Christman Nets Game Winner As No. 6 Notre Dame Tops No. 13 Albany, 7-6

March 1, 2008

Box Score

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – A Peter Christman (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster School) goal with 23 seconds remaining in regulation gave No. 6 Notre Dame a 7-6 victory over No. 13 Albany in men’s lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon inside the Loftus Sports Center.

The win improves the Fighting Irish to 3-0 on the season and moves their program-record home winning streak to 15 games. Junior attackman Duncan Swezey (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) led the Irish with a game-high and career-high tying four goals.

For the third straight game, Notre Dame (3-0) held its opponent scoreless during the first quarter of play. The Irish used solid efforts from their starting defensemen Sean Dougherty (Malvern Pa./Malvern Prep), Ross Zimmerman (Utica, Mich./Brother Rice) and Regis McDermott (Amityville, N.Y./Chaminade) along with key saves from senior goaltender Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) to hold Albany without a goal during both the first and third quarters.

The Notre Dame offense took advantage of the stout defense by jumping out to a 4-0 lead by the early stages of the second quarter. Senior midfielder Michael Podgajny (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley) started the scoring for the Irish with a goal off a feed from Grant Krebs (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s) at the 8:52 mark of the first period. Swezey then followed with back-to-back tallies just 15 seconds apart to give Notre Dame a 3-0 lead after the opening quarter.

In the second period, Krebs put the Irish up by four with 11:37 left on the clock.

Albany (0-2) used its own 4-0 run to knot the game heading into halftime. Derek Dale put the Great Danes on the board with a man-up tally at the 8:01 mark. Matt Johnson and Mike Ammann would notch scores 53 seconds apart to slice the deficit to one (4-3). Corey Small capped off the surge as he found the back of the net with 4:17 left in the half.

The Fighting Irish regained the lead on a Swezey goal with eight minutes elapsed in the second half. That was the only scoring of the third quarter.

Notre Dame upped the advantage to two (6-4) as Swezey connected on his fourth goal, with the assist going to senior Alex Wharton (Baltimore, Md./Gilman) with 10:54 left in the fourth quarter. Small made it a 6-5 game with 9:41 on the clock and he would strike again with 50 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game before Christman deposited the game winner. A final attempt by Albany’s Jordan Levine was blocked by the Irish defense in the final seconds.

Senior midfielder Taylor Clagett (Chesapeake Beach, Md./DeMatha) dominated in faceoffs as he won 12-of-16 attempts. The Irish held a 39-24 advantage in shots. Kemp and his counterpart Brett Queener both made 11 saves.

Notre Dame is now 3-0 for the first time since the 2003 season. The Fighting Irish are back in action on Tuesday, March 4 at Villanova. Game time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. (ET) at Villanova Stadium.

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#13 Albany (0-2) – 0 4 0 2 – 6
#6 Notre Dame (3-0) – 3 1 1 2 – 7

Albany Scoring (goals-assists):
Corey Small 3-0, Derek Dale 1-3, Mike Ammann 1-0, Matt Johnson 1-0, Steve Ammann 0-1, Tyler Endres 0-1, Joe Pompo 0-1; Goaltender: Brett Queener (60:00, 11 saves, 7 GA)

Notre Dame Scoring (goals-assists):
Duncan Swezey 4-0, Grant Krebs 1-1, Michael Podgajny 1-0, Peter Christman 1-0, Alex Wharton 0-1; Goaltender: Joey Kemp (60:00, 11 saves, 6 GA)

— ND —