April 15, 2012
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The sixth-ranked Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team overcame a four-goal halftime deficit to top Georgetown 9-7 in BIG EAST action on Sunday afternoon at the Multi-Sport Field. The victory upped the Fighting Irish win streak to eight games.
Notre Dame (9-1, 4-0) trailed 5-1 at halftime, yet outscored Georgetown 8-2 in the second half, including six straight tallies to open the stanza. The Fighting Irish defense allowed just two goals in the final 36:47 of the game. Junior goalie John Kemp made 13 saves for the Irish.
Senior midfielder Eric Keppeler paced the Irish offense with two goals, which matched a career-high total. Fellow seniors Sean Rogers and Max Pfeifer both had one goal and one assist, while freshman attackman Conor Doyle had two assists.
Notre Dame’s second-half surge started on a goal from sophomore attackman Ryan Mix with 9:23 left in the third quarter. Rogers assisted on the score. The Irish cut the Hoya lead to two (5-3) just over a minute later as sophomore attackman Westy Hopkins found the back of the net.
A goal from long-stick midfielder Bobby Smith with one second left in the third quarter made it a 5-4 affair after three periods of play. It was the first career goal for the Irish senior.
Pfeifer, a midfielder, knotted the contest (5-5) just over a minute into the final period. The Irish grabbed their first lead of the game with 12:35 left in regulation on a man-up goal from sophomore midfielder Jim Marlatt. Doyle had the assist.
Notre Dame went up by two (7-5) on Keppeler’s second goal of the afternoon, which came with 11:08 showing on the clock in the fourth quarter.
Georgetown (5-6, 1-3) sliced the Irish lead to one (7-6) with 8:13 left on a goal from Jason McFadden. The tally snapped the Hoyas scoreless drought, which reached exactly 30 minutes in length.
Junior midfielder Ryan Foley pushed the Fighting Irish advantage back to two (8-6) at the 4:15 mark. Rogers, an attackman, gave Notre Dame its largest lead of the afternoon (9-6) with 1:52 left in the contest. Georgetown’s Zack Angel, who led the Hoyas with two goals, scored with 57 seconds left to produce the final outcome.
“We cashed in our chances in the second half and we didn’t do that in the first half,” said Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan. “We had some chances in the first quarter, but didn’t cash them in. Our poise was tremendous in the second half. It was a great second half for us against a good Georgetown team that really needed to win. It’s always tough to play against a team that really needs a win.”
Georgetown struck first two minutes into the contest on a Francis McDonough goal. Keppeler evened things up at the 6:16 mark of the first quarter as he scored off a pass from Steve Murphy.
The Hoyas finished the first half on a 4-0 run. Notre Dame is 3-0 this season when trailing at halftime. The Irish defense has allowed just five second-half goals in the last three games.
Notre Dame outshot Georgetown 39-33. The Hoyas held an 11-8 advantage in faceoffs. Georgetown goalie Matt Winter played 57:57 between the pipes and made 10 saves while allowing all nine Notre Dame goals. The Irish were 1-for-6 in man-up opportunities, while Georgetown was 0-for-3.
The Fighting Irish return to action Saturday at Villanova. The BIG EAST contest is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. (ET) in Villanova, Pa. The game will be broadcast by ESPNU.
April 15, 2012
Multi-Sport Field – Washington, D.C.
#6 Notre Dame (9-1, 4-0) 1 0 3 5 – 9
Georgetown (5-6, 1-3) 2 3 0 2 – 7
Notre Dame Scoring (goals-assists):
Eric Keppeler 2-0, Sean Rogers 1-1, Max Pfeifer 1-1, Westy Hopkins 1-0, Ryan Foley 1-0, Jim Marlatt 1-0, Bobby Smith 1-0, Ryan Mix 1-0, Conor Doyle 0-2, Steve Murphy 0-1; Goaltender: John Kemp (W, 60:00, 13 saves, 7 GA)
Georgetown Scoring (goals-assists):
Zack Angel 2-0, Zac Guy 1-1, Jason McFadden 1-1, Travis Comeau 1-0, Francis McDonough 1-0, Gerry Reilly 1-0, Fountain 0-1; Goaltenders: Matt Winter (L, 57:57, 10 saves, 9 GA); CT Fisher (2:03, 0 saves, 0 GA)
— ND —