Feb. 11, 2018
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By: Robby Hamman
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – No. 6/6 Notre Dame (1-0) outscored Detroit Mercy (0-1) 5-1 in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s season opener to come away with a 10-7 victory over the Titans in Loftus Sports Center. The Irish extended their program-record streak of wins in openers to 16 consecutive games.
Sophomore midfielder Bryan Costabile was the difference maker for Notre Dame, scoring a career-high five goals and adding a personal-best two assists to finish with seven points. Senior attackman Mikey Wynne added two goals while junior Ryder Garnsey, senior Brendan Collins and Brendan Gleason each added one.
Freshman goalkeeper Matt Schmidt impressed in his collegiate debut, making nine saves to hold off the Titans.
How It Happened
Both teams got off to rocky starts to open the game, as neither side was able to establish any type of rhythm in the opening minutes. Costabile scored the game’s opener off a feed from Gleason for Notre Dame’s first goal of the season with just under six minutes left in the first quarter. Both sides added a goal before the first 15 minutes concluded and the Irish led 2-1 after the first.
Costabile managed to tack on two more goals in the second stanza to complete his first-half hat-trick but Detroit managed to capitalize on a number of Notre Dame miscues to tie the game at 4-4 heading into the halftime break.
The visitors carried their momentum into the third quarter, scoring the first two goals to open up a 6-4 advantage, their first lead of the afternoon. The Irish responded as Wynne cut Detroit’s lead in half with his second score of the game to make the score 6-5 in favor of the Titans heading to the fourth.
Notre Dame was locked in from the first faceoff of the fourth quarter, as the Irish attack imposed its will on the Detroit defense. Gleason scored less than a minute into the final frame to level the score at 6-6. Collins then got into the scoring column, slotting a shot through the legs of the Titan goalkeeper to put Notre Dame back in front at 7-6 with a little more than 10 minutes left in the game.
Notre Dame then found the back of the net three more times in a span of 3:25 to open a four-goal advantage before Detroit scored the final goal of the game to make the final 10-7.
Notre Dame Player Of The Game
Costabile was clinical in his shooting on Sunday, beating the goalkeeper five times on nine shots to account for half of Notre Dame’s goals. The sophomore’s previous career high for goals in a game was three. Costabile also dished out two assists to total seven points.
Stat Of The Game
Notre Dame won 13-of-20 faceoffs against Detroit in the opener. Senior John Travisano, Jr., took the majority of attempts at the X, finishing 10-of-17.
Notre Dame Notes
- With the win, the Irish are now 3-0 against the Titans in the series.
- Notre Dame is now 25-5 in season openers under Baumer Family Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Kevin Corrigan and 30-7 in program history.
- The Irish improve to 34-5 in games played in the month of February during Corrigan’s tenure.
- Over the last four seasons, Notre Dame is 8-0 when playing indoors.
- Costabile recorded the second hat trick of his career with the five-goal performance.
- Schmidt made nine saves in his collegiate debut.
- Travisano scooped up a game-high four ground balls.
- Freshmen Arden Cohen and Matt Schmidt made starts in the first game of their collegiate careers.
Up Next
The Irish are off next weekend before hosting Richmond at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra/ESPN3 via the Watch ESPN app.
— ND —
The University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team pursues excellence on and off the field through the three pillars in which the program is built: Character, Culture & Community. These three foundational values guide the promise of the program, which is to provide its student-athletes with the most compelling and enriching experience in all of college athletics. Through academics, competition, service and travel, the program aims to immerse its players in situations that enhance their student-athlete experience to help them become the people, students and teammates they aspire to be.
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