Irish Travel To Pennsylvania Saturday

March 3, 2000

NOTRE DAME, IND. — After opening up the 2000 campaign with an impressive 10-4 victory at home against Penn State, the 12th-ranked Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team (1-0) travels to Philadelphia, Pa., to take on the Pennsylvania Quakers on Saturday, March 4 at 1:00 p.m.

The contest is the first of three straight road games for the Irish and the season opener for the Quakers. The game marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Notre Dame is ranked 12th in the Inside Lacrosse poll, while Pennsylvania is in the also receiving votes category.

RECAP OF PENN STATE GAME – Notre Dame used a balanced scoring attack and stifling defense as the Irish defeated the Nittany Lions in the season opener. Eight different Irish players scored in the contest as Notre Dame limited the Nittany Lions to just one second-half goal.

The Irish were helped by an 8-0 run late in the second quarter until late in the quarter which saw Notre Dame outscore the visitors 8-1 in the second half. Tom Glatzel (Ellicott City, Md.) and Jon Harvey (Winchester, Mass.) scored twice in the victory.

Notre Dame jumped out to an early 1-0 on sophomore attack’s Owen Asplundh’s (Bryn Athyn, Pa.) first career goal with five minutes to play in the first quarter off an assist from Glatzel. Following the score by Asplundh, Penn State scored three unanswered goals.

Notre Dame scored its second goal of the game with 1:30 left before intermission to start the 8-0 run as Glatzel netted the first of his two scores in the game off a John Flandina (West Islip, N.Y.) assist.

Glatzel tallied the initial goal of the second half which tied the contest at 3-3 off a Todd Ulrich (Baltimore, Md.) assist. Notre Dame would go on to score four more goals in the third quarter as the Irish received scores from Devin Ryan (Kensington, Pa.), Harvey, Steve Bishko (West Islip, N.Y.) and Stedman Oakey (Charlottesville, Va.) in just over eight minutes.

Flandina tallied the first score of the fourth quarter off a Todd Ulrich assist, his second in the contest. Penn State ended its scoring drought with a goal with 3:04 left to play. David Ulrich (Baltimore, Md.), who had two assists in the game, scored the contest’s final goal with 1:57 remaining.

Senior goalie Kirk Howell (Nashville, Tenn.) came up with a career-high 18 saves in goal.

HEAD COACH KEVIN CORRIGAN – Kevin Corrigan is in his 12th season at Notre Dame and 14th in the collegiate ranks. The three-time Great Western Lacrosse League coach of the year earned his 100th career win during the ’99 season in Notre Dame’s 10-8 victory over Hobart on March 27. He owns a 105-70 (.600) overall ledger and an 95-55 (.633) mark with the Irish. Corrigan has guided Notre Dame to eight NCAA tournament appearances and eight (either outright or shared) conference titles. Prior to 1998, he had led the Irish to six straight tournament berths from 1992-97. Under Corrigan in 1995, Notre Dame won its first-ever NCAA tournament game with a 12-10 victory over Duke which propelled the Irish into the quarterfinals for the first time in school history. Previous to his tenure at Notre Dame, he served as head coach at Randolph-Macon during the 1985 and 1986 campaign where his teams compiled a 10-15 mark.

IRISH IN SEASON OPENERS – Notre Dame is now 14-6 in season openers. This was the third consecutive year that the Irish and Nittany Lions squared in the season-opening contest, and the fifth time in the last six that they have met in the first game of the season. This year’s win avenged last season’s 13-8 loss.

SERIES RECORD VS. PENNSYLVANIA – This marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Notre Dame has one other first-time opponent on the schedule – Fairfield. The Irish play the Stags on April 22.

HOWELL TABBED FOR GWLL HONORS – Senior goalkeeper Kirk Howell was named the Great Western Lacrosse League Player of the Week after recording a career-high 18 saves in the season opener against Penn State. The second-year starter played the entire 60 minutes of the contest and held the Nittany to just one goal for nearly three quarters. After Penn State jumped out to a 3-1 lead with 13:13 left in the second quarter, the Irish scored eight unanswered goals and shut down the Nittany Lions until the four quarter when they tallied their final goal with 3:04 remaining in the contest.

HOWELL NETS CAREER-HIGH 18 SAVES – Kirk Howell’s 18 saves marked a career-high for the Irish senior who is in his second year as a starter. His previous personal best was 17 saves which he posted twice during the ”99 regular season – versus Loyola (in a 10-8 loss ) and against Georgetown (a 12-8 Hoya win). Howell, who owned a .577 save percentage and 8.57 goals against average a year ago, registered 10 or more saves in nine game last season and in nine of the Notre Dame’s last 10 contests.

HARVEY GETS TWO GOALS IN FIRST CAREER START – Junior attack Jon Harvey made his first career start against the Nittany Lions and responded with the first multiple-goal came of his career as he tallied two goals in the victory. Harvey, who tallied just one goal a year ago, scored Notre Dame’s fifth and eighth goals of the contest.

AND INTRODUCING – In addition to Jon Harvey, two other Irish players earned their first career starts on defense – senior Steve Fiamingo (Cincinnati, Ohio) and sophomore A.J. Wright (Timonium, Md.).

SPREADING THE WEALTH – Notre Dame had eight different players score in its 10-4 win over Penn State with just two players – Steve Bishko and Jon Harvey – tallying two goals. It was the most balance the Irish the Irish had had since having nine goal scorers in a 17-9 win over Denver on March 5, 1999.

STINGY DEFENSE – The four goals allowed by the Irish were the fewest in a season opener since the 1992 campaign when Notre Dame beat Saint Bonaventure 23-4 on March 1. The fewest goals allowed by an Irish team in a season opener is three when Notre Dame beat Stony Brook 12-3 on March 16, 1987.

OPENING ACT – Freshman John Souch (Watertown, N.Y.), who plays defense for the Irish, was the only rookie to see action in the season opener against Penn State.

IRISH STRONG AT HOME – In three (1994, 1995 and 1997) of the last seven years, Notre Dame finished the home portion of its season undefeated. The Irish posted 5-0 marks in both ’94 and ’95 and were 6-0 in ’97. Corrigan’s squad was 6-1 at home in ’99. Since 1984, Notre Dame has an 81-25 (.764) record at home and is 42-8 (.840) over the last eight-plus seasons in games played at Moose Krause Stadium and Loftus Sports Center (its indoor facility).

IRISH WELCOME PENNSYLVANIA AND FAIRFIELD TO SCHEDULE – While many of the opponents on this year’s schedule remain the same, the Irish will play Pennsylvania and Fairfield for the first time. Notre Dame faced 10 opponents on last year’s schedule in ’99 with Penn State, Denver, Air Force, Loyola, Hofstra, Ohio State, Butler, Army, Villanova and Harvard on the 12-game slate this year. Coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad was 6-4 against those foes a year ago.

FAMILIAR FACE ON IRISH SIDELINES – A familiar face to Notre Dame lacrosse is on the sidelines this season. Will DeRiso, who played for the Irish from 1994-97 and served as a captain in his senior season, has joined the Irish coaching staff as an assistant coach. DeRiso, a two-year starter at attack, finished his career with 35 goals and 37 assists (72 points). In his senior season, he led Notre Dame in scoring with 43 points as he recorded personal bests of 18 goals and 25 assists. DeRiso, whose Notre Dame team won four consecutive Great Western Lacrosse League championships and earned four NCAA tournament berths, was a GWLL first-team selection in ’97.

ROAD WARRRIORS – The Pennsylvania game marks the first of three straight road games for the Irish. Following its March 4 matchup with the Quakers, the Irish travel to Denver and Air Force on March 11 and 13, respectively. Following its matchup with the Falcons, the Irish return home for three consecutive contests against Loyola (March 18), Hofstra (March 26) and Ohio State (April 1).

THE WILTON CONNECTION – Witon High School in Wilton, Conn., has long been a school that has been well represented on the Irish roster. Three members of this year’s team – seniors Kevin Higgins and Mike Pfeffer and junior Mike Adams – were all on the same Wilton squad for three seasons. Pfeffer made his first appearance in an Irish uniform since the 1998 season after spending last year studying abroad in Europe.

INSIDE LACROSSE MEDIA POLL
(Week of Feb. 29)