March 10, 2000
NOTRE DAME, IND. — The Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team (1-1) looks to rebound from its 10-7 loss at Pennsylvania last Saturday (March 4) as the Irish travel to Colorado for two games against Great Western Lacrosse League foes Denver and Air Force. The Irish play the Pioneers in Denver on Saturday, March 11 at 1:00 p.m. and then face Air Force in Colorado Springs on Monday, March 13 at 3:00 p.m.
Notre Dame is ranked 15th in the STX/United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) poll and 16th in the Inside Lacrosse ranking, while Denver is in the receiving votes category in both polls.
RECAP OF PENNSYLVANIA GAME – Notre Dame dropped a 10-7 decision at Pennsylvania in the road opener. The Irish opened up a 2-0 lead in the game, but the Quakers came opened up a 5-2 advantage midway through the second period with five unanswered goals.
David Ulrich (Baltimore, Md.) scored three times in the contest to lead the Irish, while twin brother Todd had a goal and an assist. Tom Glatzel (Ellicott City, Md.), Stedman Oakey (Charlottesville, Va.) and Mike Adams (Wilton, Conn.) each tallied a goal in the game.
Pennsylvania was led by Pete Janney’s four goals.
Notre Dame outshot the Quakers 39-28 in the game. Irish senior goalie Kirk Howell (Nashville, Tenn.) had 11 saves in the contest, marking the second straight game he recorded 10-plus saves.
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 105-71 (.597) overall ledger and an 95-56 (.629) 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.
SERIES RECORD VS. DENVER – Notre Dame has won all three meetings between the two teams. The Irish are 2-0 at home against Denver after earning a 17-9 victory in ’99.
SERIES RECORD VS. AIR FORCE – This will be the 13th meeting in the series with the Irish holding an 11-1 advantage. Notre Dame has won 11 straight since losing the inaugural game in the series (14-8) in 1988. The Irish posted its most lopsided win in the series a year ago with a 16-2 victory at Notre Dame.
HOME AGAIN – Notre Dame’s game at Air Force on Monday will conclude the two-game Colorado road swing and mark the end of a string of three straight road contests. The Irish return home against Loyola on Saturday, March 18 at 1:00 p.m. which begins a three-game homestand for Notre Dame.
HOT GOALIE – In his second season as a starter, Kirk Howell has continued his impressive play. His 11 saves against Pennsylvania marks the 11 time in his career that he has registered 10 or more saves in a game. In Notre Dame’s win against Penn State in the season opener, he had a career-high 18 stops. 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 games last season and in eight of Notre Dame’s last 10 contests. He also picked up a career-high 11 ground balls against Pennsylvania.
ADAMS NETS FIRST CAREER – Junior Mike Adams, who has earned starts in both games this season after making seven starting appearances a year ago, scored his first collegiate goal against Pennsylvania in Notre Dame’s 10-7 loss. Adams’ netted an unassisted goal came with 31 seconds left in the contest. He is the second Irish player this season to tally his first career goal. Sophomore attack Owen Asplundh (Bryn Athyn, Pa.) had his first collegiate score in the season-opening win versus Penn State.
GROUND HOG – Kevin Higgins (Wilton, Conn) has been one of the team’s ground ball leaders each of the past two seasons. He had 83 a year ago and 79 in 1998. Higgins stands seventh on Notre Dame’s all-time ground balls list with 192 and will likely move ahead of Mike Iorio (195) and Todd Rassas (192) and into sixth place following the two games this weekend.
FACE-OFF – Notre Dame has won 62.1 percent of its faceoff opportunities this season thanks in part to Kevin Higgins’ 72.0 percent. The Irish have won 23 of their 37 chances thus far in 2000 with Higgins winning 18 of his 25 chances. Against Penn State, won seven of his nine faceoff opportunities.
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 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. He also came off the bench against Pennsylvania and is the only first-year player to have earns time on the field this season.
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).