April 6, 2003
Columbus, Ohio – The 12th-ranked Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team had its two-game win streak snapped on Sunday afternoon as the Irish dropped an 11-5 decision on the road at No. 19 Ohio State in a Great Western Lacrosse League matchup. With the loss, Notre Dame falls to 5-4 overall and 1-1 in GWLL play, while the Buckeyes extend their win streak to four games and improved to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in league play.
Ohio State used a strong defensive effort to hold Notre Dame to just one goal in the second half. Sophomore Brian Giordano (Princeton, N.J.) scored the Irish’s lone goal of the second half with 12:19 remaining in the third quarter to tie the game for the fourth time at 5-5. Following that score, the Buckeyes tallied six unanswered goals to snap a three-game losing streak to the visitors.
Notre Dame entered the game having won 18 of the 25 previous meetings between the two schools and 12 of the last 13 contests. The last time an Irish team was defeated by Ohio State was in 1999 when it dropped a 5-4 decision to the Buckeyes in Columbus.
Curtis Smith, Anthony Gilardi and Tom Randisi all tallied three goals in the victory for the home team, while junior Dan Berger (Phoenix. Md.) netted two goals for the Irish. Freshman Patrick Walsh (Wantagh, N.Y.) netted a goal and dished off three assists, while another rookie Brian Hubschmann (Short Hills, N.J.) and Giordano scored the other two goals.
Notre Dame led 3-1 after the first quarter. Gilardi gave the Buckeyes and early 1-0 lead, but then the Irish scored three consecutive goals in the final 8:23 of the quarter. Berger scored at the 8:23 mark and then Hubschmann netted his lone goal of the game at 7:27, while Berger finished off the first-period scoring with a goal at the 1:07 mark. All three scores came off assists from Walsh.
Smith scored two goals nine seconds apart at the 11:52 and 11:41 marks of the second quarter to tie the game at 3-3 before Walsh’s goal at 10:04 put the Irish back in front 4-3. Randisi’s back-to-back unassisted goals at the 7:55 and 5:25 marks put Ohio State up 5-4 at the intermission.
Junior Stewart Crosland (Bethesda, Md.) played all 60 minutes in goal and finished with 18 saves, while Tony Russo went the distance in goal for the Buckeyes and stopped 11 shots.
Notre Dame will be in action at home twice against GWLL foes during the upcoming week as the Irish play host to Butler on Thursday, April 10 for a 3:30 p.m. start and then entertain Air Force on Saturday, April 12 at 1:00 p.m.