Oct. 12, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The fall season for the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team comes to a close on Friday as the Irish host the defending national champion Johns Hopkins Blue Jays at 7:00 p.m. at Moose Krause Stadium. The Irish finished the 2005 campaign with a 7-4 record and stood alone in third place in the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) with a 3-2 mark. Johns Hopkins is an independent and posted an unblemished 16-0 record en route to winning the program’s eighth national title. Admission to the contest is free.
The Irish opened the fall season last weekend with an 11-3 victory over Navy in the 5th Annual Face Off in St. Louis, Mo. Notre Dame hopes to make a statement against a Blue Jay squad that lost 11 seniors, including All-American midfielder Kyle Harrison. The Fighting Irish also scrimmaged against Maryland last weekend in St. Louis.
Notre Dame returns eight starters and 14 monogram winners from last year’s squad that finished the season 7-4 (3-2 GWLL) and returns a plethora of young talent to the squad. The Irish narrowly missed out on making the NCAA tournament and finished the season ranked 19th in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse (USILA) poll and 15th in the Inside Lacrosse poll.
Close losses defined last season as three of Notre Dame’s four losses were determined by a single goal. The other Irish loss, a 9-6 defeat at the hands of Denver on April 7th was the game that determined the eventual GWLL champion. Notre Dame suffered a 12-11 defeat at the hands of Fairfield on April 17th to end their hopes for a NCAA bid. Notre Dame reloads on offense this season, returning a unit that outscored their opponents 131-94.
The Irish return two USILA Honorable Mention All-Americans in standout attackman Pat Walsh (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) and defenseman D.J. Driscoll (Downingtown, Pa./Malvern Prep School). Walsh and Driscoll were also invited to the U.S. men’s lacrosse team tryouts this past summer. Driscoll was also named GWLL Defensive Player of the Year and freshman goaltender Joey Kemp (Potomac, Md./Georgetown Prep School) returns in net after being tabbed Rookie of the Year by the Great Western Lacrosse League. Driscoll was joined on the all-GWLL first team by Walsh, while Kemp, senior attackman Jim Morrison (Fulton, Md./Mount St. Joseph H.S.) and junior midfielder Matt Karweck (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan Academy) earned second-team accolades.
To stay updated on the Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse team and all of the varsity sports at Notre Dame, please log on to und.com or call the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
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