March 8, 2014
COSTA MESA, Calif. – On a perfect California day it was an imperfect result for the University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team as the sixth-ranked Fighting Irish fell to No. 12 Denver, 10-7, in the inaugural Pacific Coast Shootout at LeBard Stadium on the campus of Orange Coast College.
Denver (4-2) jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the 6:14 mark of the opening quarter with scores from Erik Adamson, who had six goals in the game, and Jack Bobzien. Attackman Westy Hopkins put the Irish on the board with 5:21 remaining in the opening quarter, but consecutive tallies from Adamson and a man-up deposit from Zach Miller gave the Pioneers a 5-1 advantage just over two minutes into the second period.
Notre Dame (2-2) responded with a 3-0 run of its own. Midfielder Trevor Brosco found the back of the net with 9:33 left in the first half and a man-up goal from fellow midfielder Sergio Perkovic 55 seconds later sliced the deficit to two (5-3). Fighting Irish attackman John Scioscia converted a man-up opportunity at the 2:26 mark of the quarter to make it just a one-goal affair. Scioscia, a senior, registered three goals and an assist on the day.
A goal from Adamson with 1:30 left in the first half gave the Pioneers a 6-4 lead at the intermission. The only score of the third quarter came from Notre Dame’s Conor Doyle with just 16 seconds remaining to make it a one-goal contest heading into the final period.
Deposits from Miller and Adamson pushed the Pioneer lead to three (8-5) early in the fourth quarter. A goal from Scioscia cut the deficit back to two with 10:30 left, but Denver regained the three-goal edge on a Wesley Berg score at the seven-minute mark.
Scioscia completed his hat trick with a man-up goal with 5:37 left, however that would be the final tally of the day for the Fighting Irish. Adamson made it a 10-7 final when he scored with just over two minutes remaining.
“Denver’s a very good team and they’re very good offensively,” Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan said. “They are patient and they take the air out of the ball and that tends to put pressure on your offense because you don’t have a lot of possessions. When we had possession, we were getting what we wanted if we didn’t turn the ball over.”
Notre Dame outshot Denver 46-29 and the Irish converted on three of their five man-up opportunities. The Fighting Irish also dominated the faceoff competition as senior Liam O’Connor was 15 of 21.
Freshman goalie Shane Doss made his first career start for the Fighting Irish and made eight saves. Denver’s Ryan LaPlante made 10 saves in the first half, while Jamie Faus had seven stops in the second stanza.
“We outshot them, but just missed the goal on too many of them,” Corrigan said. “Their goalies played very well; they had 17 saves. We had 24 shots on goal, which was about half of our shot total. You can’t miss a goal half the time you’re shooting it. We missed the goal on some of our better opportunities.”
Notre Dame returns to Atlantic Coast Conference action next Sunday when No. 2 Virginia visits Arlotta Stadium. Faceoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Pacific Coast Shootout
March 8, 2014
LeBard Stadium – Costa Mesa, Calif.
#12 Denver (4-2) – 3 3 0 4 – 10
#6 Notre Dame (2-2) – 1 3 1 2 – 7
Denver (goals-assists)
Erik Adamson 6-0, Zach Miller 2-1, Wesley Berg 1-2, Jack Bobzien 1-1, Sean Cannizzaro 0-2, Jeremy Noble 0-1
Goalies: Ryan LaPlante (W, 30:00, 10 SVS, 4 GA); Jamie Faus (30:00, 3 GA, 7 SVS)
Notre Dame (goals-assists)
John Scioscia 3-1, Westy Hopkins 1-0, Conor Doyle 1-0, Sergio Perkovic 1-0, Trevor Brosco 1-0, Jim Marlatt 0-1, Will Corrigan 0-1
Goalie: Shane Doss (L, 60:00, 8 SVS, 10 GA)
— ND —