April 5, 2001
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NOTRE DAME, IND. — After five straight road games, the No. 7 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team returns home for the first time since March 4 for a pair of Great Western Lacrosse League outings. The Irish (6-1, 1-0) entertain the Denver Pioneers on Sat., April 7 at 4:30 p.m. and then play host to Air Force on Mon., April 9 at 4:00 p.m. These two games begin a four-game homestand for the Irish.
Notre Dame is off to its best start since the 1993 campaign when it began the season 7-0 (its best start in school history). Coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad rebounded from its only loss of the season with a resounding 13-4 victory at Ohio State in its Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) opener.
The Irish have beaten four ranked opponents (all on the road) thus far in 2001 – Penn State, Rutgers, Virginia and Loyola. Five of Notre Dame’s opponents this season currently are ranked in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Poll. The Irish also are 5-1 on the road with its only blemish coming in overtime against Hofstra.
RECAP OF OHIO STATE GAME – Senior attack Tom Glatzel (Ellicott City, Md.) and Jon Harvey (Winchester, Mass.) combined for eight goals and three assists to lead the Irish to a 13-4 win over Ohio State in its Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) opener. Glatzel finished the contest with four goals and two assists, while Harvey also scored a season-high four goals in the contest, in addition to adding an assist. Senior attack David Ulrich (Baltimore, Md.) added five assists in the game, while junior John Flandina (West Islip, N.Y.) tallied two goals.
The Irish jumped out to an early 6-1 advantage after the first period as Glatzel and Harvey scored two goals each. Devin Ryan (.Kensington, Md.) scored the game’s first goal 1:39 into the contest. After John Cummings tied the game at 1-1 with 12:10 remaining in the first quarter, the Irish exploded for eight unanswered goals as the Irish held the Buckeyes scoreless for nearly 20 minutes. Senior Andy Santoriello’s (Westfield, N.J.) first career goal with 58 seconds remaining in the second quarter gave the Irish a 10-2 halftime advantage.
Glatzel added two third-quarter scores and senior Kevin Dugan (Avon-by-the Sea, N.J.) notched his first collegiate score and Notre Dame’s final goal of the game with 8:16 remaining.
Senior goalkeeper Kirk Howell (Nashville, Tenn.) made 11 saves in the contest while playing 49 minutes. Sophomore Nick Antol (Baldwin, Md.) played a career-high 11 minutes and made a career-high four saves.
HEAD COACH KEVIN CORRIGAN – Kevin Corrigan is in his 13th season at Notre Dame and 15th 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 and notched his 100th win as the Irish head coach in 2000 with his team’s 10-5 victory at Army . He owns a 120-75 (.615) overall ledger and an 110-60 (.647) mark with the Irish. Corrigan has guided Notre Dame to nine NCAA tournament appearances in the last 11 years and 10 (either outright or shared) conference titles. Prior to 1998, he had led the Irish to six straight tournament berths from 1992-97. Under Corrigan, Notre Dame has been victorious in the first round of the NCAA tournament on two occasions. 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. Last season, his squad upset fifth-seeded Loyola (Md.) in 15-13 in the first round for the school’s first-ever win over the Greyhounds. 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 been victorious in all four meetings between the two teams with the average margin of victory of nine goals per outing. The Irish earned a 12-8 victory last season in Denver, Colo, and two years ago handed Denver a 17-9 setback in its first-ever visit to Notre Dame. The most lopsided win was in the series’ inaugural matchup as the Irish defeated the Pioneers 25-4.
SERIES RECORD VS. AIR FORCE – This will be the 14th meeting in the series which has been continuous since the first game played between the two schools in 1988. Notre Dame lost the initial matchup 14-8, but has since won 12 straight over the Falcons. This will be the seventh time Air Force will be playing at Notre Dame.
THE POLLS ARE IN – Notre Dame has played as a top 10 team in all but one game this season. The Irish are ranked seventh in the USILA/STX Poll. They earned their highest ranking in school history the week of March 19 when they climbed to second for one week before losing to Hofstra on March 24. Previous to that poll, the highest ranking for a Notre Dame team had been sixth – in both March of 2001 and April of 1996.
CAPTAIN KIRK – Fifth-year player Kirk Howell is in his second year as an Irish captain. Last season, he served as a team captain along with Patrick Darcy, Steve Fiamingo and Kevin Higgins. He has the distinction of being one of just four Irish players to serve as team captain twice during their careers. Randy Colley, Notre Dame’s career goals, assists and points leader, was the first two-time captain in 1994 and 1995. Alex Cade and Jimmy Keenan served as captains in both 1997 and 1998.
GWLL WELCOMES FAIRFIELD – The newest member to the Great Western Lacrosse League in 2001 is Fairfield. The Stags were an independent a year ago. The Irish played Fairfield for the first time last season and won the game 20-12 on April 22, 2000. They are scheduled to meet the Stags in Fairfield, Conn. on Sun. April 22.
WELCOME HOME – Notre Dame is playing at home for the first time since Mar. 4 when the Irish defeated Pennsylvania 10-8. Coach Corrigan’s squad has played six of its seven games on the road. Four straight home games await the Irish with only one road game scheduled for the remainder of the regular season – at Fairfield (Mar. 22).
ULRICH A FINALIST FOR TEWAARATON TROPHY – Senior attack David Ulrich is among 15 finalists for the inaugural Tewaaraton Trophy to be presented by the University Club of Washington, D.C., in conjuction with the Tewaaraton Award Foundation. The award will be presented annually to the top male and female lacrosse players in the United State. The first-ever honorees will be awarded the trophy on June 7, 2001.
STINGY DEFENSE – Notre Dame’s defense has been nothing short of spectacular this season as the Irish are seventh nationally in scoring defense allowing just 7.14 goals per game. Only one opponent (Hofstra) has scored more than 10 goals against the Irish when Notre Dame dropped an 11-10 overtime decision to the Pride. The Irish have held two opponents – Rutgers and Ohio State – to just four goals in their wins over the Scarlet Knights (9-4) and Buckeyes (13-4). All seven Irish foes this season have scored a combined 50 goals for a 7.14 goals per game average which ranks Notre Dame seventh nationally in that category. This has been Notre Dame’s most productive defensive team since 1996 when that Irish squad allowed just 42 goals in its first seven games of the season.
ROAD TESTED – Notre Dame has a 5-1 road mark this season after playing six of its first seven games on the road. The Irish will play five of its remaining six games at home in the friendly confines of Moose Krause Stadium. Notre Dame won its first four road games before losing to Hofstra in overtime, but rebounded last weekend by posting a 13-4 decision at Ohio State in its GWLL season opener. The last Notre Dame team to win four straight road games was the 1996 squad which finished with a perfect 5-0 mark playing on the home field of its opponent. That team was 6-1 overall that season including games played on neutral sites. The team did not lose until the first round of the NCAA tournament against Johns Hopkins when it dropped a 12-7 decision at the Naval Academy.
HOME SWEET HOME – Notre Dame has an impressive .759 winning percentage at home since 1981 in the program’s inaugural season as a varsity sport as the Irish teams have compiled an 85-27 record. Head coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad lost two games at home in 2000 in posting a 4-2 mark. During the past seven-plus seasons, the Irish have compiled a 32-7 (.821) mark and have had three undefeated season – 1994 (5-0), 1995 (5-0) and 1997 (6-0).
SEEING DOUBLE – Seniors David and Todd Ulrich are the first twin brothers to play on the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team. David has been a three-year starter at attack for the Irish, while Todd was a starter in the midfield during the 1999 and 2000 campaigns.
CLOSING IN ON THE ASSIST RECORD – For the fourth straight year, senior attack David Ulrich is leading the team in assists. The Baltimore, Md. native has 12 this season and needs just eight more to become the school’s all-time career assist leader. Ulrich has 88 career assists after his five-assist performance against Ohio State. He moved ahead of Mike Sullivan an into second place on the all-time career assist list. Sullivan, who played for the Irish from 1989-92, finished his career with 88 assists. Randy Colley (1991-95), Notre Dame’s career scoring leader, tops the Irish career assist chart with 100. Ulrich has had 30-plus assists in each of the last two seasons. In 2000, he tied the Irish single-season mark when he dished off 32 assists during the season. Ulrich’s 152 career points places him fourth on the all-time career scoring list. He needs four points to move ahead of Joe Franklin (1983-86) who collected 113 goals and 42 assists for 155 points during his four-year career.
MOVING UP THE RANKS – The numbers registered by Tom Glatzel have been staggering as the Irish senior has scored 23 goals and dished off four assists through the first seven games of the season. He is averaging 3.29 goals per game and 4.29 points per game. Most impressive, are his numbers over the past two seasons. As a freshman, he scored just one goal and dished off an assist, but since that season, he has scored 88 goals and dished off 40 assists in 35 games. He has scored 89 goals and dished off 41 assists during his career. His 130 career points places him eighth on the career scoring list.
MAKING A FIRST IMPRESSION – Freshman defense Mickey Blum (Garden City, N.Y.) became the first Irish rookie to start a game this season when he earned his first career starting assignment against Ohio State. The OSU contest also was a game in which senior midfield players Andy Santoriello and Kevin Dugan tallied their first collegiate goals.
STOP GAP – Senior goalie Kirk Howell has been outstanding for the Irish this season as he has registered a .634 save percentage and 7.09 goals against average. He has allowed just 48 goals and made 83 saves while playing 406:24 of a possible 422.24.
HARVEY BUSTS OUT – Senior attack Jon Harvey, who was the second-leading goal scorer for the Irish a year ago with 28 goals, had been somewhat quiet up until Sunday’s four-goal outburst against Ohio State. Harvey had scored just three goals prior to the contest in the first six games of the season. He has career totals of 36 goals and five assists (41 points).
IRISH IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICS – Two Irish players -Tom Glatzel (4th in goals per game and 8th in points per game) and Kirk Howell (8th in goals against average and 10th in save percentage) – are ranked among the national leaders. As a team, Notre Dame is 4th in winning percentage, 7th in scoring defense, 8th in man-up offense and 14th in scoring margin.