April 28, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team concludes its regular season on Saturday, May 1 at 2:00 p.m. when the Irish host the Crimson of Harvard. Coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad heads into its final regular-season test with a 7-5 overall mark and 3-1 record in the Great Western Lacrosse League.
The Irish are coming off a 9-7 victory on the road at Massachusetts on Saturday, April 24. Notre Dame jumped two spots in this week’s STX/United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) ranking as the Irish moved from 15th to 13th, which equalled its highest ranking of the 1999 campaign. Corrigan’s squad also was ranked 13th during the week of March 30.
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW – Masschusetts: Senior attack Chris Dusseau (Columbus, Ohio) scored a career-high six goals as Notre Dame beat Masschusetts for the first time in five meetings. The six goals scored by Dusseau equalled the school record for goals scored by an Irish player in a road contest held by five other players in six different games.
Dusseau tallied Notre Dame first four goals of the contest with his first three scores of the game coming off assists from Tom Glatzel (Ellicott City, Md.). Massachusetts scored the game’s first goal less than three minutes into the contest. Dusseau tied the game at 1-1 with 3:17 remaining in the first quarter and then tallied three in the second 15-minute stanza as the Irish held the MInutemen scoreless in the second quarter for a 4-1 halftime advantage.
Massachusetts opened up the second half with a goal seven minutes into the third quarter, but Notre Dame responded with three unanswered goals to build a 7-2 lead with 2:49 left in the third period. Chris Young (Camillus, N.Y.) started the three-goal barrage with an unassisted goal, followed by back-to-back scores by Dusseau and Brad Owen (Amherst, N.H.). The Minutemen tallied Massachusetts final two scores of the quarter as the Irish led 7-4 after 45 minutes.
Dusseau led off the fourth with his sixth tally of the afternoon, while David Ulrich (Baltimore, Md.) also added the final Irish score.
Goalie Kirk Howell (Nashville, Tenn.) came up with 13 stops, marking the eighth time in 12 contests that he has registered 10 or more saves this season.
HEAD COACH KEVIN CORRIGAN – Kevin Corrigan is in his 11th season at the Notre Dame helm and his 13th in the collegiate ranks. The three-time Great Western Lacrosse League coach of the year earned his 100th career win in Notre Dame’s 10-8 victory over Hobart on March 27. He owns a 103-69 (.599) overall ledger and an 93-54 (.633) mark with the Irish. Corrigan has guided Notre Dame to seven NCAA tournament appearances and conference titles. Prior to 1998, he had led the Irish to six straight tournament berths from 1992-97. Under Corrigan in 1995, Notre Dame won its first-ever NCAA tournament which propelled the Irish into the quarterfinals for the first time in school history. Previous to his tenure at Notre Dame, he served as head coach at Randolph-Macon during the 1985 and 1986 campaign where his teams compiled a 10-15 mark.
SERIES RECORD VS. HARVARD – This will be the sixth meeting between the two schools and the fifth consecutive season the teams have faced each other. Harvard posted a 9-6 victory over Notre Dame last year in Cambridge, Mass., which snapped a three-game win streak for the Irish. The Crimson is 0-2 in the two times it has played at Notre Dame.
DUSSEAU NOTCHES CAREER HIGH AGAIN – Chris Dusseau’s six goals against Massachusetts marked the second straight week the senior attack had established a personal best. In Notre Dame’s 15-7 win over Army the previous week, he netted a then career-high five goals. Dusseau, who ranks third all-time at Notre Dame with 111 goals, needs just three more to move into second on the goal-scoring career list. He scored his 100th career goal against Georgetown on April 10 and is one of just three Irish players to reach the milestone. The other two players to score 100-plus goals in their careers were Randy Colley (173 goals from 1992-94) and Joe Franklin (113 goals from 1983-86). Dusseau’s team-leading 29 goals ties his single-season bests he had during the 1996 and 1997 campaigns.
DUSSEAU REACHES THE CENTURY MARK – Notre Dame senior attack Chris Dusseau became the 12th Irish player to reach the 100-point mark in his career this season. Currently third in the scoring column this season with a team-high 29 goals and two assists (31 points), Dusseau is tied for eighth on the all-time scoring list with 111 goals and 11 assists for 122 points. Dusseau, a co-captain this season, has started all 49 games throughout his career.
DUSSEAU COPS SECOND GWLL PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR – Notre Dame senior attack Chris Dusseau’s six-goal performance against Air Force earned Great Western Lacrosse League Player of the Week honors for the second time this season. It marks the fourth time this season that an Irish player has earned the honor. In addition to Dusseau, Tom Glatzel and David Ulrich also have been recognized with the honor this season.
TABLES TURNED – Notre Dame suffered seven losses during the 1998 campaign with six of those teams on the 1999 slate. The Irish have played five of those teams already this season and own a 3-2 mark against those foes. Notre Dame faces the sixth opponent – Harvard – which beat them last season in its final regular-season test.
SUPER SOPHS – Notre Dame’s sophomore class is represented well in the Irish scoring column this season as four of the team’s five scorers are second-year players. David Ulrich leads the team in scoring with 15 goals and a team-high 25 assists (40 points), while teammate Tom Glatzel second with 23 goals and 13 assists (36 points). David’s twin brother, Todd, is fourth in scoring with 12 goals and nine assists (21 points), while Steve Bishko rounds out the top five scorers with 12 goals and seven assists (19 points).
GOAL DISTRIBUTION – Notre Dame is averaging 1.33 more goals per game this season than it did a year ago. The Irish are averaging 10.50 goals in 1999 compared to 9.17 goals in 1998. The number of players who have scored 10 or more goals this season has doubled to six in ’99.
HOWELL COMING UP BIG IN GOAL – Junior Kirk Howell, who spent two seasons as the backup to four-year starter Alex Cade, has been impressive for the Irish this season. He has played 705:54 of the possible 722:11 minutes and has allowed 96 goals while making 139 saves. Howell has a .591 save percentage and 8.16 goals against average. He has registered a career-high 17 saves in two games this season – Loyola and Georgetown – and has had 10 or more saves in seven of his last eight outings and in eight games overall.
IRISH LINEUP REMAINS CONSISTENT – The Notre Dame starting lienup has remained consistent throughout the ’99 campaign. Eight players have started all 11 games. The only change has come on defense where senior Ray Cross (McAllen, Tex.) and Mike Adams (Wilton, Conn.) have split assignments with each earning six starts this season.
TOUGH DEFENSE – Notre Dame’s defense has continued to stifle opponents as the Irish have allowed just 8.33 goals per game this season. In its last three contests, Notre Dame has allowed an average of 6.3 goals. Coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad has given up 10 or more goals in five contests and held seven of its opponents to under 10 goals. The Irish have been most effective in the second and fourth quarters as opponents are averaging just 1.75 and 1.92 goals, respectively.
IRISH STRONG AT HOME – In three (1994, 1995 and 1997) of the last six years, Notre Dame finished the home portion of its season undefeated. The Irish posted 5-0 marks in both ’94 and ’95 and were 6-0 in ’97. Corrigan’s squad is 5-1 at home this season. Since 1984, Notre Dame has a 79-25 (.760) record at home and is 39-8 (.830) over the last seven-plus seasons.
IRISH IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICS
David Ulrich - 10th in assists per game (2.08)Kevin Higgins - 19th in ground balls per game (6.36)Kirk Howell - 12th in goals against average (8.16) 17th in save percentage (.591)Team - 10th in scoring defense (8.33) 18th in face-off winning percentage (.532) 14th in scoring margin (+2.17)
STX/UNITED STATES INTERCOLLEGIATELACROSSE ASSOCIATION POLL(Week of April 26) Pts 1. Loyola (9-0) 200 2. Johns Hopkins (8-1) 190 3. Virginia (8-3) 179 4. Duke (11-2) 171 5. Georgetown (9-2) 151 6. Syracuse (7-3) 150 7. Delaware (10-1) 140 8. Princeton (7-3) 135 9. Maryland (7-4) 11510. Hofstra (9-2) 11311. Penn State (8-3) 9912. UMBC (9-3) 9713. NOTRE DAME (7-5) 7314. Navy (6-6) 6215. Yale (7-5) 5216. North Carolina (6-8) 4317. Butler (8-6) 3118. Hobart (6-4) 2819. Ohio State (8-3) 2720. Cornell (5-6) 26
FACE-OFF LACROSSE POLL(Week of April 26) Pts 1. Loyola 220 2. Johns Hopkins 209 3. Virginia 198 4. Duke 183 5. Georgetown 171 6. Syracuse 163 7. Princeton 158 8. Delaware 144 9. Hofstra 13110. Penn State 11211. UMBC 11112. Maryland 10913. Navy 7714 NOTRE DAME 7315. North Carolina 6816. Yale 35 Cornell 3518. Towson 2919. Butler 2120. Ohio State 20