March 12, 2011
DENVER, Colo. – A career-high three goals from sophomore attackman Ryan Foley helped the third-ranked Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team capture a 10-9 win over No. 14 Denver on Saturday night at Barton Lacrosse Stadium. The win improved the Irish to 4-0 this season.
A Barton Lacrosse Stadium record crowd of 2,547 attended the game. The previous record was 2,376 from Notre Dame’s last visit to the venue (April 4, 2006).
With the scored tied 7-7 midway through the third quarter, Notre Dame used three unanswered goals to claim a 10-7 lead by the end of the period. The surge began with a man-up goal from junior attackman Nicholas Beattie off a pass from Edison Parzanese.
The Irish went up 9-7 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter on goal from freshman attackman Westy Hopkins off a Quinn Cully pass. Colin Igoe’s second goal of the game put Notre Dame up by three (10-7) with 1:29 left in the quarter. Sean Rogers assisted on the Igoe goal. Rogers, a junior midfielder, registered two goals and two assists in the game. Rogers and Hopkins both have a team-high six goals this season.
Two goals from Denver’s Patrick Baxter were the only scores of the fourth quarter. The Pioneers had possession of the ball with less than a minute left in the game but could not even the contest.
Denver (3-2) opened the game with back-to-back scores from Mark Matthews, who had four goals on the night. Foley netted Notre Dame’s first goal with 9:24 remaining in the first quarter, while his classmate Pat Cotter tied the contest (2-2) with 4:15 left in the opening period. Matthews gave Denver a 3-2 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Rogers knotted the game once again (3-3) and Foley gave the Irish their first lead of the game (4-3) with 6:53 left in the first half. Denver answered back 23 seconds later on an Alex Demopoulos goal to make it 4-4. Matthews converted a man-up goal 19 seconds after the Demopoulos score to give the Pioneers a one-goal advantage (5-4).
The back-and-forth contest continued as Igoe, a senior attackman, tied things up 5-5 with 2:54 left in the first half. David Earl notched the assist on the play. Six seconds later, Rogers took a pass from senior long-stick midfielder Andrew Irving and scored to give Notre Dame a 6-5 lead. The Irish led by that score at halftime.
Foley made it three straight Irish goals as he completed his hat trick with 11:30 remaining in the third quarter. Rogers assisted on the goal.
Denver goals from Baxter and Patrick Rogers made it 7-7 by the 7:45 mark of the third quarter.
Notre Dame sophomore goalie John Kemp made 13 saves to move his record to 4-0 this season. His counterpart Jamie Faus made eight saves. Denver outshot Notre Dame 36-25. Irish senior Jake Marmul went 9-14 in faceoffs, while freshman Liam O’Connor was 2-9.
The Fighting Irish will return to action when they play host to Ohio State on March 23. Opening faceoff against the Buckeyes is slated for 4:00 p.m. (ET) at Arlotta Stadium.
March 12, 2011 – Barton Lacrosse Stadium – Denver, Colo.
#3 Notre Dame (4-0) – 2 4 4 0 – 10
#14 Denver (3-2) – 3 2 2 2 – 9
Notre Dame Scoring (goals-assists):
Ryan Foley 3-0, Sean Rogers 2-2, Colin Igoe 2-0, Nicholas Beattie 1-0, Pat Cotter 1-0, Westy Hopkins 1-0, David Earl 0-1, Edison Parzanese 0-1, Quinn Cully 0-1, Andrew Irving 0-1; Goaltender: John Kemp (W, 60:00, 13 saves, 9 GA)
Denver Scoring (goals-assists):
Mark Matthews 4-1, Todd Baxter 3-1, Alex Demopoulos 1-1, Patrick Rogers 1-0, Cameron Flint 0-1; Goaltender: Jamie Faus (L, 60:00, 8 saves, 10 GA)
— ND —