Feb. 15, 2007
#13 Loyola (Md.) at #11 Notre Dame
Saturday, Feb. 17 • 1:00 p.m. (ET)
Loftus Sports Center • Notre Dame, Ind.
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The No. 11 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team will open the 2007 regular season by hosting No. 13 Loyola (Md.) on Saturday (Feb. 17) in the Loftus Sports Center. Game time between the Fighting Irish and Greyhounds is slated for 1:00 p.m. (ET). The Irish are ready to embark on the 27th season of men’s lacrosse as a varsity sport at Notre Dame. The Loyola contest will be one of six home games for the Irish this season. The Fighting Irish finished last season with a 10-5 mark (3-2 GWLL) en route to earning a bid to the NCAA tournament. The Greyhounds had a record of 6-6 (5-2 ECAC) in 2006.
ND-LOYOLA SERIES NOTES: Saturday will mark the 16th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Loyola, with the Greyhounds owning a 13-2 advantage in the series … the last encounter took place during the 2004 season … Loyola won that game 13-7 in Baltimore, Md. … the first meeting took place in 1982 … the two schools squared off nine straight seasons from 1996-2004 … there also were two NCAA tournament first-round games between the Irish and Greyhounds in that span … Loyola won the postseason tilt in 1997 (21-5), while Notre Dame came out on top in the 2000 tournament (15-13) … this will mark the 12th straight time that both teams have been ranked at the time of their contest … Loyola is 5-0 all-time at Notre Dame.
ABOUT THE IRISH: Notre Dame returns six starters and 16 letterwinners from last year’s team that posted a 10-5 record and earned a berth to the NCAA tournament … junior goaltender Joey Kemp earned honorable mention All-America honors from the USILA last season … he ranked in the top-12 nationally in both save percentage and goals-against average … Kemp also is a preseason honorable mention All-America selection by Inside Lacrosse along with his teammate Brian Hubschmann, a fifth-year senior attackman … Hubschmann led the team with 31 goals last season and tied for team-high honors in points with 50 … the Irish are currently 11th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll and 12th according to Lacrosse Magazine … Kevin Corrigan is entering his 19th season as the head coach of Notre Dame.
ABOUT LOYOLA: The Greyhounds return nine starters and 29 letterwinners from last year’s squad that went 6-6, including a 5-2 mark in the ECAC … midfielder Andrew Spack returns after garnering honorable mention All-America honors from the USILA last season … he had a team-high 15 assists last season and finished with 26 points … Spack also was a 2007 preseason All-America pick by Inside Lacrosse as were his teammates Dan Bauers (A), Steven Hess (LSM) and Dan Kallaugher (FO) … Bauers led the team in scoring last season with 22 goals and 10 assists … Kallaugher finished third in the nation with a .636 faceoff winning percentage last season while playing for Yale … Loyola concluded the 2006 campaign ranked 18th in the final USILA poll … head coach Charley Toomey is entering his second season at the helm of the Loyola program.
THE LAST TIME: In a battle between No. 10 Notre Dame and No. 16 Loyola, the Greyhounds prevailed with a 16-10 victory in Baltimore, Md. during the 2004 season … four members of the current Irish team competed in that contest … fifth-year senior Brian Hubschmann collected a goal and an assist in the contest, while also picking up two ground balls … senior defenseman Joey Rallo also picked up two ground balls … Lucius Polk and Bill Liva also saw action in the contest.
IRISH IN SEASON-OPENERS: Notre Dame is 19-7 all-time in season-openers, including a 13-5 mark in the Kevin Corrigan era … the Irish have won the last four season-openers, which were all against Penn State … last season, Notre Dame won its lid-lifter 8-4 over the 14th-ranked Nittany Lions in the Loftus Sports Center … the Irish last dropped a season-opener in 2002, a 10-9 overtime setback at home against No. 16 Penn State … including this year, the Fighting Irish have opened their slate against a ranked opponent for 14 consecutive seasons, with 12 of those contests coming against Penn State … Notre Dame’s longest win streak in season-openers occurred from 1990-1994 as the Irish won five straight.
OPENING ACT: Sophomores Ryan Hoff and Peter Christman had memorable collegiate debuts in last year’s season-opener against No. 14 Penn State as they each tallied two goals … Joey Kemp played all 60 minutes in goal against the Nittany Lions, making 13 saves, while allowing only four goals.
IRISH EARN PRESEASON HONORS: Senior attackman Brian Hubschmann and junior goaltender Joey Kemp were selected as preseason honorable mention All-Americans by Inside Lacrosse/Faceoff Yearbook … Hubschmann was the team’s co-leading scorer last season with 50 points on a team-high 31 goals and 19 assists … Kemp was a USILA honorable mention All-America selection in 2006 … he started all 15 games, posting a 7.54 goals-against average and a .596 save percentage … he ranked eighth nationally in save percentage and 12th in goals-against average … Kemp was joined on the Face-Off Yearbook Preseason All-GWLL Team by his classmates Taylor Clagett (M/FO) and Ross Zimmerman (D).
NOTRE DAME IN THE POLLS: Notre Dame was ranked 16th in the Inside Lacrosse/Face-Off Yearbook … the Irish are currently ranked 11th in the latest Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll … the Irish are 12th in the Lacrosse Magazine poll … the USILA rankings do not begin until later in the season.
QUALITY COMPETITION: The Fighting Irish will face five teams that appear in the latest Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll during the 2007 regular season … Notre Dame opens the campaign with four straight games that are all against ranked foes … No. 13 Loyola comes to the Loftus Center for a season-opening tilt on Feb. 17 … the Irish will then visit No. 17 Penn State (Feb. 25), No. 7 Cornell (March 3) and No. 18 North Carolina (March 10) … the Cornell contest will take place at Hewlett High School in Hewlett, N.Y. … the Irish also will host No. 14 Denver in a GWLL showdown on April 15.
BROTHERLY CONNECTION: Saturday’s showdown will have brothers on opposite sidelines … Kevin Cullinane is a sophomore midfielder for Notre Dame, while his brother Brian is a junior midfielder for Loyola … they hail from Southport, Conn. and Fairfield Prep.
HUBSCHMANN, LIVA AND KEMP NAMED `07 IRISH CAPTAINS: Seniors Brian Hubschmann and Bill Liva along with junior Joey Kemp have been named captains for the 2007 Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team … Hubschmann, an attackman, is in his fifth season with the Irish after missing all of his junior campaign with a knee injury … he led the team in goals last season with 31 and tied for the team lead in points with 50 … Liva has been a fixture in the Irish lineup during his first three seasons … he has played in 32 games, totaling 20 points on 12 goals and eight assists … Kemp has emerged as one of the top goaltenders in the nation throughout his first two seasons, ranking in the top-10 nationally in save percentage both years … he also was an honorable mention All-American in 2006.
COACHING CHANGES: The freshmen will not be the only new faces on the Irish this season … head coach Kevin Corrigan has brought in two new assistant coaches, Gerry Byrne and Brian Fisher, to replace Kevin Anderson and Dave Cornell … Anderson stepped away from coaching, while Cornell took the head coaching job at Connecticut College … Byrne will not be a new face to everyone at Notre Dame since he served as an assistant under Corrigan from 1989-91 … most recently he held the head coaching position at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. … Fisher comes to Notre Dame from Rutgers, where he had a stellar four-year career from 1998-2001 followed by a five-year coaching stint with the Scarlet Knights.
DOUBLE DUTY: Freshman attackman Will Yeatman spent this past fall playing tight end for the Fighting Irish football team … Yeatman played in 12 of Notre Dame’s 13 games on the gridiron … the San Diego native was a prep All-American in lacrosse at Rancho Bernardo High School and he will look to be a major contributor for the Irish this spring.
BACK TO THE DANCE: Notre Dame returned to the NCAA tournament in 2006 for the first time since the 2001 season … the Fighting Irish posted a 10-5 record last season, including a 3-2 mark in the GWLL, which placed them second behind conference champion Denver.
IRISH DEFENSE: Notre Dame boasted the nation’s 11th-best scoring defense in 2006 by allowing just 7.67 goals per game … several key components to the Irish defense are back this season, including goaltender Joey Kemp and defensemen Joey Rallo, Ross Zimmerman and Regis McDermott along with defensive midfielders Brannon Halvorsen and Sean Dougherty … the Irish also ranked third in man-down defense by allowing just seven goals in 33 chances (.788).
SAVING THE DAY: Notre Dame junior goaltender Joey Kemp has had a huge impact on the Irish during his first two campaigns … as a freshman, he started nine games, posting a 5-2 record and led the nation with a .652 save percentage en route to being tabbed the Great Western Lacrosse League Rookie of the Year … he followed that up with another stellar season in 2006 … he ranked eighth nationally with a .596 save percentage and 12th with a 7.54 goals-against average … he earned USILA Honorable Mention All-America honors along with being a first-team all-GWLL selection.
FACING OFF: Junior midfielder and faceoff specialist Taylor Clagett has been a valuable asset for the Irish during his first two seasons in an Irish uniform … he won 126 of 205 faceoff attempts last season … his .615 winning percentage would have ranked him sixth nationally, however he missed four games due to injury and could not qualify among NCAA statistical leaders in that category … he has a .613 (257-419) career winning percentage … Clagett will face a stiff challenge against Loyola in the season-opener as Dan Kallaugher finished third in the nation last season with a .636 faceoff winning percentage while playing for Yale.
FOLLOW ALL ND HOME GAMES ONLINE: All six of Notre Dame’s true 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.
SIGN UP FOR IRISH ALERT TEXT MESSAGE SERVICE: Go to und.com to sign up for Irish ALERT, a text messaging service designed to give fans up-to-the-minute game updates for all 26 varsity sports at Notre Dame.
KEEPING UP WITH ND MEN’S LACROSSE: For results of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse games, call the Notre Dame Sports Hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #5 and #1 … the hotline provides schedules and result information for all 26 varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the match recaps and weekly releases provided on the official athletic website, www.und.com … in addition, media members and fans may be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting assistant sports information director Sean Carroll at Carroll.64@nd.edu … all requests for story ideas, interview access, match credentials, and further information on Irish men’s lacrosse should similarly be directed to Carroll … credential and interview requests should be made at least 24 hours in advance.