March 29, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A 15-goal outburst in the first half helped the seventh-ranked Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team to a 19-7 victory at Bellarmine on Saturday afternoon at Owsley B. Stadium. The contest was the Great Western Lacrosse League opener for both teams. Senior midfielder Michael Podgajny (Ridley Park, Pa./Ridley) paced the Fighting Irish with a career-high tying four goals.
Notre Dame (7-1) used a total of 13 goalscorers in the game to improve to 14-1 all-time in GWLL openers. Sophomore midfielder Grant Krebs (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s) notched the first hat trick of his Irish career, while junior midfielder Peter Christman (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster School) matched a career-best total with two goals.
The 19 goals tied a season-high output for the Fighting Irish, who have reached double-figures in scoring in five games this season. Notre Dame’s defense has held opponents to seven goals or fewer in six contests. Senior goaltender Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep) picked up the win and is now the school’s record holder in that category with 33 career victories.
Bellarmine (6-3) got on the board first as Andrew Wolford scored with 12:46 remaining in the first quarter. Wolford and Adam Gardner led the Knights with two goals apiece.
The Irish used goals from Neal Hicks (Atlanta, Ga./The Lovett School) and Krebs to take a 2-1 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the opening period. Bellarmine struck back with a tally from Gardner to even things up before Notre Dame scored the game’s next five goals.
Podgajny began the run as he collected his first score of the game with 6:59 remaining on the clock in the period and Krebs followed with a man-up goal to give the Irish a 4-2 lead after the first quarter. Back-to-back goals from Podgajny kept the surge going in the second quarter. Senior attackman Alex Wharton (Baltimore, Md./Gilman), who had a team-high three assists on the afternoon, capped off the run with a score at the 12:49 mark of the period.
The Knights cut the deficit to four (7-3) with a tally from Gardner, yet the Irish would end the first half on an 8-0 run to take a commanding 15-3 lead into halftime.
Senior midfielder and faceoff specialist Taylor Clagett (Chesapeake Beach, Md./DeMatha) began the streak as he recorded his second goal of the season with 9:49 left in the half. Clagett also went 15-for-25 in the faceoff X against the Knights.
A man-up goal from Christman and scores from freshman Zach Brenneman (East Hampton, N.Y./East Hampton) and Krebs gave Notre Dame an 11-3 advantage with just under six minutes remaining in the stanza. The final four goals of the first half came from Christman, sophomore Matt Ciambella (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park), freshman Andrew Irving (McLean, Va./The Hotchkiss School) and junior Ryan Hoff (Baldwin, Md./Dulaney). The goal from Irving was his first of the season, while Hoff now has a team-high 19 goals.
Bellarmine netted the first two goals of the second half before junior attackman Duncan Swezey (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) got into the scoring column to give the Irish a 16-5 lead after three quarters of play. Podgajny collected his fourth goal of the game to put the Fighting Irish up by eight (17-5) in the early stages of the fourth period.
Following two goals from the Knights, Irish freshmen Tom Connor (Greenwich, Conn./Brunswick School) and Patrick Maloney (Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Prep) both scored their first goal of the season to make it a 19-7 final in favor of Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish held a 37-32 advantage in shots. Kemp made 10 saves on the day and surrendered five goals, while sophomore Brendan Moore (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) played the final 7:08 in goal and made three stops and allowed two goals. David Hass was one of three goaltenders used by the Knights. He picked up the loss by giving up nine goals, while making four saves in 22 minutes of action.
Notre Dame is back in action next Saturday (April 5) with a GWLL showdown against Denver at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. Game time is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. (CT).
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.
#7 Notre Dame (7-1) – 4 11 1 3 – 19
Bellarmine (6-3) – 2 1 2 2 – 7
Notre Dame Scoring (goals-assists):
Michael Podgajny 4-0, Grant Krebs 3-1, Peter Christman 2-0, Alex Wharton 1-3, Ryan Hoff 1-1, Taylor Clagett 1-1, Duncan Swezey 1-0, Zach Brenneman 1-0, Tom Connor 1-0, Matt Ciambella 1-0, Andrew Irving 1-0, Patrick Maloney 1-0, Neal Hicks 1-0, Kelly McKenna 0-1, Sloan Smith 0-1; Goaltenders: Joey Kemp (W, 52:52, 10 saves, 5 GA), Brendan Moore (7:08, 3 saves, 2 GA)
Bellarmine Scoring (goals-assists):
Adam Gardner 2-1, Andrew Wolford 2-0, Matt Holland 1-2, Derek Hopcroft 1-1, Shane Andersen 1-0, Bryan Johnson 0-1, Adam Lukanchoff 0-1; Goaltenders: David Haas (L, 22:00, 4 saves, 9 GA), Scott Bowles (8:00, 0 saves, 6 GA), Justin Burke (30:00, 3 saves, 4 GA)