April 19, 2018
By Robby Hamman
Notre Dame Game NotesNOTRE DAME, Ind. — No. 14 Notre Dame wraps up the regular-season slate of ACC play in Durham, North Carolina. The Irish face the Tar Heels at Noon ET on Saturday, April 21. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU and can be streamed on the WatchESPN app.
Game Details
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina | Kenan Stadium
Schedule: Saturday, April 21 — Noon ET
TV: ESPNU
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Live Stats: UND.com
Twitter Updates: @NDlacrosse
For a more in-depth look at Saturday’s matchup – Game Notes: Notre Dame
The UNC Series
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Saturday will be the 18th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and North Carolina. The Irish will look to even the series as the Tar Heels lead 9-8.
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The two teams met twice last season with Notre Dame and North Carolina splitting the two matchups. The Irish won the regular-season showdown 14-10 before falling to the Tar Heels 14-10 in the ACC Championship game.
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The Irish are 3-1 against the Tar Heels when playing in regular-season ACC games.
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The series has featured a lot of close games, as 15 of the 17 meetings have been decided by three goals or fewer.
No. 5 In The RPI
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Notre Dame enters the week ranked No. 5 in the latest installment of the RPI.
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The only teams in front of the Irish are Maryland (No. 1), Albany (No. 2), Duke (No. 3) and Yale (No. 4).
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The Irish have played or will play nine of the team’s in the top 30 of the RPI.
Last Time Out
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The Irish defeated Marquette in Milwaukee by a final score of 7-6, scoring two goals in the final minute to secure the win.
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The six goals allowed mark the fewest the Irish have given up in a game this season.
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Notre Dame’s seven goals were scored by seven different players.
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Bryan Costabile tied the game with 42 seconds left in regulation before Ryder Garnsey scored the game-winning goal with just 15 ticks left on the clock.
Sexton’s Second ACC Defensive Player Of The Week Honor
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Senior LSM John Sexton earned his second ACC Defensive Player of the Week after the win over Marquette. Sexton has three ACC weekly honors in his career.
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Sexton has been regarded as one of the top LSMs in the country over the last couple of seasons and he is proving his merit in 2018.
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Sexton has 37 ground balls, 12 caused turnovers, three goals and an assist over the nine games he has played in this season.
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The senior’s best performances have come in the last six games, as Sexton has combined to scoop 31 groundballs, force 11 turnovers, scored two goals and added an assist.
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Earlier this season, Sexton was the only men’s lacrosse player to earn the ACC’s Weaver-James-Corrigan Award, a postgraduate scholarship.
Stifling Defense
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The Irish have allowed an average of 8.70 goals per game to rank 14th in the country, despite facing some of the most potent attacks at the DI level.
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Notre Dame has held seven of its 10 opponents to fewer than 10 goals.
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In the team’s most recent game, the Irish allowed a season-low six goals in the win over Marquette.
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The Irish defense held both then-No. 7 Virginia and then-No. 5 Duke to their season lows for goals scored in a game.
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Duke (No. 5), Virginia (No. 9) and Denver (No. 11) all rank in the top 20 in goals scored per game this season and the Irish held each to under 10 goals.
Notre Dame Major League Lacrosse Draft Recap
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Two senior Irish defensive midfielders were selected in the 2018 MLL Draft on Wednesday, April 18. Notre Dame has now had 36 players selected in program history, the seventh most in the country.
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Sexton was selected with the No. 18 overall pick in the second round by the Dallas Rattlers, becoming the 10th Irish player selected in the first two rounds in MLL Draft history.
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Short-stick defensive midfielder Carlson Milikin was picked 36th overall in the fourth round by the Ohio Machine.
— ND —
The University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team pursues excellence on and off the field through the three pillars in which the program is built: Character, Culture & Community. These three foundational values guide the promise of the program, which is to provide its student-athletes with the most compelling and enriching experience in all of college athletics. Through academics, competition, service and travel, the program aims to immerse its players in situations that enhance their student-athlete experience to help them become the people, students and teammates they aspire to be.
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Robby Hamman joined Fighting Irish Media as athletics communications assistant director in September 2016, coordinating efforts for the volleyball and men’s lacrosse program. Hamman is a 2010 graduate of Bethel College, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in sport management and business administration, and earned his master’s degree in business administration from Defiance College in 2013.