Notre Dame Completes Three-Game Homestand

March 31, 2000

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The 15th-ranked Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team (3-3, 2-0) looks to end its two-game skid when the Irish play host to Great Western Lacrosse League foe Ohio State (3-3) on Saturday, April 1 at 3:30 p.m. It’s the third home game in a three-game homestand for the Irish who are 1-2 at home this season.

Notre Dame also will look to avenge last season’s 5-4 setback to the Buckeyes which snapped a nine-game winning streak against its GWLL foe.

Coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad fell to 3-3 on the season after last week’s 8-7 setback to Hofstra.

Notre Dame is ranked 15th in the STX/United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) poll and 14th in the Inside Lacrosse rankings. The Buckeyes are unranked in both polls.

RECAP OF HOFSTRA GAME – For the second straight year, Hofstra earned a one-goal victory Flying Dutchmen as they posted their first-ever win at Notre Dame with an 8-7 win. Hofstra held off a four-goal third-quarter rally as the Irish after the Irish were held scoreless in both the second and fourth quarters.

In a game of runs, in which neither team scored in the final 15-minute stanza, Hofstra built an 8-3 advantage in the contest with 14:13 remaining in the contest as the Flying Dutchmen scored six unanswered goals.

Notre Dame led 3-2 after the first period, but Hofstra held the Irish without a goal in the second period while building their lead. Tom Glatzel (Ellicott, City, Md.), who had two goals in the game, ended the Irish scoring drought that spanned 22:41 when he netted his second goal of the game with 7:20 remaining in the third quarter.

Jon Harvey (Winchester, Mass.) recorded his second career hat trick in the contest. He scored Notre Dame’s first two goals of the game and tallied the goal that pulled the Irish to within 8-6 with 4:08 remaining in the third quarter.

Notre Dame scored four goals in a span of 5:26 as Steve Bishko (West Islip, N.Y.) scored two of four third-quarter goals for the Irish. He tallied the game’s final goal with 1:44 remaining in the third-period stanza.

David Ulrich (Baltimore, Md.) ahd three assists in the game for the Irish, while goalie Kirk Howell (Nashville, Tenn.) made 10 saves.

HEAD COACH KEVIN CORRIGAN – Kevin Corrigan is in his 12th season at Notre Dame and 14th in the collegiate ranks. The three-time Great Western Lacrosse League coach of the year earned his 100th career win during the ’99 season in Notre Dame’s 10-8 victory over Hobart on March 27. He owns a 105-73 (.590) overall ledger and an 97-58 (.626) mark with the Irish. Corrigan has guided Notre Dame to eight NCAA tournament appearances and eight (either outright or shared) 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 game with a 12-10 victory over Duke 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. OHIO STATE – Notre Dame owns a 15-7 advantage in the series and has won nine of the last 10 meetings between the two teams. The Irish had their nine-game winning streak snapped last year when the Bukeyes earned their first win over Notre Dame since the 1989 campaign with a 5-4 victory. The Irish are 8-2 against the Buckeyes at home.

HARVEY NETS SECOND CAREER HAT TRICK – Junior Jon Harvey, who has started five of six games this season, tallied his second hat trick of the season (and second of his career) against Hofstra. Those three goals bring his total to nine on the season (second best on the team). Heading into the 2000 campaign, Harvey had just one career goal and two assists. He has 10 goals and two assists (12 points) in his two-plus season with the Irish.

IRISH FAVOR SECOND HALF – Notre Dame’s offensive production has been greater in the the second half this season than it has been during the first 30 minutes of the contest. Irish opponents have outscored Notre Dame 31-20 in the first two periods and 23-7 in the second quarter. That trend is reversed in the second half with Notre Dame outscoring opponents 28-17. The Irish have proved most dominant in the third quarter as they have outscored their six foes 15-6.

GROUND HOG – Kevin Higgins (Wilton, Conn.) became just the fifth player in Notre Dame history to collect 200 ground balls career ground balls. The senior midfielder reached that mark against Loyola. He needs just five to move into fourth on the all-time list ahead of Mike Iorio (1992-95) who finished his career with 204. Higgins has been Notre Dame’s ground ball leader each of the last two seasons. He had 83 a year ago and 79 in 1998.

GLATZEL FINDING THE RANGE – Junior Tom Glatzel leads the team in scoring with a team-high 11 goals and three assists (14 points). In ’99, Glatzel finished the campaigh with 16 goals and eight assists after recording only three assists during his freshman season in 1998. Since that rookie campaign he has 32 goals in 20 games (1.60). Glatzel also leads the team with 29 ground balls.

IRISH LOOK TO THE ULRICHS FOR ASSISTANCE – Twin brothers David and Todd Ulrich top the Irish in the assist column as they have combined for nearly half of the team’s 27 assists. Todd leads the squad with seven, while David has six. David has led the Irish in assists each of the last two seasons. He has 55 career assists which places him eighth on the all-time career assist list.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN – Following the Ohio State game, Notre Dame will be on the road the next two weekends with games at Butler (April 8) and Army (April 15). The Irish will play three of its remaining five games after its matchup with the Buckeyes on the road. Notre Dame returns home for games against Villanova (April 19) and Fairfield (April 22). Coach Kevin Corrigan’s squad closes out the season on the road at Harvard (April 30).

BACK-TO-BACK HOME LOSSES A RARITY – Notre Dame’s back-to-back home losses to Loyola and Hofstra mark the first time since the 1996 campaign that the Irish have lost two consecutive games at Moose Krause Stadium. During the 1996 campaign, Notre Dame dropped an 11-10 decision to North Carolina and then suffered an 8-5 setback to Massachusetts.

A ROOKIE CONTRIBUTION – Freshman John Souch (Watertown, N.Y.) has been the only first-year player to see action in all six games this season. He has seen considerable minutes on Notre Dame’s defensive unit and has collected nine balls. Only two other rookies, Joe Nejman (Meadowbrook, Pa.) and Travis Wells (Severna Park, Md.), have seen action in more than one game (each has played two games).

SPREADING THE WEALTH – Notre Dame had eight different players score in its 10-4 win over Penn State with just two players – Steve Bishko and Jon Harvey – tallying two goals. It was the most balance the Irish the Irish had since having nine goal scorers in a 17-9 win over Denver on March 5, 1999.

IRISH STRONG AT HOME – In three (1994, 1995 and 1997) of the last seven 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 was 6-1 at home in ’99. Since 1984, Notre Dame has an 81-27 (.750) record at home and is 42-10 (.808) over the last eight-plus seasons in games played at Moose Krause Stadium and Loftus Sports Center (its indoor facility).

A FAMILIAR DEFENSE – While there has been a juggling of starting lineups in both the attack and midfield, the Irish defense has had a familiar starting three. Senior Steve Fiamingo (Cincinnati, Ohio), junior Mike Adams (Wilton, Conn.) and sophomore A.J. Wright (Timonium, Md.) have started all six games, while goalie Kirk Howell has been in the starting lineup in all five of those contests as well.

IRISH IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICS – The men’s lacrosse statistics through games of March 26 were releaesd this week (the first ranking of the season) Irish senior goalie Kirk Howell ranks sixth in goals against average and 20th in save percentage. As a team, Notre Dame is ninth in scoring defense.

STX/UNITED STATES
INTERCOLLEGIATE LACROSSE
ASSOCIATION POLL
(Week of Mar. 27)

INSIDE LACROSSE MEDIA POLL
(Week of Mar. 27)