March 14, 2006
VILLANOVA, Pa. – The No. 11 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team used another strong effort from Brian Hubschmann (Short Hills, N.J./Delbarton) to down Villanova 10-7 on Tuesday afternoon at Villanova Stadium. The senior attackman netted four goals and assisted on another to help the Fighting Irish improve to 3-1 on the season, while dropping the Wildcats to 2-4.
The Irish trailed 3-2 after the first quarter of play, yet used a 5-0 second period run to take the lead for good. Freshman Ryan Hoff (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney) opened the second quarter scoring on an assist from Hubschmann to knot the game at three with 13:42 left. Notre Dame would strike less than a minute later as Hubschmann netted his third goal of the afternoon with the assist going to Pat Walsh (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh).
Walsh would then notch a score of his own, on a pass from Lucius Polk (Washington, D.C./St. Albans) at the 10:26 mark, making it a 5-3 contest. The Irish barrage continued as Matt Ryan (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley) connected off a Bill Liva (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Malvern Prep) pass to up the lead to three (6-3). Notre Dame would extend its margin to four at halftime as Hubschmann took a feed from Ryan and deposited it into the net for his fourth goal of the half.
The Wildcats put a halt to the run midway through the third period as Matt Starker scored back-to-back goals. Walsh countered the attack by netting his second of the day and his sixth of the season to give the Irish an 8-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Villanova kept pushing and would make it an 8-7 contest less than five minutes into the final period as Chris Mercer and Tim Langan, Jr. scored goals just 11 seconds apart.
Notre Dame freshman Duncan Swezey (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) then came through with his first collegiate goal, which was unassisted with 4:49 left in the game. Polk would collect his first goal of the season at the 3:08 mark to produce the final margin of 10-7.
The Fighting Irish got on the board first as Hubschmann tallied a goal just 48 seconds into contest. Following a Wildcat score, the senior attackman put the Irish up 2-1 on his second unassisted goal of the quarter. Villanova would notch the next two scores to take a 3-2 lead after the opening period.
The Fighting Irish out-shot the Wildcats 31-23, while Notre Dame goaltender Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) stopped seven of those shots. Villanova’s Joe Canuso made 11 saves on the day.
Hubschmann has now registered three straight games with four or more points for the first time in his career. He has team-highs in points (15), goals (8) and assists (7).
The Fighting Irish return to action on Saturday, March 18 as the travel to Louisville, Ky. to take on Bellarmine University. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. (ET) at Trinity High School.
Stay up-to-date on the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team by logging onto und.com or by calling the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
#11 Notre Dame (3-1) – 2 5 1 2 – 10
Villanova (2-4) – 3 0 2 2 – 7
Notre Dame Scoring:
Goals: Brian Hubschmann 4, Pat Walsh 2, Matt Ryan 1, Lucius Polk 1, Ryan Hoff 1, Duncan Swezey 1.
Assists: Brian Hubschmann 1, Bill Liva 1, Lucius Polk 1, Matt Ryan 1, Pat Walsh 1.
Villanova Scoring:
Goals: Tim Langan, Jr. 2, Matt Starker 2, Chris MacDonald 1, Andy German 1, Chris Mercer 1.
Assists: Chris MacDonald 2, Matthew Fritts 1, Andy German 1, Mike Haas 1, Greg Safran 1.
— ND —