May 6, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 15 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team erupted for a season-high point total in a 19-7 dominating Great Western Lacrosse League victory over Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon at Moose Krause Stadium. Four different Irish players netted hat tricks, including senior attackman Brian Hubschmann (Shorts Hills, N.J./Delbarton), who also had two assists for a career-high tying six points. Joining Hubschmann with six points was his classmate Pat Walsh (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) as he notched two goals and four assists. The game was the regular season finale for both squads.
Notre Dame (10-4, 3-2) came out on fire to take a 10-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. Senior Matt Karweck (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan Academy) began the scoring with a tally just 33 seconds into the game and then freshman Ryan Hoff (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney) made it 2-0 at the 13:03 mark. Both Karweck and Hoff collected hat tricks on the day, as did sophomore Michael Podgajny (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley).
Quinnipiac (7-6, 1-4) made it 2-1 on an Eric Trama goal, then Karweck fed Walsh to make it 3-1 less than five minutes into the game. Trama responded with his second goal to slice the deficit to one, however that would be as close as the Bobcats would get as Notre Dame went on an 11-0 run, which spanned over 26 minutes, to take command of the contest and cruise to victory.
Walsh ignited the surge with a goal at the 8:19 mark of the first quarter and then the floodgates opened as the Irish netted six more goals in the final eight minutes of the quarter. Hubschmann and Bill Liva (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Malvern Prep) scored to make it 6-2 and then Hoff added his second score of the quarter before Podgajny tallied back-to-back goals. Liva also dished out three assists in the game to collect a career-high four points. Karweck deposited the last score of the period to make it 10-2.
The run continued into the second quarter with two goals from Hubschmann, who totaled six points for the second straight game, and single tallies from Karweck and Matt Ryan (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley). Notre Dame took a 14-2 lead into the half. The first half output surpassed a season-high total for the Irish. Notre Dame’s previous high-water mark in goals this season came in an 11-5 win over Brown on March 29. The 19 goals for the game were the most since a 22-6 victory over Butler last season. The win also gave Notre Dame a perfect 6-0 mark at home this season, the first undefeated home mark for the Irish since the 2001 campaign.
Sophomore goaltender Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) only played the first half to collect his 10th win of the season for the Fighting Irish. He made six saves in 30 minutes of action. Freshman Scott Rodgers (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) played the third quarter, making two saves and allowing two goals, while senior Daniel Hickey (Garden City, N.Y./Chaminade) also made two stops and allowed three tallies in the final period.
The Bobcats put a halt to the Irish run with three minutes elapsed in the second half on a goal from Tucker Prudden. Hubschmann put the Irish lead back up to 12 (15-3) just 23 seconds later. Prudden then notched his second tally before the Notre Dame ran off four unanswered from Podgajny, Ryan Cunn (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip), Duncan Swezey (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and Hoff to end the third quarter with a 19-4 lead.
Quinnipiac registered three fourth quarter goals to make it a 19-7 final.
Notre Dame out-shot Quinnipiac 48-29 and also held a 57-36 advantage in groundballs. The Irish went 20-30 in faceoffs and they were successful in 16 of 22 clears compared to Quinnipiac’s 16-24 mark.
The Irish will now wait to hear if they will be among the field of 16 in the NCAA Tournament as the 2006 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Selection Show will be aired live this Sunday, May 7 at 8:30 p.m. on ESPNews.
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. You can also sign up to receive text message score updates through Irish Alert. Log onto und.com for more details.
Quinnipiac (7-6, 1-4) – 2 0 2 3 – 7
#15 Notre Dame (10-4, 3-2) – 10 4 5 0 – 19
Quinnipiac Scoring:
Goals: Tucker Prudden 3, Eric Trama 1, Sean McBride 1, Jon D’Ascoli 1, Jimmy Montana 1
Assists: Chris Griffin 2, Eddie Morley 1, Josh Murray 1, Eric Trama 1
Notre Dame Scoring:
Goals: Brian Hubschmann 4, Michael Podgajny 3, Ryan Hoff 3, Matt Karweck 3, Pat Walsh 2, Bill Liva 1, Matt Ryan 1, Duncan Swezey 1, Ryan Cunn 1.
Assists: Pat Walsh 4, Bill Liva 3, Brian Hubschmann 2, Ryan Hoff 1, Matt Karweck 1, Michael Podgajny 1, Matt Ryan 1, Duncan Swezey 1.
— ND —