. 4 Syracuse (6-1, 2-0) on Saturday at noon in South Bend.

“There are some guys who are big and strong who kind of shy away from contact,” former UND teammate and current Denver Outlaw Matt Kavanagh said. “He’s the opposite. He loves it and uses it to his advantage.”

Growing up, size and freak athleticism gave Perkovic options. He played varsity lacrosse, basketball and football, even turning down offers to play on the gridiron at Michigan State, Illinois and Northwestern. His father, Vasko Perkovic, said Michigan and Iowa also showed interest.

In the fifth grade, he traded his hockey stick for a lacrosse stick. He developed the stick skills inherent in his game today by shooting at a net in his backyard. Sometimes, he missed and broke windows on the backside of his home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

At Brother Rice (Michigan) High School, he led the Warriors to four straight lacrosse state championships. He twice was named Player of the Year his junior and senior year of high school. At UND, Perkovic is a two-time All-American. “Embers Deli,” his father’s local restaurant, named a triple-decker sandwich “Sergio’s Pleasure,” with white or wheat toast, corned beef, Swiss cheese, coleslaw, lettuce, tomato and Russian dressing.

Despite being one of the nation’s top offensive weapons, Perkovic still returns to his old high school to train. On a recent break from school, the senior dragged his father down to the field to feed him balls on a dreary winter day. Vasko fed the Tewaaraton Award watch list honoree.

Perkovic has always worked extensively on his shot, emptying bags of balls before and after practice to get extra shots. His high school coach Rob Ambrose remembers driving by the field on the weekends and seeing Perkovic standing alone launching shots toward an empty net.

“A combination of my size and decent quickness and athleticism help me get me shot off,” Perkovic said. “That coupled with my range on my shot can separate me.”

A few weeks after the father-son training session, Perkovic texted his father around midnight to tell him about his day. He told his dad he just got back from the Notre Dame facility, where he fired around 600 balls on the cage.

“He never sits more than five minutes on the couch,” Vasko said. “Even on the floor he’s always down stretching or doing something.”

But Vasko understands that’s why his son’s shot is so lethal. When he has time and space, the 111 mile-per-hour fastball is nearly impossible for goalies to stop. Perkovic’s large frame allows him to tuck his stick behind his ear as he loads up for a shot, hiding his stick from the goalkeeper’s view. Often, goalies are left to make a last-second guess as the ball whizzes their way.

Defending his shots will pose as one of SU’s most difficult tasks come Saturday afternoon. As a freshman, he scored five goals in the second half of the NCAA tournament championship game against Duke.

Lock him off and he takes the defender out of a potential slide. Play one-on-one and his right-to-right dodge can give him space. Takeaway his right, and he will split-dodge left. Slide too soon, and he dumps the ball to a teammate for a goal.

“He runs well, has great agility and has a good IQ for the game,” UND head coach Kevin Corrigan said. “He shoots the ball well. He’s an excellent lacrosse player.”

Published on March 29, 2017 at 11:28 pm

Contact Josh: jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44