March 23, 1999
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team (3-2, 2-0) opens up a two-game homestand on Saturday, March 27 at 2:00 p.m. when the Irish entertain Hobart.
Following its contest against the Statesmen, Notre Dame then faces a crucial Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) test three days later when Coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad plays host to Butler on Tuesday, March 30 at 3:00 p.m.
The Irish lost to both teams last season and leads both series 5-1.
Notre Dame remained 17th in this week’s STX/United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) ranking following its 10-8 loss at top-ranked Loyola (Md.) on Saturday, March 20.
WEEK IN REVIEW — Loyola: An inspired Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team dropped a 10-8 decision on the road at top-ranked Loyola. The Irish were led by Chris Dusseau’s (Columbus, Ohio) season-high four goals. David Ulrich (Baltimore, Md.) scored two goals and added two assists, while Steve Bishko (West Islip, N.Y.) and Tom Glatzel (Ellicott City, Md.) each had scores in the game.
Notre Dame jumped out to a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest on Dusseau’s goal, but the Greyhounds, who have won all nine games in the series with the Irish, scored four of the next five goals to lead 4-2 early into the second quarter. Back-to-back goals by Dusseau tied the contest for the third time at 4-4, and then scores by Ulrich and Glatzel gave Notre Dame a 6-4 advantage with three minutes left before the intermission. Loyola was able to score twice in the final 2:03 of the half for a 6-6 tie after 30 minutes.
Loyola broke the 6-6 halftime stalemate with 12:32 remaining in the third quarter, and then Dusseau off an assist from Ulrich, tied the score for the fifth and final time. Back-to-back goal gave the Greyhounds a 9-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter, before Ulrich’s score pulled the Irish to within one at 9-8 with 10:26 left in the game. Loyola added an insurance goal six minutes later for the final 10-8 score.
Loyola outshot the Irish 44-28 in the game. Irish goalkeeper Kirk Howell (Nashville, Tenn.), making just his fifth career start, came up with a career-high 17 saves in the contest. The Greyhounds made good on four-of-seven man-up situations.
HEAD COACH KEVIN CORRIGAN — Kevin Corrigan is in his 11th season at the Notre Dame helm and his 13th in the collegiate ranks. The three-time Great Western Lacrosse League coach of the year starts the 1999 campaign needing just one more win for his 100th career victory. He owns a 99-66 (.600) overall ledger and an 89-51 (.636) mark with the Irish. Corrigan has guided Notre Dame to seven NCAA tournament appearances and 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 which propelled the Irish into the quarterfinals for the first time in school history.
SERIES RECORD VS. HOBART — Notre Dame owns a 5-1 advantage in the six-game series. The Irish suffered an 11-7 setback to the Statesmen last season. Two of the last three meetings between the two schools have been decided in overtime. There have been three overtime contests played and three games which have been decided by a single goal. Notre Dame is 3-0 in those overtime contests. The two teams have met every year since 1993 and the Statesmen are winless in the three games they have played at Moose Krause Stadium.
SERIES RECORD VS. BUTLER — This will be the seventh meeting between the two schools. Notre Dame leads the series 5-1 as Butler earned its first win in the series a year ago in Indianapolis with a 6-5 victory. It was one of three one-goal losses for Corrigan’s team a year ago. The Irish have won all three meetings played at Moose Krause Stadium. The last two games played at Notre Dame have each been decided by three goals — 7-4 in 1995 and 13-10 in 1997.
CORRIGAN GOES AFTER WIN 100 — Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan will be going after his 100th career win when Notre Dame faces Hobart on Saturday. Corrigan, only the second coach in the program’s history, has an 89-51 record with the Irish. 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.
DUSSEAU REACHES THE CENTURY MARK — Notre Dame senior attack Chris Dusseau became the 12th Irish player to reach the 100-point mark in his career this season. Currently third in the scoring column this season with 11 goals and two assists (13 points), Dusseau stands 12th on the all-time Irish scoring list with 93 goals and 11 assists for 104 points. His 93 goals places him fifth on the career list for goals scored. He needs just three more to pass Robbie Snyder who scored 95 goals during his career from 1991-94. Dusseau, a co-captain this season, has started all 42 games throughout his career and has led Notre Dame in goals score in each of his three previous seasons.
SUPER SOPHS — Notre Dame’s sophomore class is represented well in the Irish scoring column this season as four of the team’s five leading scorers are second-year players. David Ulrich leads the team in scoring with eight goals and a team-high 17 assists (25 points), while teammate Tom Glatzel leads the team 12 goals and three assists (15 points). David’s twin brother, Todd, is fourth squad’s fourth-leading scorer with six goals and six assists (12 points), while Steve Bishko rounds out the top five scorers with six goals and four assists (10 points).
HOWELL TOUGH IN GOAL — Junior Kirk Howell, who spent two seasons as the backup to four-year starter Alex Cade, has been impressive in his first five collegiate starts thus far in 1999. Howell, who had a career-high 17 saves in Notre Dame’s 10-8 loss to Loyola, has played 284:05 of the possible 300 minutes. He has allowed 41 goals and made 53 saves for .564 save percentage and 8.66 goals against average.
TOUGH DEFENSE — Notre Dame held Air Force scoreless for the second, third and fourth quarters in its 16-2 victory over the Falcons. The Irish defense has given up just 30 goals combined in those quarters this season. Irish opponents are averaging 2.00 goals in the second, third and four quarters Notre Dame has allowed just 44 goals in five outings for 8.80 goals per game.
SEEING DOUBLE — Sophomores David and Todd Ulrich are the first twin brothers to play on the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team. David plays attack, while Todd is in the midfield. Both have been in the starting lineup all four games this season and played their high school lacrosse at Boys’ Latin. They are one of four players who played at Boys’ Latin in Baltimore — the other two are Ned Webster and Tom Glatzel.
IRISH STRONG AT HOME — In three (1994, 1995 and 1997) of the last five 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. The ’99 schedule features seven home games and five road contests. Notre Dame opens up the season by playing four of its first seven games at home. Since 1984, Notre Dame has a 76-24 (.760) record at home and is 36-7 (.837) over the last seven-plus seasons.
IRISH SCHEDULE REMAINS CONSISTENT — The 12-game 1999 schedule features all but two teams from the 1998 schedule. The two new schools which appear on this year’s schedule are Villanova and Army. The Irish face the Cadets on Saturday, April 17 at Moose Krause Stadium in a 1:00 p.m. face-off.
DUSSEAU PICKED FOR LACROSSE PRESEASON HONORS — Senior attack Chris Dusseau was selected to College Lacrosse USA’s Preseason All-America team. He was the only Irish player tabbed for preseason All-America honors.
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE — Last season’s uncharacteristic 5-7 record marked the fewest wins in the 18-year history of the program and was only the second time ever that a Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team had finished below the .500-mark. The last time an Irish team was under .500 was in 1983 when it finished with a 6-7 record. Notre Dame went on to post a 9-3 record following that season (1984). Three of the next four games (Hobart, Butler and Georgetown) for the Irish are against teams which beat Corrigan’s last season.
UNITED STATES INTERCOLLEGIATE LACROSSE ASSOCIATION POLL
(Week of March 22)
Pts.1. Loyola (4-0) 1992. Duke (6-0) 1913. John Hopkins (2-1) 1704. Virginia (3-1) 1675. Syracuse (3-1) 1626. Georgetown (4-0) 1547. Maryland (3-1) 1458. Delaware (4-0) 1229. UMBC (3-2) 11210. Navy (3-2) 10911. North Carolina (5-2) 9112. Princeton (0-3) 8613. Penn State (3-0) 7714. Pennsylvania (4-1) 7415. Towson (2-0) 6316. Cornell (2-2) 4817. NOTRE DAME (3-2) 4718. Army (3-1) 2919. Hofsta (1-2) 1820. Massachusetts (2-2) 16
FACE-OFF LACROSSE POLL
(Week of March 22)
Pts.1. Loyola 2602. Duke 2473. Johns Hopkins 2234. Virginia 2175. Syracuse 2146. Georgetown 1987. Maryland 1888. UMBC 1499. Navy 14310. Delaware 14311. Princeton 13512. Towson 10613. North Carolina 10414 Pennsylvania 8515. Penn State 8016. Cornell 5517. NOTRE DAME 4618. Army 4019. Massachusetts 3620. Hofstra 32