March 17, 2006
NOTRE DAME MEN’S LACROSSE NOTES PACKET
No.11 Notre Dame vs. Bellarmine
Trinity High School • Louisville, Ky.
Saturday, March 18, 2006 • 1:00 p.m. (ET)
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The 11th-ranked Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse team will meet Bellarmine University for the first time ever this Saturday (March 18) at Trinity High School in Louisville, Ky. Notre Dame enters the game with a two-game winning streak and a 3-1 mark overall after topping Villanova, 10-7, on Tuesday in Villanova, Pa. Bellarmine is 2-2 in its first season of being a full NCAA Division I member. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. (ET). Notre Dame will wrap up its three-game road stretch with a trip to No. 9 Hofstra next Saturday (March 25).
ND-BELLARMINE SERIES NOTES: This will be the first-ever meeting between Notre Dame and Bellarmine on the lacrosse field, yet the Irish and Knights have squared off in other athletic venues … Notre Dame is 2-0 against Bellarmine in men’s basketball with the wins coming in 1958 and 1961 … the Fighting Irish volleyball program is 0-2 against the Knights, with both matches taking place during the 1983 season … the Bellarmine men’s and women’s cross country teams also compete annually in the National Catholic Invitational, which is hosted by Notre Dame.
SNAPSHOT OF THE IRISH: Notre Dame is coming off back-to-back wins against North Carolina (9-7) and Villanova (10-7) … the Irish opened the season with an 8-4 victory over No. 14 Penn State before falling to No. 8 Cornell, 9-6 … senior attackman Brian Hubschmann leads the team in points (15), goals (8) and assists (7) … sophomore goaltender Joey Kemp has logged all 240 minutes in goal … he has allowed 27 goals, while making 41 saves and boasts .603 save-percentage and a 6.75 goals-against average … senior All-American Pat Walsh is second on the team with 12 points, coming on six goals and six assists … sophomore Taylor Clagett has won 40 of 69 (.580) faceoff attempts so far this season.
ABOUT BELLARMINE: Bellarmine is 2-2 on the year … the Knights are coming off a 13-5 victory over Wagner on Tuesday … Bellarmine fell to No. 2 Duke, 16-1, in its only prior meeting with a ranked team this season … the other win for the Knights came against VMI (13-8), while they dropped a 9-6 decision to Brown … Garett Kikot leads the team in scoring with 13 points coming on eight goals and five assists, both team-highs … Adam Gardner has totaled nine points on six goals and three assists … J.C. Hutchins has played the majority of the minutes in goal, making 35 saves, while allowing 31 goals for a 8.75 goals-against average and a .530 save-percentage … this is the Knights first year of being a full NCAA Division I member for men’s lacrosse and they are not affiliated with a conference and are not eligible for post-season play … Bellarmine is coached by Jack McGetrick, who has a 15-4 mark in his second season at Bellarmine … the Knights were 13-2 last season as a provisional Division I member.
ND-BELLARMINE CONNECTION: Bellarmine University president Joseph J. McGowan received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Notre Dame … he received his doctorate in higher education from Columbia University in New York … he is a graduate of Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management.
5-0 RUNS: Notre Dame has put together 5-0 runs in each of its past two games en route to victories … against North Carolina, the Fighting Irish used a 5-0 spurt to break open a 3-3 contest and take an 8-3 lead early in the third quarter … the Tar Heels would make a run of their own to cut the margin to one (8-7), yet that is as close as they would get before falling 9-7 … in the Villanova tilt, the Irish trailed 3-2 before running off five unanswered goals to take a 7-3 lead right before halftime … the Wildcats made a surge to make in an 8-7 contest, however the Irish would prevail 10-7.
DOUBLE DIGITS: The Fighting Irish tallied 10 or more goals for the first time this season when they did so in the 10-7 win over Villanova … Notre Dame scored in double-figures in seven of its 11 games one season ago … five of those games were wins.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Seniors occupy the top three spots on the Irish point-leaders list … Brian Hubschmann leads with 15 (8G, 7A), while Pat Walsh has 12 (6G, 6A) and Matt Ryan has six (4G, 2A) … senior Matt Karweck (4G, 1A) is tied for fourth with junior Bill Liva (2G, 3A) as they each have five points.
HUBSCHMANN BACK IN ACTION: Senior attackman Brian Hubschmann, who is back in the Irish lineup after missing all of last season to injury, is leading the team with 15 points … he collected a career-high tying four goals against Villanova … he also notched an assist against the Wildcats … prior to the Villanova game, Hubschmann scored two goals and assisted on two others against both Cornell and North Carolina … for his career, he has seven games with four or more points … Hubschmann was a 2005 Inside Lacrosse preseason honorable mention All-America selection … as a sophomore in 2004, he totaled 29 points on 18 goals and 11 assists and copped all-GWLL second team honors.
HELPING HAND: Pat Walsh was involved in six of Notre Dame’s nine goals in the victory over North Carolina on March 11 … the senior attackman collected five assists and scored a goal … the five assists tied a career-high for a single game, which he also accomplished versus Denver as a freshman in 2003 … he now has nine games with six or more points during his Fighting Irish career … his high-point mark is eight, which came against Harvard in 2003.
MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Senior attackman Pat Walsh is currently fourth all-time in school history with 86 assists … he is two assists shy from the third spot, 14 away from second and is 24 assists away from tying David Ulrich’s (1998-2001) program record of 110 … Walsh is also sixth in program history with 154 points coming on 68 goals and 86 assists … he is 27 points away from making it into the top-three all-time in school history … Randy Colley (1991-95) is the school record holder with 273 career points (173 G, 100 A).
KARWECK STREAK STOPPED, WALSH’S CONTINUES: Senior midfielder Matt Karweck had his stretch of 11 straight games with a point halted versus Villanova … during that stretch, which dated back to last season, he collected a total of 27 points on 14 goals and 13 assists … that was the longest point streak of his Notre Dame career … his previous long was eight games in 2004 … Pat Walsh has a seven-game streak, which is now the longest active stretch for the Irish … Walsh had a career-best 19-game point streak during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
GOING FOR TWO: Notre Dame has had two players score multiple goals in every game so far this season … overall, the Irish have had multiple players score at least two goals in a game in 10 straight contests dating back to last season … the last game that did not happen was in a 9-8 overtime win at Hofstra on March 26, 2005 … freshmen Peter Christman and Ryan Hoff did the honors with two goals apiece in this year’s season-opener versus Penn State … Brian Hubschmann and Pat Walsh both netted two against Cornell … Hubschmann, Walsh and Matt Karweck all notched a pair versus North Carolina … Hubschmann and Walsh struck again with four and two goals, respectively, against Villanova.
FRESH FACES: The two-goal performances by Peter Christman and Ryan Hoff against Penn State marked the first time two freshmen had scored multiple goals in a game for the Irish since the 2003 season as current seniors Pat Walsh and Drew Peters both netted three goals versus Hartford.
FACEOFFS: Sophomore Taylor Clagett has won 40 of 69 faceoffs so far this season for a .580 percentage … he ranked sixth in the country with a .612 percentage (131-214) as a freshman last year … Clagett has taken all but four of Notre Dame’s faceoffs on the season … senior Steve Panos took the other four, winning one.
SAVING THE DAY: Sophomore goaltender Joey Kemp boasts a .603 save percentage on the year … he has made 41 saves, while allowing 27 goals … Kemp led the nation with a .652 percentage in 2005, making 131 saves and giving up 70 goals.
CLEARING THE WAY: Notre Dame has an .841 clear percentage while the Irish have held opponents to a .683 percentage … last season, the Irish had a .763 clear percentage and their opponents had a mark of .771.
FAN SUPPORT: The Notre Dame-Cornell game in Lisle, Ill. drew 3,523 fans … the Irish have now played in front of crowds of at least 1,000 people in eight contests over the past two seasons … last year’s meeting with North Carolina in the First 4 invitational drew 7,182 fans into the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. … that was the largest crowd ever for a lacrosse contest west of the Mississippi River.
VILLANOVA RECAP: Notre Dame used another strong effort from Brian Hubschmann to down Villanova 10-7 on Tuesday March 14 at Villanova Stadium … the senior attackman netted four goals and assisted on another … the Irish trailed 3-2 after the first quarter of play, yet used a 5-0 second period run to take the lead for good … freshman Ryan Hoff opened the second quarter scoring on an assist from Hubschmann to knot the game at three with 13:42 left … Notre Dame would strike less than a minute later as Hubschmann netted his third goal of the afternoon with the assist going to Pat Walsh … Walsh would then notch a score of his own, on a pass from Lucius Polk at the 10:26 mark, making it a 5-3 contest … the Irish barrage continued as Matt Ryan connected off a Bill Liva pass to up the lead to three (6-3) … Notre Dame would extend its margin to four at halftime as Hubschmann took a feed from Ryan and deposited it into the net for his fourth goal of the half … the Wildcats put a halt to the run midway through the third period as Matt Starker scored back-to-back goals … Walsh countered the attack by netting his second of the day and his sixth of the season to give the Irish an 8-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter … Villanova kept pushing and would make it an 8-7 contest less than five minutes into the final period as Chris Mercer and Tim Langan, Jr. scored goals just 11 seconds apart … Notre Dame freshman Duncan Swezey then came through with his first collegiate goal, which was unassisted with 4:49 left in the game … Polk would collect his first goal of the season at the 3:08 mark to produce the final margin of 10-7 … the Fighting Irish got on the board first as Hubschmann tallied a goal just 48 seconds into contest … following a Wildcat score, the senior attackman put the Irish up 2-1 on his second unassisted goal of the quarter … Villanova would notch the next two scores to take a 3-2 lead after the opening period … the Fighting Irish out-shot the Wildcats 31-23, while Notre Dame goaltender Joey Kemp stopped seven of those shots … Villanova’s Joe Canuso made 11 saves on the day.
NOTRE DAME IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame debuted in the Lacrosse magazine preseason rankings at No. 10, while the Irish were No. 12 in the Inside Lacrosse/Faceoff Yearbook preseason poll … the Irish are No. 13 in the most recent Inside Lacrosse media poll, which was released on March 13 … the latest USILA coaches poll (March 13) has the Irish 11th.
PLAYING THE BEST: Notre Dame faced defending NCAA champion Johns Hopkins to conclude fall ball and then opened spring exhibition play versus national runner-up Duke and Bucknell in Durham, N.C. … the Fighting Irish have four teams that appear in the latest USILA coaches poll on their 2006 ledger … Notre Dame fell to No. 5 Cornell, 9-6, on March 4 … the Irish will host No. 16 Dartmouth on Apr. 2 … Notre Dame will have a road game at No. 9 Hofstra on March 25 and a Great Western Lacrosse league match-up at No. 14 Denver on Apr. 14.
IRISH VS. TOP-10: Since 1990, Notre Dame has a 9-31 mark against teams ranked in the top-10 … the Irish dropped a 9-6 decision to No. 8 Cornell on March 4 in their only battle versus a top-10 team so far this season … Notre Dame’s last win versus a top-10 squad occurred last season as the Irish knocked off No. 10 North Carolina, 9-7, in the First 4 invitational in Carson, Calif.
IRISH D: The Notre Dame defense held Penn State to just four goals in the season-opener on Feb. 26 … the four tallies were the fewest allowed by an Irish defense since a 12-2 victory over Air Force during the 2004 season and the fewest in a season-opener since 2000, a 10-4 win over Penn State … the Irish have also held their first four opponents to nine goals or less … last year, Notre Dame surrendered 10 goals or more on four occasions.
IRISH O: Notre Dame boasted the nation’s fourth highest-scoring offense last season (11.91 goals-per-game) and this year’s squad hopes to duplicate that success … All-American attackman Pat Walsh is back for his senior season after leading the Irish in scoring his first three campaigns … last year, Walsh posted 43 points on 21 goals and 22 assists … ND did lose leading goal-scorer Jim Morrison (25 G) to graduation, yet the return of senior attackman Brian Hubschmann from an injury that kept him out all of last season should help to pick up the scoring slack … Hubschmann notched 29 points (18 G, 11 A) as a sophomore in 2004 … other factors in the Irish offense will be seniors Matt Karweck (26 pts. in ’05) and Matt Ryan (21 pts. in ’05).
FINE LINE: Close losses past two seasons have kept Notre Dame out of NCAA tournament … five of Notre Dame’s last six losses over the course of the past two seasons have been by one goal, including three in overtime … the Irish hope a stronger and more seasoned defense will make the difference this season and return them to the field of 16 … Notre Dame’s last NCAA tournament berth back in 2001 culminated with the program’s first-ever appearance in the national semifinals … the Irish have yet to play a one-goal contest in 2006.
DRISCOLL AND PETERS NAMED `06 IRISH CAPTAINS: Seniors D.J. Driscoll and Drew Peters have been selected as co-captains for this year’s Fighting Irish squad … Driscoll was named the Great Western Lacrosse League Defensive Player of the Year and was tabbed as a STX/USILA honorable mention All-American last season … he was also selected as a 2006 Inside Lacrosse preseason third team All-American … Peters, a three-time monogram winner, has played in all 39 games during his Notre Dame career … he will help to anchor the Fighting Irish midfield again this season.
IRISH EARN PRESEASON HONORS:Four Fighting Irish players received preseason All-America honors by Inside Lacrosse and Face-Off Yearbook with senior Pat Walsh (A) leading the way as he was tabbed as a second-team selection … fellow senior D.J. Driscoll (D) was selected to the third-team, while sophomores Taylor Clagett (M) and Joey Kemp (G) received honorable mention distinction … Walsh is a three-time All-America honoree … last year, he earned STX/USILA honorable mention All-America honors along with Driscoll … Driscoll was tabbed as the 2005 Great Western Lacrosse League Defensive Player of the Year, while Kemp was named the GWLL Rookie of the Year … Clagett led the Irish with a .612 face-off percentage last season.
WALSH NAMED TO TEWAARATON AWARD WATCH LIST: For the third year in a row, senior attackman Pat Walsh has been listed among the 53 players on the `Watch List’ for the Tewaaraton Trophy, awarded to the top player in college lacrosse at the end of the season … Walsh is the only Irish player ever named the to watch list for the Tewaaraton Trophy, which is in its sixth year, though attackman Tom Glatzel was a finalist for the award in 2001 … Walsh has gone on to be listed as a Tewaaraton Trophy nominee the past two seasons.
IRISH ADD NINE FOR NEXT SEASON: Head coach Kevin Corrigan has announced the commitment of nine student-athletes who will join the program next season … the Irish will finalize their 2005-06 recruiting class during the late signing period in April … log onto und.com for more information.
NAME POSITION HIGH SCHOOL
Sean Callinan Defense Deerfield Academy (Mass.)Matt Ciambella Attack Orchard Park (N.Y.)Mike Creighton Defense Malvern Prep (Pa.)Adam Felicetti Midfield Central Bucks East (Pa.)Neal Hicks Attack Lovett School (Ga.)Grant Krebs Midfield St. Mary's (Md.)Chip Lanser Defense Dulaney (Md.)Kelly McKenna Midfield Penfield (N.Y.)Brett Vecchio Midfield Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.)
ND ON THE TUBE: The Irish will appear on television five times during the 2006 regular season … Notre Dame’s contest at Hofstra on March 25 will be aired by College Sports Television (CSTV) as will the Irish home match against Dartmouth on April 2 … the Notre Dame-Brown contest at Moose Krause Stadium on March 29 along with a road contests at Butler on April 8 and Denver on April 14 will be carried by Comcast.
FOLLOW ALL ND HOME GAMES ONLINE: All Notre Dame home games will feature livestats available through und.com, the official web site of all 26 varsity athletic programs at the University … simply go to the men’s lacrosse page and click on `Schedule’ at the top of the page and find the game that is being played that day and click on `Gametracker’ to follow the game for free.